Rattray v. Scudder

In Rattray v. Scudder (1946) 28 Cal.2d 214, a real estate agent failed to disclose to his principal, a seller, that he was the buyer. The court quoted the Restatement of Agency, section 390, comment a, which has to do with the duty of an agent to disclose to his principal that he is dealing on his own account and states that "'the disclosure must include . . . all other facts which he should realize have or are likely to have a bearing upon the desirability of the transaction from the viewpoint of the principal.'" (28 Cal.2d at pp. 224-225.) The court also said that an agent who stands in relation to his principal as a trustee to his beneficiary is "charged with the duty of fullest disclosure of all material facts concerning the transaction that might affect the principal's decision." ( Id. , at p. 223.) Facts are material "'which the agent should realize would be likely to affect the judgment of the principal in giving his consent to the agent to enter into the particular transaction on the specified terms.'" ( Id. , at p. 224.)