Business Law Chapter 48: Personal Property and Bailments

Real property

(sometimes called realty or real estate) means the land and everything permanently attached to it

Personal property can be acquired by..

- purchase - will or inheritance - possession - production - gift - accession - confusion

Duty of Bailee

-Must take proper care of the bailed property -Surrender bailed property to bailor or dispose of it as stated in bailor's instructions **Bailee who fails to return/dispose bailed property= negligent

Duty of Bailor

-compensate bailee as agreed -notify bailee of all defects known to or reasonably discoverable by bailor

Three types of ordinary bailments

1. Bailment for sole benefit of bailor 2. Bailment for sole benefit of bailee 3. Bailment for mutual benefit of bailee or and bailor

An effective gift is made when the following three requirements are met

1. Intent 2. Delivery 3. Acceptance

Elements of Bailment

1. Personal Property 2. Delivery of possession (without title) 3. Agreement that the property will be returned to the bailor or otherwise disposed of according to its owner's directions

Gift inter vivos

A gift made during one's lifetime

Gift Causa Mortis

A gift made in contemplation of imminent death. The gift is revoked if the donor does not die as contemplated.

Bailment for the sole benefit of the bailee

A gratuitous bailment that benefits only the bailee. The bailee owes a duty of utmost care to protect the bailed property.

Bailment for the Sole Benefit of the Bailor

A gratuitous bailment that benefits only the bailor. The bailee owes only a duty of slight care to protect the bailed property.

Exceptions to Strict Liability

Exceptions: Act of God, Escape caused by third party's actions, Escape was deliberate act of an outside party, Implied or express consent by third party, or Statute.

bailment agreement

May be either expresses or implied, can be either written or oral and may be implied from the circumstances. Under the Statute of Frauds, must be in writing if it is for more than a year.

Right to use bailed property

Right can be limited by agreement

Right of Possession

Right to hold and keep property

innkeeper

Someone who offers lodging to the public.

Example of intangible personal property

Stocks, bonds, patents, trademarks, and copyrights

Strict Liability

The legal responsibility for damage or injury even if you are not negligent

Estate of Piper

This classic case illustrates the delivery requirement for making a gift. No effective gift of the rings had been made because Piper had never delivered the rings to Kauffman.

right to limit liability

a contracted agreement that specifies the damages that one party will be obligated to provide to the other under terms and conditions stipulated in the contract.

Example of tangible personal property

a flat screen TV, heavy construction equipment, or a car.

Testamentary Gift

a gift made by will

Gift

a voluntary transfer of property ownership for which no consideration is given

Common Carrier

any carrier required by law to convey passengers or freight without refusal if the approved fare or charge is paid (airline, train, etc.)

Production

any product or item produced by an individual (with minor exceptions) becomes the property of that individual

A finder of lost property..

can claim title to the property against the whole world - except the true owner.

Property

consists of the legally protected rights and interests a person has in anything with an ascertainable value that is subject to ownership

The person who finds mislaid property..

does not obtain title to the goods, instead the owner of the place where the property was mislaid becomes the caretaker of the property because it is highly likely the owner will return.

Estray Statute

encourage and facilitate the return of property to its true owner and reward the finder for honesty if the property remains unclaimed

Tangible personal property

includes anything that has physical substance

In the case of a bailment for ____ _____, the bailee is under a duty to exercise ordinary care for the protection of the bailed property.

mutual benefit

Possession

ownership may be acquired by possession if no other person has ownership title

Donee

person receiving a gift

Abandoned Property

property that has been discarded by the owner, who has no intention of reclaiming title to it

Mislaid Property

property that has been voluntarily placed somewhere by the owner and then inadvertently forgotten

Lost Property

property that is involuntarily left

Personal property

property that is movable; any property that is not real property

Intangible personal property

represents some set of rights and interests, but it has no real physical existence.

Acceptance

the gift is accepted by the donee or the donee's again

Delivery

the gift is delivered (physically or constructively) to the done or the donee's agent

Bailee

the party who acquires possession, but not the title, of personal property by one party to another, under agreement

Bailor

the party who gives up possession, but not the title, of personal property in a bailment

Donor

the person who donates property to benefit another

Bailments

the temporary transfer of personal property by one party (the bailor) to another (the bailee)

bailment for mutual benefit

the transfer of possession, but not ownership, of goods by one person, the bailor to another person, the bailee, where the bailee is compensated for keeping the goods and the bailor also receives some type of benefit.

Donative Intent

there is evidence if intent to make a gift of the property in question

Purchase

to buy, the most common means of acquiring ownership in personal property

Right to Compensation

unless otherwise agreed, no partner is entitled to payment for acting in the partnership business

Conversion of Lost Property

when a finder of lost property knows the true owner and fails to return the property to that person, the finder is guilty of the tort of conversion

Constructive delivery

when the physical object itself cannot be delivered, a symbolic, or constructive delivery will be sufficient. Confers the right to take actual possession.