Staying silent on purpose is deceit; and if both deceived, nobody indemnifies anybody

They are Articles 292, 293 and 294 of the Civil Code of 2020: what dolo grave is, what happens when a third party deceives, and when deceit only gives a right to damages.

Anyone who signed a contract because they were lied to, deliberately kept in the dark, or induced to believe something false.

• Dolo grave is the intentional act or omission by which a party or a third person induces another to execute an act they would not otherwise have made.Verified against the official source
• If the act or omission does not provoke the execution, the injured party may claim the damages they suffer.Verified against the official source
• If the deceit comes from a third party and one of the parties knows it, both are solidarily liable for the damages caused.Verified against the official source
• Incidental deceit does not invalidate the act, but its author must indemnify the damage caused.Verified against the official source
• Reciprocal deceit neither invalidates the act nor obliges anyone to compensate.Verified against the official source

• What you were told before signing, and also what you were not told, since Article 292 counts intentional omission.
• Proof that it was intentional, the adjective the article uses for the act or omission.
• If a third party was involved, proof of whether a party knew, since Article 293’s solidary liability turns on that.

1. 1

   Step 1: Count what they kept quiet too

   Article 292: dolo grave may be an intentional act or omission. No spoken lie is needed.

2. 2

   Step 2: Ask whether it made you sign

   The same article requires it induced you to execute an act you would not otherwise have made.

3. 3

   Step 3: If it did not make you sign, damages remain

   Second paragraph: if it does not provoke the execution, the injured party may claim the damages suffered.

4. 4

   Step 4: See who deceived

   Article 292’s definition includes a third person, not only the other party to the contract.

5. 5

   Step 5: And whether the other party knew

   Article 293: the third party and the party who knew are solidarily liable for the damages caused.

6. 6

   Step 6: Incidental deceit only yields money

   Article 294: it does not invalidate the act, but its author must indemnify the damage caused.

7. 7

   Step 7: If both deceived, there is nothing

   Same article: reciprocal deceit neither invalidates the act nor obliges anyone to compensate.

These three articles describe no procedure before any agency. The Code defines dolo grave here, but uses incidental deceit and reciprocal deceit without defining either, and this guide does not define them for it. Nor does it say what silence a party is obliged to break, or when staying quiet stops being lawful. Article 293 allocates damages and nothing more: it does not say whether the act may be voided when the deceit came from a third party the other side did not know about, and that question is left open here. And it does not say who may sue, before which forum, with what pleading, at what fee or within what deadline. None of those gaps is filled here.

• Believing a spoken lie is needed: Article 292 also counts intentional omission.
• Forgetting the deceit must have induced you to execute the act.
• Dropping the case because a third party deceived: Article 292’s definition includes them.
• Reading Article 293 as if it decided the contract’s fate: it allocates damages and nothing more.
• Expecting annulment for incidental deceit: Article 294 says it does not invalidate the act.
• Suing when you concealed something too: reciprocal deceit neither invalidates nor obliges compensation.
• Looking in the Code for a definition of incidental or reciprocal deceit: it uses both terms undefined.
• Giving up because the deceit did not make you sign: Article 292’s second paragraph leaves the damages.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov