Azam and others purchased homes from Schottenstein. They later sued the developer on grounds that one of its agents falsely told them that parcels of land near their homes were part of a nature preserve. In fact, these parcels were already scheduled for further development, a fact reflected in the public records of Palm Beach County. Azam and the others sued on a variety of grounds, including fraud. Schottenstein filed a motion to dismiss the claims on grounds that the purchasers should have checked the public record. The trial judge agreed. On appeal, the Fourth District Court reversed dismissal of the fraud claim.