QUINTOS VS BECK 69 PHIL 108

Facts: Quintos and Beck entered into a contract of lease, whereby the latter
occupied the former’s house. On Jan 14, 1936, the contract of lease was novated,
wherein the QUintos gratuitously granted to Beck the use of the furniture, subject
to the condition that Beck should return the furnitures to Quintos upon demand.
Thereafter, Quintos sold the property to Maria and Rosario Lopez. Beck was
notified of the conveyance and given him 60 days to vacate the premises. IN
addition, Quintos required Beck to return all the furniture. Beck refused to return 3
gas heaters and 4 electric lamps since he would use them until the lease was due
to expire. Quintos refused to get the furniture since Beck had declined to return all
of them. Beck deposited all the furniture belonging to QUintos to the sheriff.

ISSUE: WON Beck complied with his obligation of returning the furnitures to
Quintos when it deposited the furnitures to the sheriff.

RULING: The contract entered into between the parties is one of commadatum,
because under it the plaintiff gratuitously granted the use of the furniture to the
defendant, reserving for herself the ownership thereof; by this contract the
defendant bound himself to return the furniture to the plaintiff, upon the latters
demand (clause 7 of the contract, Exhibit A; articles 1740, paragraph 1, and 1741
of the Civil Code). The obligation voluntarily assumed by the defendant to return
the furniture upon the plaintiff's demand, means that he should return all of them
to the plaintiff at the latter's residence or house. The defendant did not comply with
this obligation when he merely placed them at the disposal of the plaintiff, retaining
for his benefit the three gas heaters and the four eletric lamps.

As the defendant had voluntarily undertaken to return all the furniture to the
plaintiff, upon the latter's demand, the Court could not legally compel her to bear
the expenses occasioned by the deposit of the furniture at the defendant's behest.
The latter, as bailee, was nt entitled to place the furniture on deposit; nor was the
plaintiff under a duty to accept the offer to return the furniture, because the
defendant wanted to retain the three gas heaters and the four electric lamps.