Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1964 )

E NEY GENERAL .4%-rOlaS~ cac.XBRA& February 21, 1964 Hon. John C. White Opinion No. C-219 Commissioner of Agriculture Capitol Station Re: May a public warehouseman Austin, Texas charge the owner of stored cotton for services per- formed for compressing the cotton, and related ques- Dear Mr. White: tions e We acknowledge receipt of yo,ur request for opinion on the above subject matter construing the Texas Markets and Ware- houses Law, codified as Articles 5562 et seq. of Vernon’s Civil Statutes. Your letter and the questions propounded to us state in part as follows: “The attached letter from Mr. George H. Traylor, Jr., President of the Lubbock Cotton Exchange outlines in detail an apparent growing problem in the cotton industry. Briefly, it concerns the practice of a coot- ton warehouse applying hi-density compression to a bale of cotton without the owners’ permission for the sake of conserving storage space. A compression charge is then added to the storage bill. “Our specific questions are as follows: “1. Does the Markets and Warehouses Law contain a provision which would forbid the warehouseman from altering the size or changing the original description of a stored commodity without the owner’s permission? “2. If the answer to the above question is nega- tive, does the law forbid a warehouseman to charge the owner of stored property for a service that was per- formed solely for the convenience of the warehouse?” As both questions are inter-related we will answer both questions together. The statutes pertaining to warehouses and warehousemen do not contain any provisions specifically allowing or forbidding warehousemen to compress and charge for compression of cotton stored with them by the owners. However, considering the statutes as a -1054- Hon. John C. White, page 2 (C-219) whole, to be hereinafter discussed, we feel the charge is an au- thorized one 0 Article 5570 states in part as follows: “On application of the owner or depositor of the property stored in a public warehouse,,the warehouseman shall issue over his own signature, or that of his duly authorized agent, a public ware- house receipt therefor, to the order of the person entitled thereto; which receipt shall purport to be issued by a public warehouse, shall bear the date of the day of its Issue, and shall state upon its face the name of the warehouse and its location, the description, quantity, number and marks of the property stored. Where such receipt is for cotton it shall state the class and weight, and the date on which it was originally received in warehouse, and that it is deliverable upon return of the re- ceipt properly indorsed by the person to whose order it was issued, and on navment of all chars s for storape. and insurance. which charnes shall Ee stated on the fact of the receiot. e . .‘I (Empha- sis added), We interpret this provision to mean that when cotton has been deposited for storage, the warehouseman must issue a re- ceipt therefor which should completely itemize all char es in connection with the storage. The issuance of this rece f pt by the warehouseman and the acceptance thereof by the owner governs the charges which the warehouseman may collect and for which he may claim a lien. All charges, including any charges for compression, must appear on the face of the warehouse receipt. At this time the depositor is aware that the warehouseman proposes to charge a fee for compression, and therefore he is on notice of such charge. If the depositor chooses to take his commodity to a warehouse not charging the compressing fee, he is at liberty to do so. We do not base our decision on Article 55’70 entirely. Under the terms of Article 5574 a warehouseman returns goods left with him only after presentation and return of the warehouse re- ceipt “and the tender of all D oner warehouse charees unon the pronerty represented by it Lthi receipL/.14 (Emphasis added). Our Uniform Warehouse Receipts Act provides in Article 5613 that the warehouse receipt shall state the rate of storage charges, and the liabilities incurred for which the warehouseman claims a lien. Article 5638 of this Act states in part as fol- lows t -1055- Hon. John C. White, page 3 (C-219) "Subject to the provisions of the second succeed- ing article, a warehouseman shall have a lien on goods deposited or on the proceeds thereof in his hands, for all lawful charnes for storane and preservation of the goods; &so for all lawful claims for money advanced, interest, insurance, transportation, labor, weighing, on ina and other charaes and exoenses in relation go" szzh goods; . . .I) (Emphasis added). In light of the statements made above we must answer your first question in the negative. We find implied authority in the statutes discussed for the warehousemen to charge for com- pression as it is a charge necessitated by the large amount of cotton to be stored by them, and further because the charge is one specified on the warehouse receipt. Your second question is also answered in the negative. SUMMARY The issuance of a receipt by the warehouseman and the acceptance thereof by the owner governs the charges which the warehouseman may collect and for which he may claim a lien. All charges, including any charges for compression, must appear on the face of the warehouse receipt. Yours very truly, WAGGONER CARR Attorney General * By&