ARTICLE 476Whenever there is a cloud on title to real property or any interest therein, by reason of any instrument, record, claim, encumbrance or proceeding which is apparently valid or effective but is in truth and in fact invalid, ineffective, voidable or unenforceable, and may be prejudicil to said title, an action may be brought to remove such cloud or to quiet the title.

An action may also be brought to prevent a cloud from being cast upon title to real property or any interest therein.

Quieting of TitleSection 377 of the Code of Civil Procedure, actions to remove a cloud from the title to real estate shall be brought in the province where the land is situated.

It is a common-law remedy for the removal of any cloud upon or doubt or uncertainty with respect to title to real property.

Purpose is to secure an adjudication that a claim of title to or an interest in property, adverse to that of the complainant is invalid, so that the complainant and those claiming under him may be forever afterward free from any danger of hostile claim.

When the instrument is not valid on its face, the remedy does not apply.

The result is not binding upon the whole world, therefore, not in rem. It is really in personam bcause it is enforceable only against the defeated pary or privies.

The Court said that a suit to quiet title brought against one co-owner, is not res judicata with respect to the other co-ownerw who were not made parties thereto.

Torrens SystemPurpose of the Torrens System is to quiet title to land and to stop forever any question as to its legality.

An indirect or collateral attack on a Torrens Title is not allowed.

Collateral AttackWhen a separate and new lawsuit is filed to challenge some aspect of an earlier and separate case, it is called a collateral attack on the earlier case. This is different than an appeal, which is a challenge to some aspect of a decision made in the same case.

In personamIn personam is a Latin phrase meaning "directed toward a particular person"

Res JudicataOnce a final judgment has been handed down in a lawsuit, subsequent judges who are confronted with a suit that is identical to or substantially the same as the earlier one will apply the res judicata doctrine to preserve the effect of the first judgment.

Decided Doctrines1. An agent, with the written authority of his principal to sell the latter's property, sold the same after the death of the principal but antedated the contract of sale.2. If the contract is forged.3. A contract by an incapacitated person.4. A mortgage valid on its face and will cause prejudice although in reality invalid.

Bill Quia Timet1. It is an action to prevent a cloud. Requisites are 1) That there is a fixed determination on the part of the defendant to create a cloud and 2) it is not sufficient that the danger is merely speculative.2. A bill invoking the aid of equity "because he fears," that is, because the complainant apprehends an injury to his property rights or interests, from the fault or neglect of another. Such bills are entertained to guard against possible or prospective injuries, and to preserve the means by which existing rights may be protected from future or contingent violations; differing from injunctions. in that the latter correct past and present or imminent and certain injuries.

PrescriptionAs a general rule, it is settled that an aciton to quiet title does not prescribe1. If the plaintiff is in possession of the property, the aciton does not prescribe.2. If the plaintiff is not in possession of the property, the action may prescribe. Moreover, even if the action is broought within the period of limitations, it may be barred by laches

LachesLaches is the legal doctrine that an unreasonable delay in seeking a remedy for a legal right or claim will prevent it from being enforced or allowed if the delay has prejudiced the opposing party. The doctrine is an equitable defense that seeks to prevent "legal ambush" from a party who is negligent in failing to timely make a claim. It recognizes that the opposing party's ability to obtain witnesses and other evidence diminishes over time, due to unavailability, fading memory, or loss. Disallowing the negligent party's action on the ground of laches is a form of estoppel.Laches is an equitable form of estoppel based on delay. The theory behind allowing the defense is that the law shouldn't aid those who "sleep on their rights". For a defense of laches to succeed, it must be proven that the party invoking the doctrine has changed its position as a result of the delay, resulting in being in a worse position now than at the time the claim should have been brought. For example, the delay in bringing the claim may have caused much larger potential damages to be awarded; the ability to pay the claim is lacking due to assets being otherwise used in the meantime; the property sought to be recovered has already been sold; or evidence or testimony may no longer be available to defend against the claim.

ARTICLE 477The plaintiff must have legal or equitable title to, or interest in the real property which is the subject matter of the action, He need not be in possissionof said property.

Title of the Plaintiff1. The palintiff must either have the legal (registered) ownership or the equitable (beneficial) ownership. Otherwise, the action will not prosper.2. Nieto v Quines L-14643 SC rule that one who has complied with all the terms and conditions which would entitle him to a homestead patent, even without a right on the land is to be regarded as the equitable owner thereof.

