Short answer. Only if you knew. Article 2101 gives the pledgor the same responsibility as a lender in commodatum under Article 1951 — which makes you liable for damages only where you knew of the thing's flaws, failed to warn the creditor, and he suffered harm as a result. A defect you did not know of does not make you answerable.
What the law says
The pledgor has the same responsibility as a bailor in commodatum in the case under article 1951.
Civil Code, Article 2101 — Pledgor's Responsibility. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The bailor who, knowing the flaws of the thing loaned, does not advise the bailee of the same, shall be liable to the latter for the damages which he may suffer by reason thereof.
Civil Code, Article 1951 — The Lender's Liability for Known Flaws. Read the full provision →
The pledgor's liability is borrowed from commodatum
The Code does not spell out the pledgor's responsibility for defects on its own; it points elsewhere. Article 2101 says: The pledgor has the same responsibility as a bailor in commodatum in the case under article 1951. In other words, a person who pledges a thing is treated, for a hidden flaw, exactly as a person who lends a thing for use. To know your exposure as a pledgor, you have to read the rule that governs a lender in commodatum, which is where the actual standard of liability is set out.
The rule it points to
That standard is stated in Article 1951: The bailor who, knowing the flaws of the thing loaned, does not advise the bailee of the same, shall be liable to the latter for the damages which he may suffer by reason thereof. Three things must come together for liability. There must be a flaw in the thing; you must have known of it; and, knowing, you must have failed to warn the other party, who then suffered damage because of it. Take away any one of those elements and the liability the article imposes does not arise.
Knowledge is the pivot
The crucial point is that you are not made an insurer of the thing's soundness. Liability does not attach merely because the pledged thing turned out to be defective and caused harm. It attaches because you knew of the defect and kept silent. A flaw you were genuinely unaware of does not expose you, however serious its consequences; a flaw you knew about and concealed does, precisely to the extent of the damage it causes the creditor. The law is targeting bad faith or careless non-disclosure, not the simple fact of a hidden defect.
Disclose, and keep the record
The practical protection is straightforward: if you pledge something with a known flaw that could injure the creditor or damage his property, tell him. Disclosure defeats a claim under these articles, because the liability rests on failure to advise. If a dispute later arises, the questions a court will work through are what you actually knew, whether you warned the creditor, and what damage the defect in fact caused. Keeping any disclosure in writing puts the first two beyond argument and leaves only the question of damage, which turns on the creditor's proof.
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 2101 — Pledgor's Responsibility
- Civil Code, Article 1951 — The Lender's Liability for Known Flaws