Dolo causante is the use of insidious words or machinations by one contracting party to induce the other party to enter into a contract. Without such inducement, the other party would not have agreed to the contract. It is a kind of fraud that is material and serious, and it is the real cause that induces consent. Fraud (dolo) may be past or future, but liability for past fraud may be waived; this is not so for future fraud. Fraud is classified as dolo causante (causal fraud) or dolo incidente (incidental fraud).

The requisites of dolo causante are:

• The fraud must be material and serious.
• It must be the primary cause that induced the consent of the other party.
• The fraud must have been employed by only one of the contracting parties.
• There must be a deliberate intent to deceive or induce consent; misrepresentation in good faith is not fraud.
• The other party must have relied on the untrue statement and must not have been guilty of negligence in ascertaining the truth.

Distinction from Dolo Incidente

Dolo causante is fraud that is serious in character and is the cause which induces the other party into the contract. Dolo incidente (incidental fraud) refers to those deceptions that are not serious in character and without which the other party would still have entered into the contract.