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1. existence of the underlying fraud;
2. knowledge of the fraud; and
3. the defendant provided substantial assistance to the commission of the fraud.

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1. existence of the underlying fraud;
2. knowledge of the fraud; and
3. the defendant provided substantial assistance to the commission of the fraud.

Logan v. Morgan Lewis & Bockius, 350 So. 3d 404, 410 (Fla. 2d DCA 2022) (citation omitted).

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FLORIDA STATE COURTS

Second District: Logan v. Morgan Lewis & Bockius, 350 So. 3d 404, 410 (Fla. 2d DCA 2022).

Fourth District: Gilison v. Flagler Bank, 303 So. 3d 999, 1002 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020).

Fifth District: ZP No. 54 Ltd. P’ship v. Fid. & Deposit Co. of Maryland, 917 So. 2d 368, 372 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005).

FLORIDA FEDERAL COURTS

Eleventh Circuit: Otto Candies, LLC v. Citigroup Inc., 137 F.4th 1158, 1177 (11th Cir. 2025)(listing the elements and clarifying the standard for pleading the knowledge element); Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada v. Imperial Premium Fin., LLC, 904 F.3d 1197, 1214 (11th Cir. 2018); Freeman v. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., 675 Fed. Appx. 926, 934 (11th Cir. 2017); Chang v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 845 F.3d 1087, 1097-98 (11th Cir. 2017).

Southern District: Valley Nat'l Bank v. Show Plus Promotions, LLC, No. 24-81490-CV, 2025 WL 1191210, at *3 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 21, 2025); Wang v. Revere Capital Mgmt., LLC, 2023 WL 2198570, *4 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 15, 2023); Birmingham v. Doe, 2022 WL 18134962, *27 (S.D. Fla. Dec. 6, 2022); Koch v. Royal Wine Merchants, Ltd., 907 F. Supp. 2d 1332, 1348 (S.D. Fla. 2012).

Middle District: Kaplan v. Regions Bank, 2023 WL 2610155, *7 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 23, 2023); Chunhong Jia v. Boardwalk Fresh Burgers & Fries, Inc., 2021 WL 3493313, *14 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 9, 2021).

Northern District: Rashada v. Hathcock, No. 3:24-CV-219-MCR-HTC, 2025 WL 1043208, at *5 (N.D. Fla. Apr. 8, 2025)

FLORIDA REFERENCES

Restatement (Second) of Torts § 525 (1977 Amendment)

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2 Defenses to Claim for Fraud, Aiding and Abetting

(1) Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.110(d) (pleading affirmative defenses), and other standard defenses. See § 1.

(2) Statute of Limitations: § 95.11(3)(j), Fla. Stat. (four years); Dixon v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC, No. 19-80022-CIV-MARRA/MATTHEWMAN, 2019 WL 2866495, at *10 (S.D. Fla. July 3, 2019).

(3) The statute of repose provides that a claim for fraud must be commenced “within 12 years after the date of the commission of the alleged fraud, regardless of the date the fraud was or should have been discovered”. See § 95.031(2)(a), Fla. Stat.; Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Gentile, 281 So.3d 493, 494 n. 2 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019); Dixon v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC, No. 19-80022-CIV-MARRA/MATTHEWMAN, 2019 WL 2866495, at *10 (S.D. Fla. July 3, 2019).

(4) Mere opinions or misrepresentations of law are not actionable. See e.g., Bailey v. Trenman, Simmons, Kemker, Scharf, Barkin, Frye & O’Neil, 938 F. Supp. 825, 829 (S.D. Fla. 1996); MDVIP, Inc. v. Beber, 222 So.3d 555, 561 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017).

(5) False statements regarding promised future action are not actionable unless the promisor had no intentions of performance at the time of the representation. See Thor Bear, Inc v. Crocker Mizner Park, Inc., 648 So. 2d 168, 172 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); 940 Lincoln Road Assocs. LLC v. 940 Lincoln Road Enterps. Inc., 237 So.3d 1099, 1102 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017).

