A relationship of bailment may occur when you leave your suit with the dry cleaners or leave your car with an attendant in a parking lot. You are the bailor and the owner of the dry cleaners or of the parking lot is the bailee. The law of bailment arises in any circumstances when there is a delivery of personal property by one person to another for a particular purpose with the intention that the personal property will be returned when the purpose for which the property was delivered is accomplished. It is not related to the term “bail.” In criminal law, bail is given as security for the temporary release of a prisoner pending trial.
In bailment, the personal property is in the custody of another person usually based on a payment of money. While in that person’s custody, the custodian is bound to use due care in keeping and preserving the property entrusted. The standard of care is higher than in a situation where the property is delivered to another person gratuitously, that is, for no reward at all. The standard is the standard that a careful and vigilant person would exercise in the custody of his or her own personal property of a similar description and character in similar circumstances.
Thus, when personal property, such as your suit, is damaged or lost while in the custody of the bailee, the onus is on the bailee, not the bailor, to prove either that he or she took appropriate care of the property or that the failure to do so did not contribute to the damage or loss. The bailee, however, is not an insurer. In the absence of negligence, there is no liability in a bailment relationship for damage to or loss of the property due to an accident or fire or due to the unauthorized acts of employees acting outside the scope of their employment.
The bailee also has another defence, usually arising in parking lot cases. The issue is whether the parking lot owner merely granted the car owner a license to park or assumed the responsibility of the safe custody of the car as a bailee. The circumstances under which car keys are transferred to a parking lot attendant are crucial to the issue. A ticket given by the attendant to the car owner stating, in writing, that “all cars are parked on the premises at the owners’ risk” may exonerate the parking lot owner.