Cause of Action for Fraudulent Concealment Must Allege a Basis for the Existence of a Duty to Disclose
In affirming the dismissal of a cause of action alleging fraudulent concealment (no basis for a duty to disclose was alleged), the Second Department explained the required elements:
To properly plead a cause of action for fraud, a plaintiff must allege all of the following requisite elements: (1) the defendant made a misrepresentation or a material omission of fact which was false and which the defendant knew to be false; (2) the misrepresentation was made for the purpose of inducing the plaintiff to rely upon it; (3) the plaintiff justifiably relied on the misrepresentation or material omission; and (4) injury … . To sustain a cause of action for fraudulent concealment, the plaintiff must further allege a fifth element, namely, that the defendant had a duty to disclose the material information … . Bannister v Agard, 2015 NY Slip Op 01408, 2nd Dept 2-18-15