Land Titles and Deeds

MARISSA B. DELA CRUZ-GALANDINESAssistant Solicitor General.

• Domingo, Russel• Lopez, Stephanie Flor• Rosuello, Joseph Michael• Rafols, Kenneth• Tamang, Mhara• Tan, Idony

Cadastral Registration Proceedings

Order for Speedy Settlement & Adjudication; Survey; Notices

Process under Sec. 35:1. President of the Philippines to direct and order Dir of

Lands to cause cadastral survey of the land involved.

2. Dir of Lands to give notice to all persons having interest to the same as to the date of survey.

3. Geodetic Engineers or other employees of Bureau of Lands shall mark the boundaries of the lands.

4. Those having interest therein shall inform the Geodetic Engineer of their claim.

Petition; Lot Numbers

Under Sec 36:The Solicitor General shall institute the original

registration proceedings by filing the necessary petition in the RTC of where the

land is located.

PETITION: CONTENTS

• Description of the land• Its plan• Other data to fully furnish full notice to the

occupants and others having claim or interest therein.

When 2/more parcels of different owners in 1 land:

• Plan shall indicate the boundaries or limits of each parcel, known as “lots”

AnswerUnder Sec. 37:

Claimant shall file an answer which must be signed and sworn to by him.

Must contain the ff:• Civil status of claimant.

– If married: name, nationality, residence, postal address of spouse, and date of marriage

• Age of claimant• Cadastral number of the lot/s claimed• Barrio and municipality the same is located• Names and addresses of owners adjoining lots known

to claimant

• Length of time claimant held the land and manner of acquisition; same as to the predecessor-in-interest– If claimant is in possession of the lots claimed but

without express grant by the Government

• State in full the interest claimed by him, time, and manner of acquisition– If claimant NOT in possession or occupation

• Last assessed value of the lots– If the same had been assessed for taxation

• Encumbrances affecting the lot, names of adverse claimants known to him.

Hearing; Judgment; DecreeUnder Sec. 38:

Must be held at any convenient place within the province where the land is situated.

• Decrees will be awarded to those entitled to the land.

• Absence of successful claimant, property will be declared public land.

• Title is vested upon expiration of the period to appeal from decision by the cadastral court, without it having been perfected.

Chapter IVCertificate of Title

Sec. 39. Preparation of Decree and Certificate of Title

Upon finality of judgement of the court,•The court shall:

– issue an order directing the LRA Administrator to issue the corresponding Decree of Registration and Certificate of Title.

•The clerk of court shall:– send

a. certified copies of the judgmentb. copies of the orderc. a certificate stating that the decision has not been

amended, reconsidered nor appealed and has become final.

• The Administrator shall:– Prepare the Decree of Registration as well as the original and duplicate of the original

certificate of title.– Sign the Decree of Registration and the original of the original certificate of title– File the Decree of Registration– Send the original and duplicate of the original certificate of title to the Register of Deeds

• Decree of Registration- order issued under the signature of the LRA Administrator, in the name of the court, stating that the land described therein is registered under the name of the applicant, or oppositor, or claimant

• Original Certificate of Title- title issued for the first time in pursuance of such a decree

• As soon as the decree has been registered in the Register of Deeds, the property included therein shall become registered land.

• The certificate of title must contain the full transcription of the decree of registration. Any defect in the manner of transcribing the technical description should be considered as a formal defect.

• The certificate of title serves as an evidence of an indefeasible and incontrovertible title to the property in favor of the person whose name appears therein.– Sanctity of Certificate of Title– Dealings with land– Certificate of title issued through administrative proceedings– Memoranda of encumberances– When two or more certificates cover the same land

• Possession of a certificate of title does not foreclose an action to test its validity.

Sec. 40. Entry of Original Certificate of Title

• Upon receipt by the Register of Deeds of the original and duplicate copies of the original certificate of title the same shall be entered in his record book and shall be numbered, dated, signed and sealed by the Register of Deeds with the seal of his office. Said certificate of title shall take effect upon the date of entry thereof.

• The Register of Deeds shall forthwith send notice by mail to the registered owner that his owner's duplicate is ready for delivery to him upon payment of legal fees.

• Original Certificate of Title- issued after the initial registration proceedings

• Transfer Certificate of Title- subsequent title issued pursuant to any voluntary or involuntary instrument affecting the property covered by the original certificate of title.

