Here at Construction Law Musings, I have discussed the interwoven issues of fraud, contract, and the Virginia Consumer Protection Act (VCPA) on several occasions. In most cases, the three simply don’t mix, acting more like oil and water than parallel causes of action. There are exceptions however so these three are always worth exploring in most (particularly residential) construction matters.

A recent case out of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals lays out a good roadmap for a properly pled, and properly tried in this case, VCPA, fraud, and contract matter. That case is Harrell v. Deluca and I recommend it to your reading.

In Harrell, the Court considered a case where the Harrells entered into a residential sales contract to purchase property from DeLuca. After that sales contract, the parties entered into an addendum for a list of improvements that DeLuca was to make to the property as part of the sale. After that, the parties entered into a construction contract for the completion of certain uncompleted improvements by August 15, 2019. Needless to say (or this wouldn’t be a blog post at a construction law blog) things did not go well and the Harrells sued Deluca for fraud, constructive fraud, breach of contract, and violation of the VCPA. Unsurprisingly, and after a 9-day bench trial, the district court found in DeLuca’s favor on the fraud claims (actual and constructive) and the VCPA claim. It found for the Harrells on the breach of contract claim and awarded $181,762.87.