Louisiana Civil Code

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SECTION 2 - OF THE PRIVILEGES ON PARTICULAR MOVABLES

Art. 3216. The privileges enumerated in the preceding section, extend to all the movables of the debtor, without distinction.

There are some which act only on particular movables and no other; and it is of these last that we shall treat in this and the following sections.

Art. 3217. The debts which are privileged on certain movables, are the following:

1. The appointments or salaries of the overseer for the current year, on the crops of the year and the proceeds thereof; debts due for necessary supplies furnished to any farm or plantation, and debts due for money actually advanced and used for the purchase of necessary supplies and the payment of necessary expenses for any farm or plantation, on the crops of the year and the proceeds thereof.

2. The debt of a workman or artisan for the price of his labor, on the movable which he has repaired or made, if the thing continues still in his possession.

3. The rents of immovables and the wages of laborers employed in working the same, on the crops of the year, and on the furniture, which is found in the house let, or on the farm, and on every thing which serves to the working of the farm.

4. The debt, on the pledge which is in the creditor's possession.

5. That of a depositor, on the price of the sale of the thing by him deposited.

6. The debt due for money laid out in preserving the thing.

7. The price due on movable effects, if they are yet in the possession of the purchaser.

8. The things which have been furnished by an innkeeper, on the property of the traveler which has been carried to his inn.

9. The carrier's charges and the accessory expenses, on the thing carried, including necessary charges and expenses paid by carriers; such as taxes, storage and privileged claims required to be paid before moving the thing; and in case the thing carried be lost or destroyed without the fault of the carrier, this privilege for money paid by the carrier shall attach to insurance effected on the thing for the benefit of the owner, provided written notice of the amount so paid by the carrier and for whose account, with a description of the property lost or destroyed, be given to the insurer or his agent within thirty days after the loss, or if it be impracticable to give the notice in that time, it shall be sufficient to give the notice at any time before the money is paid over.

The privilege hereinbefore granted to the overseer, the laborers, the furnishers of supplies and the party advancing money necessary to carry on any farm or plantation, shall be concurrent and shall not be divested by any prior mortgage, whether conventional, legal or judicial, or by any seizure and sale of the land while the crop is on it.

The privileges granted by this article, on the growing crop, in favor of the classes of persons mentioned shall be concurrent, except the privilege in favor of the laborer, which shall be ranked as the first privilege on the crop.

§ 1 - OF THE PRIVILEGE OF THE LESSOR

Art. 3218. [Repealed. Acts 2004, No. 821, §4, eff. Jan. 1, 2005]

Art. 3219. The privilege of the lessor and the manner in which it is enforced against the property subject to it are described in the Title "Lease". [Acts 2004, No. 821, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2005]

§ 2 - OF THE PRIVILEGE OF THE CREDITOR ON THE THING PLEDGED

Art. 3220. The creditor acquires the right of possessing and retaining the movable which he has received in pledge, as a security for his debt, and may cause it to be sold for the payment of the same.

Hence proceeds the privilege which he enjoys on the thing.

Art. 3221. For the exercise of this privilege it is necessary that all the requisites stated in the title:

Of Pledge, should be fulfilled.

§ 3 - OF THE PRIVILEGE OF A DEPOSITOR

Art. 3222. He who deposits a thing in the hands of another still remains the owner of it.

Consequently his claim to it is preferred to that of the other creditors of the depositary, and he may demand the restitution of it, if he can prove the deposit, in the same manner as is required in agreements for sums of money, and if the thing reclaimed be identically the same which he deposited.

Art. 3223. If the depositary abuses his trust, by alienating the thing confided to his care, or if his heirs sell it, not knowing that it had been given in deposit, the depositor retains his privilege on the price which shall be due.

§ 4 - OF EXPENSES INCURRED FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE THING

Art. 3224. He who, having in his possession the property of another, whether in deposit or on loan or otherwise, has been obliged to incur any expense for its preservation, acquires on this property two species of rights.

Art. 3225. Against the owner of the thing, his right is in the nature of that of pledge, by virtue of which he may retain the thing until the expenses, which he has incurred, are repaid.

He possesses this qualified right of pledge, even against the creditors of the owner, if they seek to have the thing sold. He may refuse to restore it, unless they either refund his advance, or give him security that the thing shall fetch a sufficient price for that purpose.

Art. 3226. Finally, he who has incurred these expenses has a privilege against these same creditors, by virtue of which he has preference over them out of the price of the thing sold, for the amount of such necessary charges as he shall have incurred for its preservation. This is the privilege in question in the present paragraph.

