Kannavos v. Annino

1969 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

• Apartment building, in violation of zoning code, is sold, advertised as having $9,600 yearly rental income.
• Recognizes autonomy principle–anyone can find out law–but still finds duty to disclose that house is in violation of zoning.
• Case can be distinguished from Swinton in that this is not a case of bare nondisclosure–in fact, there was some disclosure.
• Once there is some disclosure, it can’t be misleading.
• Disclosure needs to be material: would person have made same decision had information been disclosed?

The Swinton v. Whitinsville Sav. Bank case, together with the Kannavos v. Annino case, deal both with situation where parties have different knowledge. Issue of default rule.

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Swinton v. Whitinsville Sav. Bank.