Contents:Original Certificate of Title:Full name/sCitizenshipResidence and Postal Address

Civil statusSpouses (if the property belongs to the conjugal partnership, it shall be issued n the names of both spouses)

Transfer Certificate of Title:Show the number of the next previous certificate covering the same land and the fact that it was originally registered.

Sec. 41. Owner’s duplicate certificate of title

• The owner’s duplicate certificate of title shall be delivered to him or to his duly authorized representative upon payment of legal fees.

• If there are two or more co-owners, one duplicate may be issued for all of them or if they so desire, a separate duplicate may be issued to each of them in like form.

• Whenever the Register of Deeds registers any subsequent voluntary transaction affecting the land, all outstanding certificates shall be surrendered.– No mortgagee or lessee shall be issued a duplicate

certificate of title– Co-owners can only dispose of his aliquot share– Surrender of the owner’s duplicate is conclusive authority

to the Register of Deeds to enter a new certificate or memorandum of registration

• The owner of the land in whose favor and in whose name the land is registered and inscribed in the certificate of title has preferential right.

SEC. 42

Registration Books

REGISTRATION BOOKS

• Original copy of the ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE of TITLE shall be filed in the REGISTRY of DEEDS

• Shall be bound in CONSECUTIVE order with other certificates of title

• Shall constitute the registration book for titled properties

SEC. 43

Transfer Certificate Title

Transfer Certificate Title

• Subsequent certificate of title may be issued by the REGISTER of DEEDS pursuant to any voluntary or involuntary instrument relating to the SAME land

• Shall be entitled “TRANSFER CERTIFICATE of TITLE”

• The original is kept in the office of the REGISTER of DEEDS while the owner’s duplicate is delivered to the party concerned

• Certificate of Title shall indicate the NUMBER of the next previous certificate covering the same land and the fact that it was originally registered

• The RECORD NUMBER, NUMBER of the original certificate of title, and the VOLUME and PAGE of the registration book in which it is filed shall be indicated

SEC. 44

Statutory Liens Affecting Title

• Under Section 44, EVERY registered owner receiving a certificate of title issued pursuant to a decree of registration and EVERY subsequent purchaser of registered land FOR VALUE and IN GOOD FAITH, shall hold the same FREE from all encumbrances.

EXCEPTIONS:

1. Those Noted in the certificate of title

2. Encumbrances enumerated in the law

The following may limit the registered owner’s absolute title over the property:

a) Liens, Claims, or Rights existing or arising under the laws or the Constitution which are not by law required to appear of record in the Registry of deeds

b) Unpaid real estate taxes, LEVIED and ASSESSED, within TWO (2) years IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING the acquisition of any right over the land

c) ANY public highway or private way established or recognized by law, or any government irrigation canal or lateral thereof

d) ANY disposition of the property or limitation on the use thereof by virtue of PD No. 27 or ANY other law or regulation on agrarian reform

e) Rights incident to the relation of husband and wife, and landlord and tenant

f. Liability to attachment or levy on executiong. Liability to ANY lien of ANY description

established by law on the land and the buildings thereon, or on the interest of the owner on such lands and buildings

h. Rights incident to the laws of descent or partition between co-owners

i. Taking of property through EMINENT DOMAIN

j. Right to relieve the land from liability to be recovered by an assignee in insolvency or trustee in bankruptcy under the laws relative to preferences

k. Rights or liabilities created by law and applicable to unregistered land

NOTE:

Generally, the purchaser need not go behind registry to determine condition of property.

A person dealing with registered land is not required to go behind the registry to determine the condition of the property.

Sec. 45: Statement of personal circumstances in the certificate

Certificate of Title must contain:•Full names of all persons whose interest make up the full ownership in the land•Civil status•Names of their respective spouses, if married•Citizenship•Residence and postal address

Notes

• If the Certificate of title belongs to the conjugal partnership , the title must be issued in the name of both spouses.

• A certificate of title issued pursuance to this decree merely confirms a pre-existing title. It does not establish the time of acquisition of the property by the registered owner. (Important in issues of whether or not, property belongs to the conjugal partnership)

Under the Family Code

•Art. 116 - All property acquired during the marriage, whether the acquisition appears to have been made, contracted or registered in the name of one or both spouse, is presumed to be conjugal unless the contrary is proved.

