Lending free of charge: only the owner or usufructuary may do it

They are Articles 1464, 1465 and 1466 of the Civil Code of 2020: what a commodatum is, who may lend, and in what condition the good is presumed received.

Whoever lends free of charge a non-fungible, non-consumable good, and whoever receives it to use for a determined purpose, under the Puerto Rico Civil Code.

• That the delivery be gratuitous: a price takes the contract out of commodatum.Verified against the official source
• That the good be non-fungible and non-consumable; it may be movable or immovable.Verified against the official source
• That it be delivered to be used or possessed for a determined purpose and then returned.Verified against the official source
• Only the owner and the usufructuary may be lenders; others need judicial authorisation or a special power.Verified against the official source

• The special power or the judicial authorisation, if the lender is neither owner nor usufructuary.
• The record of the determined purpose for which the good is delivered: the definition requires it.
• The record of the good’s condition on delivery: Article 1466 presumes it is received in good condition of use and conservation.

1. 1

   Step 1: Free, or it is not a commodatum

   Article 1464: the lender binds itself to deliver gratuitously. Gratuitousness is not a secondary trait: it is in the definition, and charging takes the contract out of this chapter.

2. 2

   Step 2: Non-fungible and non-consumable

   The same definition: a non-fungible, non-consumable good. Lending money is not a commodatum, nor is lending something used up in the using. The loan chapter covers that, and has its own guides.

3. 3

   Step 3: It may be a house

   The article says "movable or immovable". Lending a house, a premises or a lot free of charge for a determined purpose fits in this chapter, and it is a frequent case among relatives.

4. 4

   Step 4: For a determined purpose

   The definition closes with "so that it uses or possesses it for a determined purpose and then returns it". The purpose matters later: using the good for a different purpose lets the lender ask for it back early, and another article of the chapter deals with that.

5. 5

   Step 5: Who may lend

   Article 1465: only the owner and the usufructuary of the good given in commodatum may be lenders. Two figures, and no others in their own right.

6. 6

   Step 6: And who may lend with permission

   The same article: other persons may only be lenders where they obtain the corresponding judicial authorisation or hold a special power for it. Two routes, and the Code describes neither: it does not say how the authorisation is sought, before whom, at what cost, or what that special power must say.

7. 7

   Step 7: Possession is not enough here

   Worth contrasting with the deposit chapter, where the Code admits as depositor any person who has possession of the good. To lend in commodatum that same possession does not suffice. Both articles are quoted as written.

8. 8

   Step 8: You are presumed to have received it in good shape

   Article 1466: it is presumed that the borrower receives the good in good condition of use and conservation. Which is why recording the actual condition on receipt matters: the Code’s presumption starts against the borrower.

9. 9

   Step 9: What these articles do not say

   They do not say whether the Article 1466 presumption admits contrary proof or how it is rebutted, do not describe the judicial-authorisation procedure, do not say what the special power must contain, and require no written form. None of that is here, and this guide does not fill it in.

The contract runs between lender and borrower; the Code names no agency for this chapter. The judicial authorisation Article 1465 requires of anyone who is neither owner nor usufructuary is sought before the Court of First Instance, and the Code does not describe that procedure. The special power is executed before a notary.

• Calling a loan with a price a commodatum: gratuitousness is in the definition.
• Trying to lend money or something consumable in commodatum: the good must be non-fungible and non-consumable.
• Believing commodatum covers only movables: the article says movable or immovable.
• Handing the good over without setting the determined purpose the definition requires.
• Lending another’s good in commodatum without being usufructuary, without a special power and without judicial authorisation.
• Assuming possession of the good suffices, as in deposit: here it does not.
• Receiving the good without recording its condition: Article 1466 presumes it was received in good condition.
• Confusing commodatum with lease, which does carry a price.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov