Known Unknown? No justifiable reliance.

Donald Rumsfeld unforgettably spoke about known unknowns. The Fifth Circuit engaged that general concept in Bartolowits v. Wells Fargo, in which the plaintiff claimed that a lender “misrepresented the amount [plaintiff] owed and its security interest in his property to a state court in seeking a foreclosure order.” But on the issue of  “whether Wells Fargo committed fraud by claiming the right to foreclose on unsecured property,” the Court found that he could not have justifiably relied on this statement “because he knew that Wells Fargo lacked a security interest in some of the property it sought to foreclose upon” (indeed, at the time, the plaintiff denied Wells’s allegations and notified Wells of the error). In sum: “There is no justifiable reliance when the misrepresentations contradict a fact known by the plaintiff.” No. 17-10434 (April 4, 2018, unpublished).