Fraud Exception › Fraud

Don't Panic - The Fall of Pendergrass and Restoring the Full Fraud Exception to the Parol Evidence Rule May Not Be as Bad as You...

In Riverisland Cold Storage, Inc., v. Fresno-Madera Prod. Credit Ass., S190581, the unanimous California Supreme Court recently overturned the widely criticized Pendergrass rule, thus restoring the full breadth of the fraud...more

California Supreme Court Eases Admissibility of Oral Statements in Contract Fraud Disputes

California, like most jurisdictions, prohibits parties to integrated contracts from introducing “parol evidence” — this is, evidence of prior written or verbal agreements made by a party to a contract — if those alleged...more

Promises to Keep—Lender Beware: California Supreme Court Expands Parol Evidence Fraud Exception

In 1935, the California Supreme Court in Bank of America National Trust and Savings Ass’n v. Pendergrass prohibited a borrower from introducing external or parol evidence to demonstrate fraud in connection with an agreement...more

Reconsidering the Fraud Exception to the Parol Evidence Rule

The California Supreme Court has removed a legal barrier for litigants seeking to invalidate contracts on the basis of fraud. Overruling a 75-year old decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the parol evidence rule does...more