Editing Vicarious liability (section)

==Principals' liability==
The owner of an automobile can be held vicariously liable for negligence committed by a person to whom the car has been lent, as if the owner was a principal and the driver their agent, ''if'' the driver is using the car primarily for the purpose of performing a task for the owner. Courts have been reluctant to extend this liability to the owners of other kinds of chattel. For example, the owner of a plane will not be vicariously liable for the actions of a pilot to whom he or she has lent it to perform the owner's purpose. In the United States, vicarious liability for automobiles has since been abolished with respect to car leasing and rental in all 50 states.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Abrams|first1=Jim|title=Federal Law Puts Brakes on Vicarious Liability for Auto Rental Firms|url=http://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/features/2005/12/19/63824.htm|access-date=6 September 2017|agency=Insurance Journal|publisher=Wells Media Group, Inc.|date=19 December 2005}}</ref>

One example is in the case of a bank, finance company or other [[lienholder]] performing a [[repossession]] of an automobile from the [[registered owner]] for non-payment, the lienholder has a non-delegable duty not to cause a breach of the peace in performing the repossession, or it will be liable for damages even if the repossession is performed by an agent.  This requirement means that whether a repossession is performed by the lienholder or by an agent, the repossessor must not cause a breach of the peace or the lienholder will be held responsible.

This requirement not to breach the peace is held upon the lienholder even if the breach is caused by, say, the debtor's objecting to the repossession or resisting the repossession. In the court case of ''MBank El Paso v. Sanchez'', [[Court citation|836 S.W.2d 151]], where a hired repossessor towed away a car even after the registered owner locked herself in it, the court decided that this was an unlawful breach of the peace and declared the repossession invalid. The debtor was also awarded $1,200,000 in damages from the bank.<ref>{{cite web|title=MBank El Paso, NA v. Sanchez, 836 SW 2d 151 (1992)|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18001802465783784125|website=Google Scholar|access-date=6 September 2017}}</ref> However, notably, a breach of the peace will invariably constitute a criminal misdemeanor. Criminal law imparts separate and distinct liability upon each actor considered a person under the law, and therefore a corporation and the corporation's employee may both be charged with having committed exactly the same crime, in addition to any civil liability for which the law imposes.