Buyer's Consent Vitiated by Undisclosed Property Defect

The case concerned a dispute over a contract for the sale of property, where the buyer alleged the seller failed to disclose a material defect in the property, thereby vitiating the consent given for the purchase. The court of appeal had upheld the validity of the sale, finding that the alleged defect did not constitute fraud sufficient to invalidate the contract under the relevant civil code articles because the defect was either known or easily discoverable by the buyer. The highest court, however, quashed this decision, reasoning that the lower court failed to adequately consider whether the undisclosed defect was sufficiently material to have been the determining factor in the buyer's consent, thus incorrectly applying the standard for error vitiating consent in sales contracts.