AGENCY
CHAPTER 1 – NATURE, FORM AND KINDS OF AGENCY
By the contract of agency a person binds himself to
render some service or to do something in
Art. 1868
representation or on behalf of another, with the consent
or authority of the latter.
Agency may be express, or implied from the acts of the
principal, from his silence or lack of action, or his
failure to repudiate the agency, knowing that another
Art. 1869 person is acting on his behalf without authority.
Agency may be oral, unless the law requires a specific
form.
Acceptance by the agent may also be express, or
implied from his acts which carry out the agency, or
Art. 1870
from his silence or inaction according to the
circumstances.
Between persons who are present, the acceptance of
the agency may also be implied if the principal delivers
Art. 1871
his power of attorney to the agent and the latter
receives it without any objection.
Between persons who are absent, the acceptance of the
agency cannot be implied from the silence of the agent,
except:
(1) When the principal transmits his power of attorney
Art. 1872 to the agent, who receives it without any objection;
(2) When the principal entrusts to him by letter or
telegram a power of attorney with respect to the
business in which he is habitually engaged as an agent,
and he did not reply to the letter or telegram.
If a person specially informs another or states by public
advertisement that he has given a power of attorney to
a third person, the latter thereby becomes a duly
authorized agent, in the former case with respect to the
person who received the special information, and in the
Art. 1873
latter case with regard to any person.
The power shall continue to be in full force until the
notice is rescinded in the same manner in which it was
given.
When a sale of a piece of land or any interest therein is
Art. 1874 through an agent, the authority of the latter shall be in
writing; otherwise, the sale shall be void.
Agency is presumed to be for a compensation, unless
Art. 1875
there is proof to the contrary.
Art. 1876 An agency is either general or special.
The former comprises all the business of the principal.
The latter, one or more specific transactions.
An agency couched in general terms comprises only
acts of administration, even if the principal should state
that he withholds no power or that the agent may
Art. 1877
execute such acts as he may consider appropriate, or
even though the agency should authorize a general and
unlimited management.
Art. 1878 Special powers of attorney are necessary in the
following cases:
(1) To make such payments as are not usually
considered as acts of administration;
(2) To effect novations which put an end to
obligations already in existence at the time the
agency was constituted;
(3) To compromise, to submit questions to
arbitration, to renounce the right to appeal
from a judgment, to waive objections to the
venue of an action or to abandon a
prescription already acquired;
(4) To waive any obligation gratuitously;
(5) To enter into any contract by which the
ownership of an immovable is transmitted or
acquired either gratuitously or for a valuable
consideration;
(6) To make gifts, except customary ones for
charity or those made to employees in the
business managed by the agent;
(7) To loan or borrow money, unless the latter act
be urgent and indispensable for the
preservation of the things which are under
administration;
(8) To lease any real property to another person
for more than one year;
(9) To bind the principal to render some service
without compensation;
(10) To bind the principal in a contract of
partnership;
(11) To obligate the principal as a guarantor or
surety;
(12) To create or convey real rights over
immovable property;
(13) To accept or repudiate an inheritance;
(14) To ratify or recognize obligations contracted
before the agency;
(15) Any other act of strict dominion.
A special power to sell excludes the power to
Art. 1879 mortgage; and a special power to mortgage does not
include the power to sell.
A special power to compromise does not authorize
Art. 1880
submission to arbitration.
The agent must act within the scope of his authority.
Art. 1881 He may do such acts as may be conducive to the
accomplishment of the purpose of the agency.
The limits of the agent's authority shall not be
considered exceeded should it have been performed in
Art. 1882
a manner more advantageous to the principal than that
specified by him.
If an agent acts in his own name, the principal has no
right of action against the persons with whom the agent
has contracted; neither have such persons against the
principal.
In such case the agent is the one directly bound in
Art. 1883 favor of the person with whom he has contracted, as if
the transaction were his own, except when the contract
involves things belonging to the principal.
The provisions of this article shall be understood to be
without prejudice to the actions between the principal
and agent.
CHAPTER 2 – OBLIGATIONS OF THE AGENT