If Plaintiff is In Possession1. Period does not prescribe2. Only right is to remove or prevent cloud

If Plaintiff Is Out of Possession1. Period Prescribes2. Aside from being given the right to remove or prevent cloud, he may also bring the ordinary actions of ejectment, publiciana or reivindicatoria within the proper prescriptive periods.

Action of EjectmentEjectment is a lawsuit brought by the owner of real property to remove a party who is unlawfully occupying the property. It differs from an action for unlawful detainer (eviction) against a non-paying or unsatisfactory tenant because it is against someone who has tried to claim title to the property, rather than someone merely unlawfully occupying property.

Action PublicianaIt is a plenary action for recovery of possession in an ordinary civil proceeding, in order to determine the better and legal right to possess, independently of title. The objective of the plaintiffs in accion publiciana is to recover possession only, not ownership. However, where the parties raise the issue of ownership, the courts may pass upon the issue to determine who between the parties has the right to possess the property. This adjudication, however, is not a final and binding determination of the issue of ownership; it is only for the purpose of resolving the issue of possession where the issue of ownership is inseparably linked to the issue of possession. The adjudication of the issue of ownership, being provisional, is not a bar to an action between the same parties involving title to the property

Accion ReivindicatoriaAn accion reinvindicatoria is an action to recover ownership over real property.

ARTICLE 478There may also be an action to quiet title or remove a cloud therefrom when the contract, instrument or other obligaiton has been extinguished or has terminated or has been barred by extinctive prescription.

Extinctive PrescriptionIt is a sanction which consists of the extinction of right of action which was not exercised in the period of limitation. The substantive law of action, referred to as the right of action is extinguished by prescription if it is not exercised within the time limit which has been set by law

ARTICLE 479The plaintiff mst return to the defendant all benefits he may have received from the latter, or reimburse him for expenses that may have redounded to the plaintiff's benefit.

ARTICLE 480The principles of the general law on the quieting of title are hereby adopted insofar as they are not in conflict with this Code.

Conflict of LawIf there is conflict between the Civil Code and general law on the quieting of title, the former shall prevail.

Regarding DefensesThe efendant can win if he can prove:1. that the plaintiff does not have legal or equitable title2. that the defendant has acquired the ownership by adverse possession3. that the case has already been prviously decided between the parties on the same issue4. that the defendant became the owner after the acton had been filed, but before he filed his answer5. that the action has prescribed, the palintiff being outside of possession.

Adverse possessionA method of gaining legal title to real property by the actual, open, hostile, and continuous possession of it to the exclusion of its true owner for the period prescribed by state law. Personal property may also be acquired by adverse possession.Adverse possession is similar to prescription, another way to acquire title to real property by occupying it for a period of time. Prescription is not the same, however, because title acquired under it is presumed to have resulted from a lost grant, as opposed to the expiration of the statutory time limit in adverse possession.

ARTICLE 481The procedure for the quieting of title or the removal of a cloud therefrom shall be governed by such rules of court as the Supreme Court shall promulgate.

Rules and Procedure1. The venue of the aciton is determined by the situation or location of the premises ad not by the residence of the party.2. The process or notice should accurately describe the property and state in general terms the nature and extent of the plaintiff's claim3. The suit cannot be brought in the name of one pary for the use and benefit of another is not only may but must be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest.4. in a suit for the quieting of title the actual possessor at the time of th4e filing of the aciton must be respected in his possession until after there is an adjudicaiton on the merits. If said actual possessor is disturbed in the meantime by the other pary, the former is entitled to a writ of preliminary injuction against said disturbers.

Action for Quieting of Title Will Not Prospera. if it is merely an aciton to settle a dispute concerning bounndariesb. if the case merely involves the proper interpretaton and meaning of a contract or document.c. if the plaintiff has no title, either legal or equitabled. if the action has prescribed and the plaintiff is not in possession of the propertye. if the contract, insturment, is void on its face.f. if it is a mere claim or assertion (oral or written) unless such claim has been made in a court action or the claim asserts that an instrument or entry in behalf of the palintiff is not really what it appers to be.

Court's TaskThe court is tasked to determine the respective rights of the parties so that the complaint and those claiming under him may be forever free from danger of hostile claim.

SUBJECT: PROPERTYTOPIC: QUIETING OF TITLE (476-481)ATTY. FLORINIE F. ABREGUNDA,CPA,MBA