Fraudulent Misrepresentation in Property Sale: Buildability Dispute

A purchaser of a property, who had been fraudulently assured by the seller that the land was buildable, sued to rescind the sale, arguing the misrepresentation constituted a serious error concerning the substance of the property. The court of appeals denied the rescission, finding that the error was not serious enough to vitiate consent because the law permits construction on the land, albeit under specific conditions, meaning the land still retained its essential characteristic as buildable property. The highest court upheld this decision, reasoning that since the land retained its potential for construction, even with regulatory limitations, the mutual error regarding the *degree* of buildability did not rise to the level of a decisive error regarding the very substance of the asset sold, thus affirming the dismissal of the rescission claim.