Legal Definition and Related Resources of Bailment

A delivery of personal property for some purpose, upon a contract express or implied , that after the purpose is accomplished the personal property shall be returned to the bailor or disposed of according to his direction. Rich v Touche Ross & Co., 415 F. Supp. 95 (D.C.N. Y.); Smalich v Westfall, 269 A.2d 476, 440 Pa. 409. To constitute bailment there must be an existing subject matter, a contract with ref-erence to it which involves possession of same by the bailee , delivery, actual or constructive to the bailee, and acceptance , actual or constructive, of such delivery by the bailee. See Broodview Apartments Co. v Baughman, 350 A.2d 707. Thus, bailment constitutes rightful possession by one who is not owner . Includes goods delivered to another for alteration or repair . A bailment may be for the sole benefit of the bailor, or for sole benefit of bailee, or for benefit of both parties . A bailment for the sole benefit of the bailor was called, at common law , depositum. A bailment for benefit of both parties is one wherein a person gives to another temporary use and possession of property, other than money , for a reward, the latter agreeing to return property to former at a future time. See Godfrey v City of Flint, 279 N. W. 516, 284 Mich. 291. This form of bailment was known as locatio rei or locatio et conducto. A bailment for gratuitous use is when chattels are loaned for no compensation for the sole benefit and use of borrower who is to return specific chattels loaned to the bailor. See Ruth v Hutchinson Gas Co., 209 Minn. 248. Another form of bailment is known as bailment for hire where personal property is left with the bailee to be carried or for something to be done on them for a compensation paid or to be paid by the bailor to the bailee. Thus, when clothes are deposited by a customer with a drycleaning establishment to be drycleaned, the relationship created between the parties is a bailment for hire. See Holden v Forkwood, 92 So.2d 768. This form of bailment was known in common law as locatio operis,faciendi. In the case of bailment for hire, the bailee is liable for injuries or damage to the property resulting from his failure to exercise due care in its preservation.At common law, in addition to the above, there is also a bare naked bailment known as depositum which consists of the bare delivery of goods by one person to another to keep for the benefit of the bailor; manda-tum which consists of goods delivered to be carried or for something to be done on them gratis , that is without compensation for such work or carriage ; and vadium , being a form of pledge or pawn where goods are left with the lender by the borrower as security for money borrowed.

(Fr. hailler, to put into the hands of; to deliver). 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. Prof. Joel Parker, MSS. Lect. Dane Law School, Harvard Coll. 1851. The right to hold may terminate, and a duty of restoration may arise, before the accomplishment of the purpose, but that does not necessarily enter into the definition, because such duty of restoration was not the original purpose of the delivery, but arises upon a subsequent contingency. The party delivering the thing is called the “bailor;” the party receiving it, the “bailee.” It is distinguished from a sale by the fact that in bailment only the right of possession, and not the title, is transferred. Benj. Sales, i§ 1, 2. Various attempts have been made to give a precise definition of this term, upon some of which there have been elaborate criticisms. See Story, Bailm. (4th Ed.) § 2, note 1, exemplifying the maxim. Omnia definitio in lege periculosa est. Some of these definitions are here given as illustrating more completely than is possible in any other way the elements considered necessary to a bailment by the different authors cited. A delivery of a thing in trust for some special object or purpose, and upon a contract, express or implied, to conform to the object or purpose of the trust. Story, Bailm. § 2. See Merlin, Repert. “Bail.” A delivery of goods in trust upon a contract, either expressed or implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed on the part of the bailee. 2 Bl. Comm. 451. See Id. 395. A delivery of goods in trust on a contract, tract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be duly executed, and the goods restored by the bailee as soon as the purposes of the bailment shall be answered. 2 Kent, Comm. 569. A delivery of goods on a condition, express or implied, that they shall be restored by the bailee to the bailor, or according to his directions, as soon as the purpose for which they are bailed shall be answered. Jones, Bailm. 1. A delivery of goods in trust on a contract, either expressed or implied, that the trust shall be duly executed, and the goods redelivered as soon as the time or use for which they were bailed shall have elapsed or be performed. Jones, Bailm. 117. According to Story, the contract does not necessarily imply an undertaking to redeliver the goods; and the first definition of Jones here given would seem to allow of a similar conclusion. On the other hand, Blackstone, 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 delivery or redelivery to the owner or his agent isi contemplated, is extendi
ng the definition of the term beyond its ordinary acceptation in the English law. A consignment to a factor would be a bailment for sale, according to Story, while according to Kent it would not be included under the term “bailment.” Sir William Jones has divided bailments into five sorts, namely, depositum, or deposit; mdndatum, 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 merdum vehendarum, when the thing is merely to be carried from one place to another. Jones, Bailm. 36. Lord Holt divides them into six classes: Depositum, or deposit for keeping for the benefit of the bailor; commodatum, or gratuitous loan; locatio rei, or letting for hire; vadium., pledge or pawn; locatio operis faciendi, or delivery that something may be done upon the chattels by the bailee for hire; mandatum, or mandate, a delivery that something may be done upon the chattels by the bailee gratuitously. 2 Ld. Raym. 909. A better general division, however, for practical purposes, suggested, but not adopted, by Story (Bailm. §§ 4-8), and first adopted by Schouler (Bailm. §14), is into three kinds: First, those bailments which are for the benefit of the bailor, or for 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.

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Bailment in Historical Law

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Bailee, Bailor, Consignment, Deposit, , Mandate, , Pledge, Special Deposit, Special Interest.

What does Bailment mean in American Law?

The definition of Bailment in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

What in law is called a bailment is in life a very common happening: Jones owns or at least has a right to possession of some item of personal property. He gives it into the physical possession of Smith. There thus arises a split between Jones”s title or right and Smith”s actual physical possession. Jones did not transfer the thing to Smith as a gift, or in payment of a debt, or sell it or rent it to Smith, nor did Smith find it, or steal it, or otherwise improperly come into possession of it. It is still “Jones”s thing,” but Smith rightfully has it. To put the matter in legal terms, Jones, the “bailor,” has made a “bailment” of the thing to the “bailee,” Smith.

Obviously, a law of bailments must be developed to cope with such things as what happens when the bailee won”t give the thing back, or gives it to someone other than the bailor, or harms or destroys the thing, or it is harmed or destroyed in his possession (with or without his negligence), or the bailor won”t carry out some promise made in connection with the bailment, and so on. Such a wide variety of practical problems will certainly need some set of legal answers.

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This definition of Bailment Is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This definition needs to be proofread..

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English Legal System: Bailment

In the context of the English law, A Dictionary of Law provides the following legal concept of Bailment :

The transfer of the possession of goods by the owner (the bailor) to another (the bailee) for a particular purpose. Examples of bailments are the hiring of goods, the loan of goods, the pledge of goods, and the delivery of goods for carriage, safe custody, or repair. Ownership of the goods remains in the bailor, who has the right to demand their return or direct their disposal at the end of the period (if any) fixed for the bailment or (if no period is fixed) at will. This right will, however, be qualified by any *lien the bailee may have over the goods. Bailment exists independently of contract. But if the bailor receives payment for the bailment (a bailment for reward) there is often an express contract setting out the rights and obligations of the parties. A bailment
for which the bailor receives no reward (e.g. the loan of a book to a friend) is called a gratuitous bailment.

Bailment