The failure to disclose an issue with real estate is a violation of many common law and statutory duties under Texas law. Perhaps most powerfully, it is a violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. A DTPA claim does not even require that the buyer prove the seller acted knowingly or intentionally. Instead, the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act only requires that the misrepresentation was false and that the false misrepresentation caused the buyer’s damages.
In real estate cases, Texas Deceptive Trade Practices claims can be asserted in connection with the failure to disclose issues with real estate. These types of cases can often provide judgments and settlements of relatively large amounts because of various statutory provisions that allow for the recovery of attorney’s fees, up to 3x actual damages and other provisions that can increase recoveries.