Court Opinion

ID: 9538714
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:40:32.177348+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:58:06.756430
License: Public Domain

SPEAR, Justice
(concurring specially).
I concur in the result reached in the majority opinion, i. e., that the action should be remanded to the trial court for a new trial on the issues of constructive fraud and/or implied warranty of fitness for habitation. In my opinion, however, these principles are so akin to fraud, the burden of proving such constructive fraud or the breach of such implied warranty should be the same as that required of the plaintiff in an action on express fraud. In other words, the plaintiffs should be required to prove the breach or the elements of constructive fraud by clear and convincing evidence, rather than merely a preponderance of the evidence. See Chester B. Brown Co. v. Goff, 89 Idaho 170, 403 P. 2d 855 and cases cited therein, p. 175; Nelson v. Hoff, 70 Idaho 354, 218 P.2d 345; Walker v. Nunnenkamp, 84 Idaho 485, 373 P.2d 559.