Is a county liable for erroneously advising home purchasers that their property is above the floodplain? Vaa v. Clay County (Minn. App. A04-311) (November 10, 2004) (unpublished). Homeowners Galen and Sharon Vaa sued Clay County after being erroneously informed by the County planning director, pursuant to a home purchase, that their property was above the 100-year Red River floodplain. The Court of Appeals ruled that the County was not liable for negligent misrepresentation because in rendering his opinion, the planning director assumed no duty toward plaintiffs. First, no professional duty of care was created because the planning director was not compensated. Second, the “public duty” doctrine was not implicated because the planning director was not obligated by his position to provide the opinion. Third, the homeowners could have determined whether their property was in the floodplain through other means such as a survey, and a claim of negligent misrepresentation of fact against a governmental representative is not actionable when the requested information is available through other means of which the requesting party is aware. Full text of ruling
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