Short answer. Yes, for what the deposit itself has cost. Article 1994 lets the depositary retain the thing in pledge until full payment of what may be due him by reason of the deposit. The right covers storage charges and preservation expenses — not unrelated debts you happen to owe the business.
What the law says
The depositary may retain the thing in pledge until the full payment of what may be due him by reason of the deposit.
Civil Code, Article 1994 — Depositary's Right of Retention. Read the full provision →
What the law says
by reason of the deposit
Civil Code, Article 1994 — Depositary's Right of Retention. Read the full provision →
The right of retention
Article 1994 is one line: The depositary may retain the thing in pledge until the full payment of what may be due him by reason of the deposit. It is a lien, and it is lawful — a warehouse or storage business withholding your goods over unpaid storage is not committing a wrong. The words doing the limiting are by reason of the deposit. What may be retained against is what the safekeeping itself generated: the agreed fee, and expenses of preservation. A separate unpaid invoice for something else does not attach to the thing stored.
What is due by reason of the deposit
Two heads are clear. Where the deposit is for a price, the price is due. Where it is gratuitous, Article 1992 obliges the depositor to reimburse the depositary for expenses incurred for the preservation of the thing — so even an unpaid favour can leave you owing something before you get the item back. Article 1993 adds a third: the depositor must make good any loss arising from the character of the thing deposited, unless he did not know and was not expected to know it was dangerous, or gave notice, or the depositary knew anyway. Retention secures these, not the depositary's other claims.
Retention is not a sale, and not a free hand
Holding the thing is all the article gives. It does not authorise the business to sell your property, use it, or treat it as its own after some period of silence. Article 1977 forbids the depositary from making use of the thing deposited without your express permission, on pain of damages, and Article 1979 makes him liable even for a fortuitous loss if he uses it, delays its return, or lets others use it. So a store that keeps your item over a fee still owes it the same care it owed before, and the bill does not grow into a licence to dispose of what it holds.
How to break the deadlock
Ask for the charges in writing and itemised, then test each item against the deposit: is this the storage fee, or a preservation expense, or something else the business is bundling in? Pay what is genuinely due by reason of the deposit, under protest if you dispute it, and take the receipt — retention ends on full payment of that amount. If the business refuses to release the thing after payment, or cannot account for its condition, put a dated written demand on record. Your proof of ownership and the original receipt or stub are the documents that matter.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Gregorio V. Tongko vs. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Phils.) Inc. and Renato A. Vergel De Dios, G.R. No. 167622, June 29, 2010 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 1994 — Depositary's Right of Retention
- Civil Code, Article 1992 — Reimbursement of Preservation Expenses
- Civil Code, Article 1993 — Depositor's Liability for Dangerous Things
- Civil Code, Article 1977 — No Use Without Permission
- Civil Code, Article 1979 — Liability for Fortuitous Loss