Bailment in United States

Bailment Definition

(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 extending 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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(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 extending 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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This definition of Bailment is based on The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary. This entry needs to be proofread.

Practical Information

Note: Some of this information was last updated in 1982

A delivery of personal property for some particular purpose, upon a contract, express or implied, that the property will be returned to the person delivering it after the accomplishment of the purpose for which it was delivered. An essential of the bailment is that return of the property is contemplated. The person delivering the property is a bailor; the person receiving it is a bailee. If under the terms of the contract the bailee is obligated to pay a sum of money instead of returning the goods, the obligation is a debt and not a bailment. Thus, a conditional sale is distinguished from a bailment, even though the contract calls the transaction a bailment. The parties to a consignment of goods expect that the goods will be sold for the account of or returned to the consignor; a consignment is therefore considered a bailment. A bailee is liable for breach of his or her contract to keep the property in a particular manner in a particular place for a particular purpose. The following transactions are bailments: lease of a car for hire, deposit of goods for storage or safekeeping, and pledge of stocks as collateral. Title to the property remains in the bailor.

(Revised by Ann De Vries)

What is Bailment?

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Basic Meaning of Bailment

Bailment means: a delivery of personal property by one person (the bailor) to another (the bailee) who holds the property for a certain purpose under an express or implied-in-fact contract.