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Understanding Commodatum Contracts

This document discusses the contract of commodatum under Philippine law. It defines commodatum as a unilateral, gratuitous contract where one party loans something to another for temporary use. Commodatum can involve either consumable or non-consumable goods. The bailee is responsible for ordinary expenses of use and preservation but is generally not liable for fortuitous loss, unless they acted in bad faith, were delayed, or the parties intended them to be liable. Jurisprudence has established that the bailee can also be liable for loss if they keep the item longer than stipulated or if its value was appraised unless exempted from responsibility for fortuitous events.

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388 views2 pages

Understanding Commodatum Contracts

This document discusses the contract of commodatum under Philippine law. It defines commodatum as a unilateral, gratuitous contract where one party loans something to another for temporary use. Commodatum can involve either consumable or non-consumable goods. The bailee is responsible for ordinary expenses of use and preservation but is generally not liable for fortuitous loss, unless they acted in bad faith, were delayed, or the parties intended them to be liable. Jurisprudence has established that the bailee can also be liable for loss if they keep the item longer than stipulated or if its value was appraised unless exempted from responsibility for fortuitous events.

Uploaded by

Lari dela Rosa
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Subject matter of the contract
  • Kinds of Commodatum
  • Characteristics
  • Jurisprudence
  • Obligations of the Bailee

Chapter 1.

— Commodatum

1. Characteristics

 Real contract
 Unilateral contract
 Essentially gratuitous 
 Purpose is to transfer the temporary use of the thing loaned
 Principal contract
 Purely personal contract 1

2. Kinds of Commodatum
a. Ordinary
- bailor cannot  just demand the return of the thing at  will
- because there is a period agreed  upon by the parties2

b. Precarium
- bailor  may demand the thing loaned at will in  the following cases:
i. duration of the contract  had not been stipulated; 
ii. use to which the thing  loaned should be devoted had 
not been stipulated; or
iii. use  of  the  thing  is  merely  by  tolerance  of  the  owner 3

3. Subject matter of the contract

In commodatum, the subject matter is generally non-consumable things,


whether real or personal.

However, if the purpose of the contract is not the consumption of the object as
when it is merely for exhibition, consumable goods may be the subject of the
commodatum. 4

JURISPRUDENCE:
OBJECT: Consumable goods may be the subject of commodatum if the purpose of the contract
is not the consumption of the object, as when it is merely for exhibition. 5

4. Obligations of the Bailee


a. Liability for ordinary expenses

1
1939
2
Art. 1933
3
Art. 1947
4
Art. 1936 & 1937
5
Producers Bank of the Philippines Vs. Court Of Appeals, G.R. No. 115324, February 19, 2003
The borrower should defray the expenses for the use and preservation
of the thing loaned for after all, he acquires the use of the same, and he is
supposed to return the identical thing.6

b. Liability for the loss of the thing due to fortuitous event


As a general rule, the bailee is not liable for loss or damage due to a
fortuitous event. The following are the instances when the bailee is liable even for
a loss due to a fortuitous event.7

 the bailee acts in bad faith


 he incurs in delay
 the law presumes that the parties intended that the borrower shall be liable for
the loss of the thing
 commodatum is purely personal
 the bailee shows his ingratitude8

JURISPRUDENCE:
LIABILITY FOR LOSS. A bailee in a contract of commodatum is liable for loss of the thing, even
if it should be through a fortuitous event: (2) If he keeps it longer than the period stipulated (3)
If the thing loaned has been delivered with appraisal of its value, unless there is a stipulation
exempting the bailee from responsibility in case of a fortuitous event. 9

6
Page 18, Comments and Cases on Credit Transaction by De Leon
7
Art. 1174
8
Art. 1942
9
Republic of the Philippines vs. Bagtas, G.R. No. L-17474, October 25, 1962

Chapter 1. — Commodatum 1. Characteristics  Real contract  Unilateral contract  Essentially gratuitous   Purpose is to t
The borrower should defray the expenses for the use and preservation of the thing loaned for after all, he acquires the use

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