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Sales - Status Of Title-Retaining Instruments As Against Third Persons

Michigan Law Review

The exploitation of the legal concept of divided property interests in chattels by ingenious draftsman-lawyers has resulted in the variety of title-retaining instruments commonly used today in the creation of vendor-vendee relationships. Among the more familiar forms may be mentioned the conditional sale, bailment lease, chattel mortgage, and trust receipt. The chief motive of the seller in resorting to these devices seems to lie in the belief that the buyer is a poor credit risk, and the particular instrument which a seller will employ in a given situation will depend largely upon the relative legal advantages which he seeks to …