§ 5 - OF THE PRIVILEGE OF THE VENDOR OF MOVABLE EFFECTS

Art. 3227. He who has sold to another any movable property, which is not paid for, has a preference on the price of his property, over the other creditors of the purchaser, whether the sale was made on a credit or without, if the property still remains in the possession of the purchaser.

So that although the vendor may have taken a note, bond or other acknowledgment from the buyer, he still enjoys the privilege.

Any person who may sell the agricultural products of the United States in the city of New Orlenas [Orleans], shall be entitled to a special lien and privilege thereon to secure the payment of the purchase money, for and during the space of five days only, after the day of delivery; within which time the vendor shall be entitled to seize the same in whatsoever hands or place they may be found, and his claim for the purchase money shall have preference over all others. If the vendor gives a written order for the delivery of any such products and shall say therein that they are to be delivered without vendor's privilege, then no lien shall attach thereto.

Art. 3228. But if he allows the things to be sold, confusedly with a mass of other things belonging to the purchaser, without making his claim, he shall lose the privilege, because it will not be possible in such a case to ascertain what price they brought.

Art. 3229. If the sale was not made on credit, the seller may even claim back the things in kind, which were thus sold, as long as they are in possession of the purchaser, and prevent the resale of them; provided the claim for restitution be made within eight days of the delivery at farthest, and that the identity of the objects be established.

Art. 3230. When the things reclaimed consist in merchandise, which is sold in bales, packages or cases, the claim shall not be admitted if they have been untied, unpacked or taken out of the cases and mixed with other things of the same nature belonging to the purchaser, so that their identity can no longer be established.

Art. 3231. But if the things sold are of such a nature as to be easily recognized, as household furniture, even although the papers or cloths, which covered them at the time of delivery, be removed, the claim for restitution shall be allowed.

§ 6 - OF THE PRIVILEGE OF THE INNKEEPER ON THE EFFECTS OF THE TRAVELER

Art. 3232. Those are called innkeepers, who keep a tavern or hotel, and make a business of lodging travelers.

Art. 3233. Innkeepers and all others who let lodgings or receive or take boarders have a privilege, or more properly, a right of pledge on the property of all persons who take their board or lodging with them, by virtue of which they may retain property, and have it sold, to obtain payment of what such persons may owe them on either accounts above mentioned and this privilege shall extend to extras not to exceed Ten ($10) Dollars supplied by the proprietors of hotels, inns and boarding house keepers. [Amended by Acts 1896, No. 29; Acts 1898, No. 110]

Art. 3234. Innkeepers, hotel, boarding house and lodging house keepers enjoy this privilege on all the property which the sojourner has brought to their place, whether it belongs to him or not, because the property so brought into their place has become pledged to them by the mere fact of its introduction into their place. [Amended by Acts 1896, No. 35]

Art. 3235. The term travelers applies to strangers and such as being transiently in a place where they have no domicile, take their board and lodging at an inn.

Art. 3236. Whenever any trunk, carpetbag, valise, box, bundle or other baggage which shall hereafter come into the possession of the keeper of any hotel, motel, inn, boarding or lodging house, as such, and shall remain unclaimed or unredeemed for the period of six months, such keeper may proceed to sell the same at public auction, and without judicial proceedings, and out of the proceeds of such sale may retain the amount due him for board, lodging and extras, and the charges for storage, if any, and the expense of advertising and sale thereof, but no such sale shall be made until the expiration of four weeks from the publication of notice of such sale in a newspaper published in or nearest the city, town, village or place in which said hotel, motel, inn, boarding or lodging house is situated. Said notice shall be published once, in some newspaper, daily or weekly, of general circulation, and shall contain a description of each trunk, carpetbag, valise, box, bundle or other baggage as near as may be; the name of the owner, if known; the name of the keeper, and the time and place of sale. The expense incurred for advertising shall be a lien upon such trunk, carpetbag, valise, box, bundle or other baggage in a ratable proportion according to the value of such property, or thing or article sold. In case any balance arising upon such sale shall not be claimed by the rightful owner within one week from the day of said sale the same shall be paid to any authorized charity or state institution.

Alternatively, the hotel, motel, inn, boarding house, or lodging house at its discretion may store the unclaimed or unredeemed possessions for six months and at the expiration of this period donate, give or turn them over to an authorized charity, or state institution. [Amended by Acts 1896, No. 28; Acts 1974, No. 713, §1]

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