(6) Reliance on misrepresentations are unreasonable where the statements are contained in a subsequent written agreement between the parties. See Barnes v. Burger King Corp., 932 F. Supp. 1420, 1427 (S.D. Fla. 1996); Fin-S Tech, LLC v. Surf Hardware International-USA, Inc., No. 13-CV-80645, 2014 WL 12461349, at *8 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 8, 2014); Ferox, LLC v. ConSeal  Int’l, Inc., 175 F.Supp.3d 1363, 1376 (S.D. Fla. 2016).

(7) Waiver is a defense to fraud when the allegedly defrauded party had actual or imputed knowledge of the facts supporting the fraud claim. See Coral Gables Imported Motorcars, Inc. v. Fiat Motors of North America, Inc., 673 F.2d 1234, 1240 (11th Cir. 1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1104 (1983); BGW Design Ltd., Inc. v. Service America Corp., No. 10-20730-Civ, 2011 WL 13220382, at *10 (S.D. Fla. Nov. 30, 2011).

(8) Fraudulent misrepresentations do not result from a seller’s puffery in stating opinions or commendations about a product’s value. See Wasser v. Sasoni, 652 So. 2d 411, 412 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995); Baker v. Brunswick Corp., No. 2:17–cv–572–FtM–99MRM, 2018 WL 1947433, at *7 (M.D. Fla. April 25, 2018).

(9) “It is a fundamental, long-standing common law principle that a plaintiff may not recover in tort for a contract dispute unless the tort is independent of any breach of contract.” Island Travel & Tours, Ltd., Co. v. MYR Independent, Inc., 300 So.3d 1236, 1239 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020) citing Peebles v. Puig, 223 So.3d 1065, 1068 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017).

(10) To assert the defense of fraud, the party must allege with specificity the relevant facts and circumstances supporting the defense, as well as all of the essential elements of fraudulent conduct. Zikofsky v. Robby Vapor Systems, Inc., 846 So.2d 684, 685 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003); Meridian Trust Co. v. Batista, No. 17-23051-WILLIAMS, 2018 WL 4760277, at *3 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 30, 2018).

(11) A party cannot recover for fraudulent oral representations which are covered in or contradicted by a later written agreement. Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Gentile, 281 So.3d 493, 496 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019); Fin-S Tech, LLC v. Surf Hardware International-USA, Inc., No. 13-CV-80645, 2014 WL 12461349, at *8 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 8, 2014); Giallo v. New Piper Aircraft, Inc., 855 So.2d 1273, 1275 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003).

(12) “If the [allegedly fraudulent] statements are ‘likely to mislead reasonable consumers,’ then it makes no difference if the statements are ‘technically or literally true.’” Zamber v. American Airlines Inc., 282 F.Supp.3d 1289, 1299 (S.D. Fla. 2017) (citation omitted).

(13) A plaintiff may assert a claim for fraud and breach of contract where the claim for fraudulent inducement is based on facts separate and distinct from the breach of contract claim and such tort (e.g., a species of fraud or negligent misrepresentation) is committed independently of the breach of contract. E.g., Tiara Condominium Assoc.’n, Inc. v. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., 110 So.3d 399, 402-403 (Fla. 2013).

 (14) “[W]hile ‘an express waiver of the right to maintain a fraud claim is all that is required to avoid liability for fraud,’ more than a mere disclaiming of the making of fraudulent representations or a reliance thereon is required to effectuate such a waiver; rather, the parties must agree that ‘even if a fraud “may have been committed,” such a claim may not be asserted.’” NM Residential, LLC v. Prospect Park Dev., LLC, 2022 WL 880594, *1 (Fla. 2d DCA Mar. 25, 2022) (quoting Billington v. Ginn-La Pine Island, Ltd., 192 So. 3d 77, 84 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016) (quoting Oceanic Villas, Inc. v. Godson, 4 So. 2d 689, 691 (1941)).

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