Misrepresentation 2

This posting is to further clarify what is meant by the phrase that "a misrepresentation must be operative".

The other party may make false statements of facts to you but to show misrepresentation, you have to show that the statement was important to you.

For example, before you buy a Porsche sports car, the salesman tells you that the car was designed by the famous designer Guigaro and its top speed is 350 km/hour. Both statements are untrue but if you can convince the judge who the designer is, was important to you, then the misrepresentation is operative. On the other hand, the salesman may be able to show that you are a careful driver who never exceeds the speed limit and who does not drive the car to Malaysia. In that case, the judge may well conclude that the top speed was unimportant to you and therefore the mispresentation was not operative.