Court Opinion

ID: 9544180
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:52:57.851265+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:12:18.925521
License: Public Domain

Horowitz, J.
(concurring) — I concur in the majority opinion on the understanding that opinion leaves open the question whether silence when there is a duty to speak is an unfair or deceptive act or practice forbidden by RCW 19.86. The failure to make a duty-required disclosure in effect is a representation of the nonexistence of the matter which is not disclosed. Restatement of Torts §§ 550, 551 (1938). Boonstra v. Stevens-Norton, Inc., 64 Wn.2d 621, 393 P.2d 287 (1964); Ikeda v. Curtis, 43 Wn.2d 449, 261 P.2d 684 *646(1953); Oates v. Taylor, 31 Wn.2d 898, 199 P.2d 924 (1948); Perkins v. Marsh, 179 Wash. 362, 37 P.2d 689 (1934).
RCW 19.86.920 requires the act to be liberally construed to carry out its beneficial purposes. These include the protection of the public and the fostering of fair and honest competition. When silence amounts to a misrepresentation to induce a sale, such silence may serve to defeat the purposes of the act just as much as would an express misrepresentation of fact. The question now left open should be answered when a case next presents itself involving the issue.
Stafford, C.J., and Utter, J., concur with Horowitz, J.
Petition for rehearing denied November 17, 1975.