An Innkeeper Is Liable for the Unknown Contents of Bailed Property Which He Could Reasonably Expect to Find Contained Within the Bailed Property

Date

1973

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Texas Tech Law Review

Abstract

The court in Caranas affirmed a district court ruling that found Shamrock Hilton Hotel (Hotel) liable for negligently delivering a customer’s purse, and its valuable contents, to the wrong person. The court reasoned a constructive bailment has been established by the Hotel based on imputed knowledge the purse contained valuable contents. The author comments that, Caranas is significant because it extends the bailee’s duty of care to include property which he can reasonably expect to find contained within bailed property. As a result, based on the surrounding circumstances, the author notes, knowledge can be imputed, and bailors can recover for loss of expensive items regardless if the bailee knew the value of the bailed property.

Description

Keywords

Bail, Bailment, Innkeeper, Imputed knowledge, Duty of care, Loss of property, Shamrock Hilton Hotel v. Caranas, Case note

Citation

5 Tex. Tech L. Rev. 141