BAILMENT - Black's Law Dictionary

A delivery of goods or personal property, by one person to another, in trust for the execution of a special object upon or in relation to such goods, beneficial either to the bailor or bailee or both, and upon a contract, express or implied, to perform the trust and carry out such object, and thereupon either to redeliver the goods to the bailor or otherwise dispose of the same in conformity with the purpose of the trust. Fulcher v. State, 32 Tex.Cr.R. 621, 25 S.W. 625.

A delivery of goods for some purpose, upon a contract, express or implied, that after the purpose has been ful filled they shall be redelivered to the bailor, or otherwise dealt with according to his direction, or kept until reclaimed. In re George L. Nadell & Co., 294 Mich. 150, 292 N.W. 684, 686. A delivery of something of a personal nature by one party to another to be held according to the purpose or object of the delivery and to be returned or delivered over when that purpose is accomplished. Hardin v.Tex.Civ.A ^pp.. 54 S.W.2d 189, 190; Hogan v. O'Brien, 206 N.Y.S. 831, 833, 123 Misc. 865. The term "bailment" is derived from the French word "bailler," meaning "to deliver." It imports a delivery of personal property by one person to another m trust for a specific purpose, with a contract, expressed o implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed and the property re- turned or duly accounted for when the specific purpose is accomplished or kept until bailor claims it. Common- wealth v. Polk, 256 Ky. 100, 75 S.W.2d 761, 764.

According to Story, the contract does not necessarily i mply an undertaking to redeliver the goods. On the other hand, Blac:istone, although his definition does not include the return, speaks of it in all his examples of bailments as a duty of the bailee; and Kent says that the application of the term to cases in which no return or redelivery to the owner or his agent is contemplated, is extending the definition of the term beyond its ordinary acceptation in English law. A consignment to a factor would be a bailment for sale, according to Story; while according to Kent it would not.

Classification

Sir William Jones has divided bailments into five sorts, namely: Depositum, or deposit; mandatum, or commission without recompense; commodatum, or loan for use without pay; pignori acceptum, or pawn; locatum, or hiring, which is always with reward. This last is subdivided into locatio rei, or hiring, by which the hirer gains a temporary use of the thing; locatio operis faciendi, when something is to be done to the thing delivered; locatio operis mercium vehendarum, when the thing is merely to be carried from one place to another. Jones, Bailm, 36.

Lord Holt divided bailments thus:

1. Depositum, or a naked bailment of goods, to be kept for the use of the bailor.
2. Commodatum. Where goods or chattels that are useful are lent to the bailee gratis, to be used by him.
3. Locatio rei. Where goods are lent to the bailee to be used by him for hire.
4. Vadium. Pawn or pledge.
5. Locatio operis faciendi. Where goods are delivered to be carried, or something is to be done about them, for a reward to be paid to the
6. Mandatum. A delivery of goods to somebody who is to carry them, or do something about them, gratis. 2 Ld. Raym. 909.

Another division, suggested by Bouvier as being a better general division for practical purposes, is as follows : First, those bailments which are for the benefit of the bailor, or of some person whom he represents; second, those for the benefit of the bailee, or some person represented by him; third, those which are for the benefit of both parties.

In General

—Bailment for hire. A contract in which the bailor agrees to pay an adequate recompense for the safe keeping of the thing intrusted to the custody of the bailee, and the bailee agrees to keep it and restore it on the request of the bailor, in the same condition substantially as he received it, excepting injury or loss from causes for which he is not responsible.

—Bailment for mutual benefit. One in which the parties contemplate some price or compensation in return for benefits flowing from the bailment, necessarily involving an express or implied agreement or undertaking to that effect. Armored Car Service, Inc. v. First Nat. Bank of Miami, Fla.App., 114 So.2d 431, 434. For example, delivery of automobile to one who, for a consideration, undertakes to repair it. Fox Chevrolet Sales, Inc. v. Middleton, to Use of Farm Bureau Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 99 A.2d 731, 732, 203 Md. 158, 43 A.L.R.2d 399.

