Opinion ID: 895228
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Bailment/Abandonment

Text: Huerta first asserts that, as bailee of the Freightliner, he is entitled to the currency because it was abandoned by Mercado while in Huerta's possession. This argument, however, presumes that Huerta established a bailment as to the currency, something Huerta did not do. To create a bailment, there must be (1) delivery of personal property from one person, the bailor, to another, the bailee, for a specific purpose; (2) acceptance of delivery by the bailee; (3) an express or implied contract between the parties that the specific purpose will be realized; and (4) an agreement between the parties that the property will be either returned to the bailor or dealt with according to the bailor's direction. See Cessna Aircraft Co. v. Aircraft Network, LLC, 213 S.W.3d 455, 462-63 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2006, pet. denied); see also Int'l Freight Forwarding, Inc. v. Am. Flange, 993 S.W.2d 262, 263 (Tex. App.-San Antonio 1999, no pet.). That a bailment may have existed concerning the Freightliner does not mean that a bailment existed as to the currency. The bailee must, at a minimum,  knowingly [take the] property into possession or control for there to be a bailment. See Russell v. Am. Real Estate Corp., 89 S.W.3d 204, 211 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 2002, no pet.) (emphasis added) (citing Rust v. Shamrock Oil & Gas Corp., 228 S.W.2d 934, 935 (Tex.Civ.App.-Amarillo 1950, no writ)). Huerta admitted at trial that he did not enter into an agreement with Mercado to transport the currency and that he was not aware of the currency before it was discovered in the axle. A bailee's duty of care extends to undisclosed items in a vehicle that are in plain view. See Jack Boles Servs., Inc. v. Stavely, 906 S.W.2d 185, 190 (Tex.App.-Austin 1995, writ denied). But if the undisclosed items are not in plain view, then the bailee's duty of care extends to items that are reasonably anticipated to be found in the car based on the surrounding circumstances. Id. (holding that the bailee's duty of care did not extend to an undisclosed piece of valuable artwork stored in trunk of valeted vehicle); see also Ampco Auto Parks, Inc. v. Williams, 517 S.W.2d 401, 403-05 (Tex. Civ.App.-Dallas 1974, writ ref'd n.r.e.) (holding that parking lot attendant company could not have reasonably foreseen that vehicle's trunk would be full of valuable artifacts). Although it is true, as Huerta notes, that Stavely and Ampco concerned a bailee's liability for undisclosed items of value stored in an automobile, in each case whether a bailment existed as to the undisclosed itemsand thus whether the bailee could be held liable for their theftwas necessarily dependent upon establishment of a bailment contract. Thus, if undisclosed items are not in plain view and the bailee could not have reasonably anticipated that they would be in the vehicle, the bailment contract does not extend to those items. Ampco at 404-05. Huerta cannot claim possession of the currency as bailee without first establishing that there was a bailment as to the money. Because Huerta did not knowingly take possession of the cash when the truck was entrusted to him, no bailment was created with respect to the money. Although it is not entirely clear, Huerta appears to believe that, with or without a bailment, he may claim the cash because it was abandoned while in his possession. However, even if such a claim were viable, one who seeks to acquire abandoned property must take possession of the property with an intent to acquire title. See Trenolone v. Cook Exploration Co., 166 S.W.3d 495, 500-01 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2005, no pet.) Huerta contends he had possession of the currency before it was seized by law enforcement officers because he was the first to remove it from the axle and the first to discover that the bundles contained currency. We disagree. Huerta removed the hub housing while assisting law enforcement and customs officials. By the time the currency was discovered, Huerta had already turned the vehicle over to law enforcement, and it had been subjected to a roadside search, an x-ray, and a sniff search by dogs. The fact that Huerta was the first to remove the currency bundles from the axle does not establish that he was in legal possession of them. Moreover, Huerta never expressed an intent to acquire title to the currency; when Huerta inquired further about the money after it had been seized, he merely sought a reward for finding it, not the return of money that had been abandoned while in his possession. Huerta's theory of legal entitlement based upon simple abandonment is unavailing.