Name and briefly describe the special features or extraordinary duties of five special types of bailments

Answer 1

Five special types of bailments are or involve pledges, warehousing, safe deposit boxes, innkeepers, and common carriers. A pledge is a bailment for security in which the owner gives possession of his personal property to another to secure a debt or the performance of some obligation. In most respects, the secured party's duties and liabilities are the same as those of a bailee for compensation. A warehouser is a bailee who, for compensation, receives goods to be stored in a warehouse. Warehousers are subject to extensive state and federal regulation. A majority of states hold that a person who rents a safe deposit box from a bank enters into a bailment relationship. The bailee bank owes the customer the duty to act with ordinary due care and is liable only if negligent. Innkeepers and common carriers are said to be extraordinary bailees. At common law, innkeepers are held to strict or absolute liability for their guests' belongings, as are common carriers for the goods they carry. Today, in most jurisdictions, case law and statute have substantially modified the innkeeper's strict liability under common law. A common carrier's liability approaches that of an insurer of the safety of the goods, except when loss or damage is caused by an act of God, an act of a public enemy, the acts or fault of the shipper, the inherent nature of or a defect in the goods, or an act of public authority. The carrier is permitted, through its contract with the shipper, to limit its liability, provided the carrier gives the shipper notice of the limitation and the opportunity to declare a higher value for the goods.