14.6 Rights, Duties and Personal Liability of Agent

Duties (the fiduciary ledger — nine): (1) act within authority with reasonable care and diligence; (2) obey the principal's lawful instructions; (3) render proper accounts and pay over moneys received; (4) communicate with the principal in difficulty; (5) not to deal on his own account without disclosure (self-dealing); (6) not to make secret profits; (7) not to delegate; (8) not to disclose confidential information; (9) hand over on termination. Rights (five): (1) remuneration/commission as agreed; (2) indemnity against consequences of lawful authorized acts; (3) reimbursement of expenses and losses incurred in the agency's proper course; (4) lien on the principal's goods and papers for amounts due; (5) to retain moneys until indemnified for liabilities properly incurred. Personal liability: the general rule — the agent is not personally liable on contracts made for a disclosed principal. He is liable where: (i) he contracts in his own name or fails to disclose the agency (the one who signs personally answers personally unless the principal is properly disclosed and the authority shown); (ii) he exceeds authority (the principal may ratify or disclaim); (iii) he acts for a foreign principal or one who cannot be sued; (iv) custom of trade imposes it (the del credere agent); (v) he commits a tort or fraud in the agency's course (personal delictual/criminal liability — the fraud is…