—Actual bailment. One which exists where there is either (a) an "actual delivery," consisting in giving to the bailee or his agent the real possession of the chattel, or ( b) a "constructive delivery," consisting of any of those acts which, although not truly comprising real possession of the goods transferred, have been held by legal construction equivalent to acts of real delivery. Wentworth v. Riggs, 159 App.Div. 899, 143 N.Y.S.955, 956.

—Constructive bailment. One arising where the person having possession of a chattel holds it under such circumstances that the law imposes upon him the obligation to deliver it to another. Wentworth v. Riggs, 159 App.Div. 899, 143 N.Y.S. 955, 956. See, also, Involuntary bailment, infra.

—Gratuitous bailment. Another name for a depositum or naked bailment, which is made only for the benefit of the bailor and is not a source of profit to the bailee. Foster v. Essex Bank, 17 Mass. 499, 9 Am.Dec. 168.

—Involuntary bailment. One arising by the accidental leaving of personal property in the possession of any person without negligence on the part of its owner. Grossman Co. v. White, 52 Okl. 117, 152 P. 816, 817

A "bailment" Is created by the element of lawful possession and the duty to act for the thing as the property of another, whether such possession is based on contract in the ordinary sense or not. Foulke v. New York Consol.

1384. Co., 228 N.Y. 269, 127 N.E. 237, 239, 9 A.L.R. 1384. SeeConstructive bailment, supra.

 —Lucrative bailment. One which is undertaken upon a consideration and for which a payment or recompense is to be made to the bailee, or from which he is to derive some advantage. Prince v. Alabama State Fair, 106 Ala. 340, 17 So. 449, 28 L.R.A. 716.

—Bailment lease. A legal metnod by which one desiring to purchase an article but unable to pay therefor at the time, may secure possession thereof with the right to use and enjoy it as long as he pays stipulated rentals and becomes absolute owner after completing such installment payments, on payment of an additional sum which may be nominal. In re Robinson, D.C.Pa., 40 F. Supp. 320, 322, 323.

Bailments as Distinguished from Other Transactions

—Chattel mortgages. A radical distinction between a bailment and a chattel mortgage is that, by a mortgage, the title is transferred to the mortgagee, subject to be revested by performance of the condition, but, in case of a bailment, the bailor retains the title and parts with the possession for a special purpose. Walker v. Staples, 5 Allen (Mass.) 34.

—Debt. The distinction between an obligation to restore the specific thing received, or of returning others of equal value, is the distinction between a "bailment" and a "debt." Alamitos Land Co. v. Texas Co., 11 Cal.App.2d 614, 54 P.2d 489, 491.

—Exchanges. An agreement by which A is to let B have a horse, in consideration that B will let A have another horse, creates an exchange, not a bailment. Austin v. Seligman, C.C.N.Y., 21 Blatchf. 506, 18 Fed. 519.

—Partnerships. Where animals are delivered to be taken care of for a certain time, and at the expiration of that time the same number of animals is to be returned, and any increase is to be enjoyed by both parties, there is a bailment, not a partnership. Simmons v. Shaft, 91 Kan. 553, 138 ,614, 615.

—Sales. The test of a bailment is that the identical thing is to be returned in the same or in some altered form; if another thing of equal value is to be returned, the transaction is a sale. Sturm v. Boker, 14 S.Ct. 99, 150 U.S. 312, 37 L.Ed. 1093; Borman v. U. S., C.C.A.N.Y., 262 F. 26, 29.

Conditional sale. Contemplates that at some time the title shall pass to the purchaser and that he shall pay the purchase price, while a "bailment" contemplates that the title shall not pass to the bailee, but remain in the bailor, and that the property shall be returned to the bailor. Vermont Acceptance Corporation v. Wiltshire, 103 Vt. 219, 153 199, 200, 73 A.L.R. 792.

—.Trusts. The passing of the legal title from the owner to the party to whom personal property is delivered distinguishes a "trust" from a bailment. National Cattle Loan Co. v. Ward, 113 Tex. 312, 255 S.W. 160, 164; McIntyre v. Smith, 154 Md. 660, 141 A. 405, 410.

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