Drozeck v. Lawyers Title Insurance Corp., Unpublished Decision (1-24-2001)
Drozeck v. Lawyers Title Insurance Corp., Unpublished Decision (1-24-2001)
Opinion of the Court
In his motion for reconsideration, Drozeck points out that a cause of action for fraud accrues when the fraud is discovered, R.C.
Civ.R. 9(B) provides that when a complainant alleges a claim for fraud or mistake, "the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake shall be stated with particularity. Malice, intent, knowledge and other condition of mind of a person may be averred generally." A claim of "[f]raud consists of six elements: a representation of a fact, which is material, made falsely — either with knowledge of its falsity or utter disregard and recklessness as to falsity — with an intent to mislead, with justifiable reliance thereupon, and a resulting injury." Tokles Son, Inc. v. Midwestern Indem. Co. (1993) ,
The third amended complaint does not satisfy the requirement that fraud be pleaded with particularity. It contains no averments of Lawyers Title's state of mind and, therefore, it does not satisfy the requirements of Civ.R. 9(B) for a fraud-based claim. Rather, the face of the complaint affirmatively shows that the claim Drozeck refers to as "fraudulent overcharge" is labeled "overcharge" and is essentially the same as those claims labeled "unjust enrichment" and "money had and received." The discovery rule does not apply to unjust enrichment claims. See Palm Beach Co. v. Dun Bradstreet,
LEO M. SPELLACY, J. and ANNE L. KILBANE, J. CONCUR.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.