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Chapter 42
Personal Property and Bailments
N.B.: TYPE indicates that a question is new, modified, or unchanged, as
follows.
N A question new to this edition of the Test Bank.
+ A question modified from the previous edition of the Test Bank,
= A question included in the previous edition of the Test Bank.
TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS
1. There are three categories of property.
2. Patents are not considered personal property.
3. A car is tangible personal property.
4. A copyright is tangible personal property.
5. Intangible personal property represents a set of rights and interests but has no
real physical existence.
2 UNIT SEVEN: PROPERTY AND ITS PROTECTION
6. A person who holds the entire bundle of rights in property is the owner in fee
simple.
7. In a tenancy in common, the interests are divided.
8. A joint tenant’s sale of his or her interest terminates the joint tenancy.
9. It is presumed that a co-tenancy is a tenancy in common unless it is clear that
the parties intended to establish a joint tenancy.
10. If property is owned as community property, each spouse owns an undivided
one-half interest in it.
11. Property used by a government for a public purpose such as a park is
community property.
12. One cannot acquire ownership by possession by “capturing” a wild animal.
13. Killing a wild animal amounts to assuming ownership of it.
14. Writers acquire ownership of their work through production.
15. A gift must be supported by legally sufficient consideration.
16. A gift is effective whether or not it is accepted.
17. Constructive delivery occurs when property is physically transferred.
18. Delivery of intangible personal property is never accomplished by constructive
delivery.
19. A gift to a dying donee is a gift causa mortis.
20. A gift causa mortis is effective only if the donor dies and the donee lives.
21. Adding value to a piece of personal property by labor or materials is accession.
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22. Confusion of fungible goods results in the owners’ loss of their rights in the
property.
23. Property voluntarily placed by its owner and inadvertently forgotten is mislaid
property.
24. A finder of mislaid property is an involuntary bailee.
25. A finder acquires title to mislaid property good against the whole world, in–
cluding the true owner.
26. Property voluntarily discarded by its owner with no intention of reclaiming it is
abandoned property.
27. A finder of abandoned property acquires title to it, and the title is good against
the whole world, including the original owner.
28. For an effective bailment, the bailor must deliver possession of the bailed
property with its title.
29. In a bailment, possession of the property is transferred to the bailee.
30. Most bailments are created by agreement, but not necessarily by contract.
31. Airline passengers are subjects of a bailment.
32. Constructive delivery satisfies the delivery requirement for an effective
bailment.
33. A bailment must be in writing to be valid.
34. A bailee must exercise reasonable care in preserving the bailed property.
35. In most bailments, the bailee can retain the goods given by the bailor and
return equivalent property.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Helen owns heavy construction equipment and the tools to service it, as well as
office furniture, including computers. Ilya owns a number of patents,
trademarks that identify the products made under those patents, and stock in
the company that sells those products. Personal property includes the items
owned by
a. Helen and Ilya.
b. Helen only.
c. Ilya only.
d. neither Helen nor Ilya.
2. Faye owns the land on which Golden Spurs Ranch is situated, plus the ranch
house, barn, and other structures permanently attached to the land. Faye’s
brother Huey owns everything else in the ranch’s operation—livestock, feed,
and so on. The personal property is owned by
a. Faye and Huey.
b. Faye only.
c. Golden Spurs Ranch.
d. Huey only.
3. Sara has a flat-screen TV, a Blu-ray disc player, set of computer games and an
investment portfolio that includes stock in the Internet game company Zynga.
Sara’s intangible property includes
a. the TV and Blu-ray player.
b. the computer games.
c. the Zynga stock.
d. the TV only.
4. Roslyn is an inventor. She has many tools, including a hammer, a handsaw
and a drill. Roslyn has a patent on her most recent invention and she owns
stock in Handy Appliances, Inc., which is a company that often uses her
inventions. Roslyn’s tangible personal property includes the
a. hammer, handsaw and drill.
b. Handy Appliances stock only.
c. patent on her invention only.
d. Handy Appliances stock and the patent on her invention.
5. Which of the following is considered personal property?
a. Stocks and bonds
b. Land
c. A garage
d. A boundary fence
6. T.J. owns a red sports car. T.J. can use the car as he wishes and he can also
dispose of it if he wishes. When T.J. dies, the car will descend to his son. With
respect to the car, T.J. is
a. a joint tenant.
b. a tenant in common.
c. an owner in fee simple.
d. an owner of community property.
