Potential Limitations

The California cases  have  already  started to define limitations. Failure to Read a Contract -    In River­ island, the lender claimed that the borrowers' admitted failure to read the contract should have prevented them from demonstrating reasonable reliance as a matter  of law. Since the claim was not addressed in the lower courts, the Supreme Court declined to address the claim. However, in a footnote at the end of the opinion, the Court noted that small business lawyers it has already held that a failure to read a contract ,1,ill preclude a claim for fraud in the execution, but that since the issue is not currently before the Court, it is not expressing any view on the "validity" and "exact parameters" of a "more lenient rule that has been applied" to promissory fraud claims. (Id., fn. 11.)

Any limitation is not likely to be absolute, however, as evidenced by Doe v. Gangland Productions, Inc. (9th Cir. 2013) 730 F.3d 946, 957-958, which allowed a claim of fraud despite the plaintiff's failure to have read the contract at issue. There, the plaintiff alleged fraud in both the execution and inducement of a television release, and ,vas able to over-

come a SLAPP motion to dismiss the claim, even though he did not read the release before signing, based on allegations that he was dyslexic, illiterate, told the defendant he had an extremely difficult time reading, and was told by the defendant that the document he was signing was just a receipt for the $300 payment he was receiving for his interview, so the plaintiff decided not to have his girlfriend read the release to him who should be barred from introducing parol evidence of fraud.. .is not as simple as defendants suggest." (Julius Castle, 216 Cal.App. 4th at pp. 1441-1442.)

Thus, the sophistication of the parties is a factor, and a potentially complex one, in determining the reasonableness of a party's conduct, in which the more sophisticated a party, the more stringently reliant will likely be  judged,  as in Thief)y.

Bargaining Power - Similarly, relief is not  limited  to  parties  in  weak   bargaining positions, such as in "contracts of  adhesion."

Failure to Investigate - Although so far not specifically addressed, by extension, it is also reasonable to assume that a complete failure to undertake any investigation will not necessarily preclude relief. For example, a party may be excused if legally incapable or lacking the ability or resources to do so, or where there is no duty to investigate representations by a fiduciary. (Davis ?J. Kahn (1970) 7 Cal.App.3d 868, 878.)

Setoff, Refonnation,  and  Rescission - Although, technically, the fraud exception to the parol evidence rule may not be applied. 

 As a result, the landlord prevailed on its contract claim, and the restaurant prevailed on its fraud claim, resulting in a setoff and an approximate $150,000 net judgment. That result should be avoidable, however, as in Thrifty, in which the court held that sufficient facts had been pleaded to support a reformation claim based on the "mutual mistake" created by the same facts as the alleged fraud. A reformation claim based on mutual mistake was also asserted but not addressed in Riveris/£md. A rescission claim would also seem a fable option to avoid this result.

- Other Jurisdictions -

Other states have also recognized limitations that could find acceptance here. 

Integration Clauses and Settlements - Texas has limited challenges to integration clauses in settlement agreements, since designed to end disputes, if they contain a "clear and unequivocal" disclaimer of reliance, and the agreement is the product of arm's-length negotiations between sophisticated parties represented by competent counsel (Italian Cowboy Partners, Ltd. v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am. (Tex. 2011) 341 S.W.3d 323.) The analysis has also been applied in other contexts, including a residential lease.