Reference no: EM133573954

Sonny Corleone has long been interested in developing a chain of boutique electric scooter sales and repair outlets in Perth's western suburbs, as he feels the location offered a business opportunity and the lifestyle he was accustomed to. He had previously owned a small escooter sales/repair store in Subiaco which had appealed to local people in particular due to the quiet ambience and small size rather than larger, busier and formulaic escooter retailers/repairers. Although often challenging, Sonny enjoyed the experience of owning a business and interacting with customers. In particular, he likes helping protect the environment which riding escooters promotes. After contacting several local real estate companies, Sonny has decided to engage prominent estate agent, Fredo, who has built up a long standing, solid reputation and is a multiple industry award recipient. He enquired of Fredo whether he knew of any suitable building sites listed for sale where Sonny's preferred developments could be sited. Sonny required each site to be at least 150 square metres in size for construction purposes and he also needed to ensure that there would not be any significant zoning or approval restrictions which would add expense and time delays to the process. Sonny was confident that Fredo is the right agent to streamline the purchasing process and sent him an email outlining his requirements. The following day, Fredo emailed Sonny and said that once he located the right sites, the construction would be little more than a formality as he was an expert in the local area zoning and other council requirements and there would not be delays or added costs. He sent a follow up email the next morning with 3 recommended sites in Sonny's preferred areas. As the purchase cost of the land holdings would be significant, Sonny advised his accountant, Tom Hagen, to proceed and buy the sites Fredo had recommended in Subiaco, Daglish and Shenton Park which were all ideally sized at between 150 and 200 square metres. Within nine months however, Sonny was caught up in financial distress due to a series of expensive legal actions against the local area council in each of the three suburbs due to administrative obstacles involving zoning issues. As a result, Sonny is now at real risk of bankruptcy due to the resulting delays and legal expenses that have occurred.

Question: Using the 4-step process, advise Sonny on whether he can sue Fredo for negligent misstatement for his comments about the sites and whether you think he can succeed.