A material representation refers to information, a statement, future action, etc., made by one person in order to persuade another person to enter into a legal contract of some degree. Material representations are very important in contract law because material misrepresentations are cause for being sued in the United States.
Material representation is something that the average person would attach importance to when deciding to enter into a contract with another person. When courts are looking into whether something was a material interest, the court will generally attempt to decide whether a person would not have entered into a contact but for a specific material representation. If a court finds this to be the case, and the court also finds that the person on the other end of the contract was lying about the material representation, then the contact can be voidable without penalty.