Lionel Malcolm is a real estate agent representing seller Morty Rosenbaum. Morty tells Lionel that he knows that the basement contains asbestos and that Morty and his wife are unable to pay for the costly removal process. Instead, Lionel frantically tells Morty to keep this information under the lid. Morty agrees. Since state law requires that the seller disclose the presence of asbestos, Lionel and his hapless clients are committing fraud by failing to disclose a material defect in an attempt to trick someone into buying the defective home at full market price.