In De Leon v De Leon (36 SCRA 289)

Only proof of acquisition during the marriage is needed to raise the presumption that the

property is conjugal

Rule where title is in the name of only one spouse

– Presumption of conjugal ownership applies to property acquired during the lifetime of the husband and wife.

– If property is registered in the name of a spouse, and there is no showing as to when the property was acquired by said spouse, this is an indication that property belongs exclusively to the said spouse.

Ponce De Leon vs. Rehabilitation Finance Corporation (477 SCRA 227)

• proof of acquisition during coverture is a condition sine qua non for the operation of the presumption in favor of the conjugal partnership. There being no showing as to when the property was acquired, the fact that the title is in wife’s name alone is determinative. If the property was acquired during coverture, it would have been registered, in the name not of Francisco Soriano, married to Tamasa Rodriguez, but of the spouses Francisco Soriano and Tomasa Rodrig

Litam v Espiritu (100 Phil. 364)

the words “married to Rafael Litam written after the name of Marcosa Rivera, in each of the above mentioned titles are merely descriptive of the civil statue of Marcosa Rivera, the registered owner of the properties covered by said title.

Sec. 46: General incidents of registered land

– General Rule - Land registered under the TS is not subject to any burden except those noted on the CoT.

– Every subsequent purchaser taking a CoT in good faith shall hold the same free from all encumbrances excepts those noted thereon and except any of the encumbrances in Sec. 44 of PD 1529.

Under Sec. 46 of PD 1529, Land may still be taken through eminent domain proceedings, or subject to liability in bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings.

- Also, land acquired during existence of marriage is presumed to belong in conjugal partnership, unless the contrary is proved. Hence, in order for a contract of purchase and sale be valid, the consent of both spouses is needed. The fact that the land was registered in the name of one spouse does not destroy its conjugal nature.

PD 27

Landowners of agricultural lands which were devoted to rice and corn production and exceeding the minimum retention area were thus compelled to sell their lands to qualified farmers. The Certificate of land transfer issued pursuant to PD 27 provided that the tenant farmer is deemed to be the owner of the agricultural land subject to payment of 15 installments of the cost of portion transferred.

Sec. 47: Registered land not subject to prescription.

– Decree of Registration is conclusive upon all persons– Title to the land, once registered, is imprescriptible.

No one may acquire it from the registered owner by adverse, open and notorious possession.

– Registered owner under the TS, right to recover possession of the registered property is equally imprescriptible since possession is a mere consequence of ownership.

– Prescription is unavailing not only against the registered owner but also against his hereditary successors.

Registered owner may be barred from recovering possession through

lachesNo title to registered land in derogation of the

title of the registered owner shall be acquired by prescription or adverse possession. However, a registered owner of property may be barred from recovering possession thereof by virtue of laches

Laches

• defined as the failure or neglect, for an unreasonable and unexplained length of time, to do which by exercising due diligence could or should have been done earlier: it is negligence or omission to assert a right within a reasonable time, warranting a presumption that the party entitled to assert it either has abandoned it or declined to assert it.

Elements of Laches• Conduct on the part of the defendant, or of one under

whom he claims, giving rise to the situation of which complaint is made for which the complaint seeks a remedy

• Delay in asserting the complainant’s rights, the complainant having had knowledge or notice of the defendant’s conduct and having been afforded an opportunity to institute a suit

• Lack of knowledge or notice on the part of the defendant that the complainant would assert the right on which he bases his suit

• Injury or prejudice to the defendant in the event relief is accorded to the complainant or the suit not held to be barred

Doctrine of laches is inapplicable where the action was filed within the prescriptive period

Art. 1134 (NCC) – Ordinary acquisitive prescription – at least 10 years, in good faith and with just title.

Art. 1137 (NCC) – Extraordinary acquisitive prescription – At least 30 years regardless of good faith and without need of title.

Section 48. Certificate not subject to collateral attack.

A certificate of title shall not be subject to collateral attack. It cannot be altered, modified, or canceled except in a direct proceeding in accordance with law.

Section 49. Splitting, or consolidation of titles.

