Opinion ID: 199327
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Elements of Negligent Misrepresentation

Text: 34 Looking to the Restatement (Second) of Torts definition, Massachusetts courts have held that in order to recover for negligent misrepresentation, a plaintiff must show that the defendant: (1) in the course of its business, (2) supplied false information for the guidance of others (3) in their business transactions, (4) causing and resulting in pecuniary loss to those others (5) by their justifiable reliance upon the information, and (6) that it failed to exercise reasonable care or competence in obtaining or communicating the information. Fox v. F & J Gattozzi Corp., 672 N.E.2d 547, 551 (Mass. App. Ct. 1996) (citing Restatement (Second) of Torts § 552(1) (1977)); see alsoMassachusetts School of Law at Andover, Inc. v. American Bar Ass'n, 142 F.3d 26, 41 (1st Cir. 1998). Although courts sometimes analyze negligent misrepresentation claims and deceit claims together, the degree of culpability a plaintiff must prove to establish liability for negligent misrepresentation is different, and less demanding, than that to establish liability for deceit. See Sound Techniques, 737 N.E.2d at 926 (Fraud and [negligent misrepresentation] embody two different states of mind . . ..) (quoting Snyder v. Lovercheck, 992 P.2d 1079, 1088 (Wy. 1999)); W. Page Keeton, ed., Prosser and Keeton on Torts, § 107 at 742 (5th ed. 1984) (scienter element distinguishes deceit action from negligent misrepresentation action). 35 In general, Massachusetts courts treat negligent misrepresentation claims more as negligence actions than deceit actions, focusing on the degree of care exercised by the speaker in making the statement. See Danca, 429 N.E.2d at 1133 (finding conduct and words negligently made gave rise to negligent misrepresentation claim). For a negligent misrepresentation claim, courts ask simply whether the speaker was negligent in failing to discover the falsity of his or her statements. See id.; Prosser and Keeton on Torts, § 107 at 745 (representation may be negligent where there is a lack of reasonable care in ascertaining the facts, or in the manner of expression, or absence of skill and competence required by a particular business or profession). 36 Even under a negligence standard, however, Cummings has failed to provide any evidence that HPG could have known that the representations were false when made. The future performance of the roofs cannot alter what HPG knew at the time the statements were made. Accordingly, Cummings' negligent misrepresentation claim, like its deceit claim, must fail. See Lawton v. Dracousis, 437 N.E.2d 543, 547 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982) (rejecting negligent misrepresentation claim where no evidence speaker had knowledge of undisclosed facts).