Case Study Strauder V Allsright Essay Example

bailee must take reasonable care of the bailed property.

Bailment duties generally include the duty of reasonable care and the duty to return the property. A bailee who fails to do so may be held liable for any damages incurred from his or her Negligence. When a bailor receives the sole benefit from the bailment, the bailee has a lesser duty to care for the property and is financially responsible only if he or she has been grossly negligent or has acted in bad faith in taking care of the property. Once the purpose of the bailment has been completed, the bailee usually must return the property to the bailor, or account for it, depending upon the terms of the contract. Legal liability usually takes the form of monetary damages to compensate for the breach of the legal duty.

A requisite to the creation of a bailment is the express or implied acceptance of possession or control over the property by the bailee. A person cannot unwittingly become a bailee. Because a bailment is a contract, knowledge and acceptance of its terms are essential to its enforcement. (Cheeseman, 2010) Had the parking garage been closed when the plaintiff left his car, there would be no bailment created.

Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property is categories of the common law of property which deals with personal property which has left the possession of its rightful owner without having entered the possession of another person. Property can be considered lost, mislaid or abandoned.

Property is generally deemed to have been lost if it is found in a place where the true owner likely did

not intend to set it down, and where it is not likely to be found by the true owner. Property has been mislaid or misplaced if it is found in a place where the true owner likely did intend to set it, but then simply forgot. If property has been abandoned, it is found in a place where the owner likely intended to leave it, but is in such a condition that it is apparent that he or she has no intention of returning to claim it.

Let’s say Strauder’s car was old and in poor shape, the engine stalled so he pushed it into the parking garage of the defendant. The next morning he forgot where he had left his car. This could be a case of mislaid property.