A registered owner of several distinct parcels of land embraced in and covered by a certificate of title desiring in lieu thereof separate certificates, each containing one or more parcels, may file a written request for that purpose with the Register of Deeds concerned, and the latter, upon the surrender of the owner's duplicate, shall cancel it together with its original and issue in lieu thereof separate certificates as desired. A registered owner of several distinct parcels of land covered by separate certificates of title desiring to have in lieu thereof a single certificate for the whole land, or several certificates for the different parcels thereof, may also file a written request with the Register of Deeds concerned, and the latter, upon the surrender of the owner's duplicates, shall cancel them together with their originals, and issue in lieu thereof one or separate certificates as desired.

Section 50. Subdivision and consolidation plans.

Any owner subdividing a tract of registered land into lots which do not constitute a subdivision project has defined and provided for under P.D. No. 957, shall file with the Commissioner of Land Registration or with the Bureau of Lands a subdivision plan of such land on which all boundaries, streets, passageways and waterways, if any, shall be distinctly and accurately delineated.

If a subdivision plan, be it simple or complex, duly approved by the Commissioner of Land Registration or the Bureau of Lands together with the approved technical descriptions and the corresponding owner's duplicate certificate of title is presented for registration, the Register of Deeds shall, without requiring further court approval of said plan, register the same in accordance with the provisions of the Land Registration Act, as amended: Provided, however, that the Register of Deeds shall annotate on the new certificate of title covering the street, passageway or open space, a memorandum to the effect that except by way of donation in favor of the national government, province, city or municipality, no portion of any street, passageway, waterway or open space so delineated on the plan shall be closed or otherwise disposed of by the registered owner without the approval of the Court of First Instance of the province or city in which the land is situated.

A registered owner desiring to consolidate several lots into one or more, requiring new technical descriptions, shall file with the Land Registration Commission, a consolidation plan on which shall be shown the lots to be affected, as they were before, and as they will appear after the consolidation. Upon the surrender of the owner's duplicate certificates and the receipt of consolidation plan duty approved by the Commission, the Register of Deeds concerned shall cancel the corresponding certificates of title and issue a new one for the consolidated lots. The Commission may not order or cause any change, modification, or amendment in the contents of any certificate of title, or of any decree or plan, including the technical description therein, covering any real property registered under the Torrens system, nor order the cancellation of the said certificate of title and the issuance of a new one which would result in the enlargement of the area covered by the certificate of title.

CHAPTER V

SUBSEQUENT REGISTRATIONI VOLUNTARY DEALINGS WITH REGISTERED LANDSGENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 51. Conveyance and other dealings by registered owner.

An owner of registered land may convey, mortgage, lease, charge or otherwise deal with the same in accordance with existing laws. He may use such forms of deeds, mortgages, leases or other voluntary instruments as are sufficient in law. But no deed, mortgage, lease, or other voluntary instrument, except a will purporting to convey or affect registered land shall take effect as a conveyance or bind the land, but shall operate only as a contract between the parties and as evidence of authority to the Register of Deeds to make registration. The act of registration shall be the operative act to convey or affect the land insofar as third persons are concerned, and in all cases under this Decree, the registration shall be made in the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or city where the land lies.

Section 52. Constructive notice upon registration.

Every conveyance, mortgage, lease, lien, attachment, order, judgment, instrument or entry affecting registered land shall, if registered, filed or entered in the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or city where the land to which it relates lies, be constructive notice to all persons from the time of such registering, filing or entering.

Section 53. Presentation of owner's duplicate upon entry of new certificate.

No voluntary instrument shall be registered by the Register of Deeds, unless the owner's duplicate certificate is presented with such instrument, except in cases expressly provided for in this Decree or upon order of the court, for cause shown.

The production of the owner's duplicate certificate, whenever any voluntary instrument is presented for registration, shall be conclusive authority from the registered owner to the Register of Deeds to enter a new certificate or to make a memorandum of registration in accordance with such instrument, and the new certificate or memorandum shall be binding upon the registered owner and upon all persons claiming under him, in favor of every purchaser for value and in good faith.

In all cases of registration procured by fraud, the owner may pursue all his legal and equitable remedies against the parties to such fraud without prejudice, however, to the rights of any innocent holder for value of a certificate of title. After the entry of the decree of registration on the original petition or application, any subsequent registration procured by the presentation of a forged duplicate certificate of title, or a forged deed or other instrument, shall be null and void.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!