Fraud in Washington Law Defined

Washington also has identified 9 almost identical elements of the cause of action for fraud.   As the court in Pedersen v. Bibioff, 64 Wn. App. 710, 828 P.2d 1113 (1992) wrote at page 723,

To sustain a finding of common law fraud, the trial court in most cases must make findings of fact as to each of the nine elements of fraud.  Howell v. Kraft, 10 Wash. App. 266, 517 P.2d 203 (1973). Those elements generally are: (1) a representation of an existing fact, (2) its materiality, (3) its falsity, (4) the speaker's knowledge of its falsity or ignorance of its truth, (5) his intent that it should be acted on by the person to whom it is made, (6) ignorance of its falsity on the part of the person to whom it is made, (7) the latter's reliance on the truth of the representation, (8) his right to rely upon it, and (9) his consequent damage.  See Turner v. Enders, 15 Wash .App. 875, 878, 552 P.2d 694 (1976).