7. Edna and Flavia buy a boat that they dock in a marina near Gulfport,
Mississippi. On the death of either owner, that owner’s interest in the boat
passes to her heirs. This is
a. a joint tenancy.
b. community property.
c. a tenancy in common.
d. ownership in fee simple.
8. Klondike and Leola own 10,000 shares of stock in My-T Gro Corporation. On
the death of either owner, that owner’s interest in the stock passes to the
surviving owner. This is
a. a joint tenancy.
b. community property.
c. a tenancy in common.
d. ownership in fee simple.
9. Rocco gives Sequoia a smartphone as a gift. Sequoia develops a new game
app for the phone. She obtains intellectual property protection, and forms Titan
Games, LLC, to make and market the game. Sequoia’s acquisition of the game
is by
a. gift.
b. accession.
c. confusion.
d. production.
10. Fred and Joanne are married. Joanne purchases a car. Fred and Joanne each
technically own an undivided one-half interest in the car. This is
a. a joint tenancy.
b. fee simple ownership.
c. community property.
d. illegal.
11. Derrick buys a hunting license and goes hunting. He shoots a deer, cleans it,
and takes it back to his truck. He takes the deer to town and has the meat
processed. Derrick’s acquisition of the deer is by
a. possession.
b. a bailment.
c. confusion.
d. production.
12. Marcy goes hunting out of season and shoots an endangered species of deer
in a national park. Marcy’s acquisition of the deer is
a. by production.
b. illegal.
c. by confusion.
d. by possession.
13. Mallory’s sister gives Mallory a leather working kit for Christmas. Mallory uses
the kit to make a saddle. Mallory’s acquisition of the saddle is by
a. a bailment.
b. accession.
c. confusion.
d. production.
14. Ira is declared mentally incompetent. Jay, Ira’s son, is named his guardian. At
Jay’s insistence, Ira transfers his assets to Jay “for safekeeping.” A court might
conclude that this gift is not effective on the ground that there was no
a. acceptance.
b. delivery.
c. donative intent.
d. donor’s acknowledgment.
15. Clancy sells shares in Darling Pool & Spa Company to Eton. Clancy does not
deliver the actual possession of the shares to Eton, but gives him the key to a
safety-deposit box in First State Bank in which the stock certificates are locked.
Presenting the key is
a. real delivery.
b. constructive delivery.
c. delivery by agent .
d. no delivery.
16. Procter, who is not in contemplation of imminent death, tells his daughter Opal
that she can have his Dodge truck on his death, whenever that happens. This
is
a. an effective gift causa mortis.
b. an effective gift inter vivos.
c. an effective gift largesse.
d. not an effective gift.
17. In contemplation of death during risky surgery, Donnelly, a guitarist, gives his
guitars to Cathy. The surgery is successful, and Donnelly does not die. The gift
of the guitars is
a. not revoked because it was a gift causa mortis.
b. not revoked because it was a gift inter vivos.
c. revoked because it was a gift causa mortis.
d. not revoked because it was a gift largesse.
18. Ruby is young and healthy when she gives Pearl a prize-winning horse. The
gift meets all the requirements to be effective. This is a gift
a. inter vivos.
b. causa mortis.
c. by accession.
d. by confusion.
19. John steals an old, battered bicycle that is parked, unlocked, in front of a
convenience store. He repairs, paints, and replaces parts on the bike until it is
like new. The original owner, Kim, claims the bike. The bike belongs to
a. John and Kim as tenants in common.
b. John because he made substantial improvements to it.
c. John because Kim claimed it only after John improved it.
d. Kim because John stole it.
20. Lauren owns a 1967 Ford Mustang, which Mike customizes and details to
Lauren’s specifications. The car earns several awards at regional vehicle
customizing competition shows. The result of Mike’s efforts is
a. accession.
b. acquisition.
c. conversion.
d. resolution.
21. Nero and Olav each buy certain quantities of oil to sell to Petro Refinery, and
agree to share storage costs until Petro can take delivery. The oil is
commingled so that Nero’s oil cannot be distinguished from Olav’s. This is
a. accession.
b. confusion.
c. conversion.
d. irresolution.
22. Inadvertently, Brent leaves his backpack at Chat n’ Coffee when he stops for
coffee and an hour of Facebook. The backpack is
a. abandoned property.
b. bailed property.
c. lost property.
d. mislaid property.
