41-208. Proprietor's liability for money and valuables; conditions; amount.

No person, firm, or corporation, operating a hotel, restaurant, apartment house, motel, or rooming house, who (1) constantly has in his, her, or their place of business a metal safe or vault in good order and fit for the custody of money, bank notes, jewelry, articles of gold and silver manufacture, precious stones, personal ornaments, railroad mileage checks or tickets, negotiable or other valuable papers, bullion, or other property of small size belonging to the guests of such hotel, restaurant, apartment house, motel, or rooming house, (2) keeps suitable locks or bolts on the doors of the sleeping rooms used by guests and suitable fastenings on the transoms and windows of such rooms, and (3) constantly and conspicuously keeps posted, in the public areas of such place of business and in each sleeping room in the place of business, a copy of this section, printed in distinct type, shall be liable for the loss of or injury to such property suffered by any guest, unless such guest has offered to deliver the property to the keeper of a hotel, restaurant, apartment house, motel, or rooming house, for custody in such metal safe or vault, and the proprietor of such business has omitted or refused to take and deposit the same in such safe or vault for custody and give such guest a receipt therefor. If such property is offered by the guest and deposited by the proprietor in such safe, there shall be no liability on the part of the proprietor for loss or injury to such property absent negligence or dishonesty on the part of the proprietor or his or her agents. The proprietor of such business place shall not be obliged to receive from any one guest, for deposit in such safe or vault, any property, described in this section, exceeding a total value of five hundred dollars and shall not be liable for the value of any such property in excess of five hundred dollars, unless receipted for in writing, in which event recovery of the actual damages sustained may be allowed in an amount not to exceed the actual value of such property. Such keeper of a hotel, restaurant, apartment house, motel, or rooming house may, by special arrangement with the guest, receive for deposit in such safe or vault any property upon such terms as they may agree to in writing and, in such a case, shall be liable for any loss of the above-enumerated articles of a guest, only after such articles have been accepted for deposit, if such loss is caused by theft or negligence on the part of the keeper of such business or any of his or her servants. Whenever any person shall allow his or her trunks, grips, household articles, boxes of merchandise, or samples to remain in any hotel, restaurant, apartment house, motel, or rooming house after leaving such place of business as a guest, such proprietor shall have the right to deposit any baggage or property so received in a storage warehouse, in which event he or she shall take from the proprietor of such warehouse a receipt for the same in the name of the owner thereof, and hold the receipt, for such owner. The proprietor of a hotel, restaurant, apartment house, motel, or rooming house, after he or she has deposited such baggage or property in a storage warehouse, shall not be responsible for the loss thereof if he or she has the storage warehouse receipt for delivery to the owner of such baggage or property upon demand.

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