Seller's Duty to Disclose Facts that Affect Value of Property
The Tennessee Court of Appeals' recent decision in Consumer Fin. Servs. (Mgmt.), Inc. v. Consumer Fin. Servs. Mgmt., L.L.C., notes a point of law from a 1947 Tennessee Supreme Court opinion, Simmons v. Evans. A seller generally has a duty to disclose material facts concerning the value of property that is known to the seller, and not reasonably discoverable by the buyer. In the Consumer Financial Services case, the Court of Appeals affirmed a finding of fraudulent inducement of contract, and one of the facts at issue was a failure to disclose tax return information based on this principle.