23. Gilbert finds an iPad on the counter at Starbucks. He takes the iPad to the
police station’s lost and found desk. The officer at the desk tells Gilbert that if
the iPad is not claimed in a certain amount of time, Gilbert can obtain title to it.
This is an example of acquiring possession by
a. an estray statute.
b. a bailment.
c. confusion.
d. production.
24. Rhett works at Scarlett’s Sandwich Café. After work, in the parking lot, Rhett
finds a diamond ring lost by Thalia. Title to the ring is possessed by
a. Rhett.
b. Scarlett’s.
c. Thalia.
d. the state.
25. Ben allows Cody to store his trailer on Ben’s property for $20 a month while
Cody is out of town on a job for Plains States Sales, his employer. The bailor is
a. Ben.
b. Cody.
c. Plains States.
d. no one.
26. GR8 Vision, Inc., hires Haul-Way Company to transport fifty large-screen
HDTVs from GR8’s warehouse in San Diego to an Ideal Electronics retail store
in Phoenix. The bailee is
a. GR8 Vision.
b. Haul-Way.
c. Ideal Electronics.
d. no one.
27. Chatsworth loans his laptop to Zelda. This is
a. a bailment.
b. a tenancy in common.
c. a gift.
d. lost property.
28. Wally asks Eddie if he can store his furniture in Eddie’s garage while he serves
a tour of duty with the U.S. Marines Corps. Eddie agrees. This is
a. a bailment.
b. accession.
c. a gift.
d. abandoned property.
29. Victor leaves his Dodge sport utility vehicle at Gordo’s Auto Service for an oil
change. This is
a. a bailment.
b. a gift.
c. accession.
d. production.
30. Emily checks her luggage at Flyaway Airlines’s ticket counter before boarding
her flight to Houston, Texas. Subject to a bailment is
a. Emily.
b. Emily’s luggage.
c. Emily’s ticketed seat on the flight.
d. none of the choices.
31. Stan rents a safe-deposit box at Main Street Bank under a contract that gives
Stan exclusive knowledge and control over its contents. This is
a. a bailment.
b. accession.
c. production.
d. confusion.
32. Early one morning, Tab agrees to lend his bike to Sheila, who promises to
return it in the evening. Because there is no consideration, there is no contract.
This is
a. a constructive bailment.
b. an involuntary bailment.
c. an express bailment.
d. no bailment.
33. Uri discovers a boat adrift, and retrieves and anchors it. The boat features a
number on its side and other evidence pointing to its owner, Vera. This is
a. an involuntary bailment.
b. a voluntary bailment.
c. an express bailment.
d. no bailment.
34. Owen takes a Paisley-made pinball machine to Quality Games, Inc., for repair.
Lacking certain parts, Quality ships the game to Regal Repair Company. Regal
does not return the game. Most likely to suffer the loss is
a. no one.
b. Owen.
c. Paisley.
d. Regal.
35. Venerable Company leases office furniture to Design Architects, Inc., under a
contract that states, “Bailee agrees to pay Bailor for any damage to the
furniture.” During the lease, while the furniture is in Design’s possession, it is
stained by inks used in computer printers, copiers, fax machines, and so on.
Most likely liable for the damage is
a. Venerable.
b. Design.
c. “Bailor.”
d. no one.
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ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. During a storm on Blue Lake, a boat sinks, but its owner Cappy survives.
Cappy plans to return to the site of wreck to salvage its equipment and his
possessions, but he delays. Meanwhile, Dick, an amateur diver, discovers the
wreck and strips it clean of useful items. Cappy learns of the recovery and files
a suit against Dick, claiming that the items are his. Dick responds that the
sunken boat was abandoned and therefore he has good title to everything to
which he took possession. What is the court likely to rule, and why?
2. French’s Fast Fries (3F) requires that its employees wear uniforms and
protective clothing while on the job. 3F provides a locker room for the
employees to leave their street clothes and personal items while working. A
sign on the back of the locker room door states, “French’s is not responsible for
the loss of any property in the locker room.” Grant, a 3F employee, changes his
clothes in the locker room before starting work and leaves his wallet and watch
in a pocket of his jacket hanging in his locker. When he returns after his shift,
the wallet and watch are gone. Does Grant’s leaving personal items in the
locker room constitute a bailment? If so, what type of bailment? If not, what
legal relationship is it? Does 3F’s sign exculpate the company for Grant’s loss?
Why or why not?
