Bailments  A bailment is formed by the delivery of personal property without transfer of title by one person (called a bailor) to another (called the bailee). Bailment agreements usually are made for a particular purpose, for example, to loan, lease, store, repair, or transport the property.

Ordinary BailmentsOrdinary Bailments  Bailments are either ordinary or special, there are three types of ordinary bailments. They are distinguished according to which party receives a benefit from the bailment.  A. Bailment for the sole benefit of the bailor.  B. Bailment for the sole benefit of the bailee.  C. Bailment for the mutual benefit of the bailor and bailee.

A. Benefit for the Sole Benefit of the Bailor  The bailment is for the convenience and benefit of the bailor. Therefore the bailee is caring for the bailor’s property as a favor, therefore the bailee owes only a slight duty of care and will be liable only if grossly negligent in caring for the property.

B. Bailment for the Sole Benefit of the Bailee  The bailor typically lends an article to a person (the bailee) solely for the person’s convenience and benefit. Because the bailee is borrowing the item for her or his own benefit, the bailee owes a duty to exersice the utmost care and will be liable for even slight negligence.

Example:  Discuss the standard of care required from the bailee for the bailed property in the following situations, and determine whether the bailee breached that duty.  A. Benedetto borrows Tom's lawn mower because his own law mower needs repair. Benedetto mows his front yard. To mow the backyard, he needs to move some hoses and lawn furniture. He leaves the mower in front of his house while doing so. When he returns, he discovers that the mower has been stolen.

Example AExample A  We can determine that in example (A) a Benefit for the sole benefit of the Bailee was created,and also we can demonstrate that a negligence action was created when the bailee left the lawn mower without supervision of the item; he is liable for the stolen item.

Example  B. Atka owns a valuable speedboat. She is going on vacation and asks her neighbor, Regina, to store the boat in one stall of Regina's double garage. Regina consents,, and the boat is moved into the garage. Regina, in need of some grocery items for dinner drives to the store. When doing so, she leaves the garage door open, as is her custom. While she is at the store the speedboat is stolen.

Example BExample B  We can determine in example (B) a Bailment for the Sole Benefit of The Bailor was created, and also we can identify that also in this example negligence is the reason of liability for the bailee, because she left her garage door open, even when is inside of her property and even when the rule state that “only a slight duty of care and will be liable only if grossly negligent in caring for the property” as how it happened in this example. Bailee would not have been liable if she were aware that her garage door were open.