In Bartlett v. Schmidt, 33 S.W.3d 35 (Tex. App.--Corpus Christi 2000, pet. denied), a seller of real estate knowingly misrepresented to a buyer that a property had no restrictions on commercial use when in fact it was restricted to residential use only. See 33 S.W.3d at 36-37. The buyer obtained the same misinformation from the title company and then confirmed his understanding of the lack of restrictions with his attorney. See id. at 37. After buying the property and commencing construction for a shipbuilding enterprise, the buyer learned of the existing restrictions on the property. See id. The court held that the buyer could not recover for either fraud or negligent misrepresentation because reliance on representations is not present where the plaintiff "conducts an independent investigation into the matters covered by the representations, which is sufficient to inform him of the truth, and which is not interfered with or rendered nugatory by any act of any other party." Id. at 38.