Carljude Jashper G.

Liwanag AR31FC2

Significance of the Study Presidential Decree No. 957 tackles about the concerns when it comes to sales of subdivisions and condominium houses. It says, at time of President Marcos, most sellers of the subdivisions and condominiums are taking advantage by not supplying the inhabitants things that they will need to have a sufficient lifestyle. Thus Presidential Decree No. 957 was created to ensure the proper amenities an inhabitant must have and must be given by the sellers. It also tackles the punishments and consequences to a seller who does not meet the requirements needed by the inhabitant. Purposes of these rules are to have an economic and socially enhanced living, and to impose to the citizens some moral values. In this law, it defined the meaning of a person, whether the buyer or the seller which can be an association or a single person. It also defined the word sale which means to dispose, for monetary reasons, a subdivision lot or a condominium unit. On the other hand, buy means to purchase a subdivision lot or a condominium unit. A subdivision project means a parcel or a plot of land which is partitioned for residential purposes under the Act No. 496. Republic Act 496 is the Land Registration Act which is an act to provide for the adjudication and registration of titles to lands in the Philippine islands. A subdivision project must a title of the land and must be registered to the Direct of Lands for it to be admitted. Inside the subdivision project is a partitioned subdivision lot which means any lot made on the land of the subdivision project. A complex subdivision plan includes a detailed plan of the registered land showing the streets and etc. In the other hand, a condominium project is the entire land made into a building of divided condominium units which is any type of habitation with two or more rooms. In this decree, the owner, developer, dealer, broker and salesman was defined. The owner is the person who owns the land with registration. He works hand in hand with the developer to improve the parcel of land. While the dealer is the one who buys, sells or exchanges the real estate. The broker is the one who sells a real estate that does not belong to him. The brokers are paid to sell the real estate and they sometimes hire a salesman, in replacement for the broker, to sell the real estate. For a subdivision lot and condominium units to be sold, it must be first submitted to the National Housing Authority. The National Housing Authority, as stated in Section 36, gives the rules and regulations for effective implementation of the Presidential Decree No. 957. The Authority can also deputize any law enforcement to execute it orders as states in Section 37. If

approved to complying with the requirements stated in the National Building Code, the Land Registration Act and in case of the condominium buildings, must comply with the Condominium Act. The Presidential Decree No. 957 stated the laws that must be followed, it is an advantage to the customer to read this, because, he, himself can know the proper requirements and can know if the unit or lot that he bought complied with the acts. He can also put charges to the dealers if the unit or lot does not comply with the acts. In this act, the requirements for an owner to have a project are listed. One of which, is that it must not have a lien. A lien is a document for debts. If a customer knows that the lot he bought is part of a put-in lien parcel, the customer might be paying the lien together with the lot. The customer must ask if the lot is lien free so that he would pay less. And according to Section 18 about mortgages, an owner cannot put in any mortgage to any subdivision lot and/or condominium unit unless it is granted by the Authority. For it to be granted, the proceeds or the money collected for the mortgage must be used for the developments of the lot or unit and not be used for personal income. The owner of the land is asked to have the License to sell given and approved by the National Housing Authority two weeks after the registration of the land. The Authority can also not give the license to sell to an owner unless the owner submitted a performance bond. A performance bond is the guarantee that the construction and management is satisfactory and with compliance with the laws. The Authority will not give the license to sell in any means or reasons to a lot which is a partition of a lot that already an owner. And when the lot, which already have a license to sell from another owner, is transferred to another person, that person will not gain any license to sell. And lastly, an owner who has not yet fulfilled his duties to pay the debts will not gain a license to sell. And as stated in Section 35, if the owner did not complete the project, the authority will take over the development but the owner will have to pay for the expenses. If a client will complain, the authority upon verification will suspend the owners license to sell in duration of the hearing process and investigation. A license to sell may also be suspended if the owner has any incorrect information pertaining to his business until the owner explains and corrected the information written. The license to sell can also be revoked when an owner cant pay his debt, bad business repute or committed any fraudulent act, also, if he violated any provisions of this law or did not conduct his business according with the law. In this law, the dealers, brokers and salesman are identified as worthy to sell, good repute and complied with all the rules of the Authority. When registered, his name and address are recorded in the registry of brokers, dealers and salesmen. A dealer, broker or salesman can be suspended or the registration be revoked if the dealer, broker or salesman has violated any rules, became a fraud and cant sell or transact efficiently. If the brokers and dealers are suspended, the salesmen under them will also be suspended. For a customer, being persuaded by a salesman, be assured that the salesman is not committing any fraud upon them, he must read about this section

of Presidential Decree No. 957 for him to know that the salesman is registered and trustworthy by the Authority. For the dealers and brokers to sell their lots and units, they will use an advertisement. According to Section 19, the advertisements filed must speak the truth and real facts about the things to be sold. An advertisement can be a commercial in the television, an ad in the newspaper, spoken in the radio and other forms but must ensure that the advertisement is not misleading and not to confusing in any other way. The revocation of the registration certificate has four parts. First the Authority will issue to the complained owner a copy of the complaint. Second, the authority will specify the date and time and place of the hearing that is written in the complaint paper given to the owner. Third, the hearing is argumentative type and does not comply with the Rules of the Court except for special instances. And last, the officer designated by the Authority will have the power to lead the hearing. For any bad behaviour done in the court, the officers may submit a direct contempt to any person doing bad acts, during the proceedings that are deemed to be interrupting the hearing. Or the officers can also submit an indirect contempt with accordance with Rule 71 of the Revised Rules of the Court. Rule 71 tackles the different cases of any contempt situations. And as for the projects done during the hearing, a cease and desist order is enforced to stop the project. Even after the plan was approved or the owner has obtained a license to sell, all of this must be registered first to the Register of Deeds. They will assess and look into the plans with accordance with the Land Registration Act. They will double check if the plans complied with the rules of the laws and no information was missed. And after all of the requirements are submitted and been registered, the project must be completed within one year or other dates specified by the Authority. Presidential Decree No. 957 also states the rules concerning the fees and payments to be paid in either the owner or buyer. Firs of, in Section 23 the buyer can retake his installed money from the owner when the owner didnt finish the project in time. The buyer must not have an agreement with the owner when it comes to the monetary issues. The buyer must comply with this section. Because if the owner told the buyer to not take the money and just wait for the project to be finish, the owner can run away with the buyers money. And if the buyer has failed to pay the instalments due to other reasons, he has some rights that are stated in Republic act No. 6552. RA 6552 is the Realty Instalment Buyer Protection Act. It states there if the buyer cannot pay the instalments the seller can forfeit the contract after 30 days of the notice of cancellation. Realty taxes are paid by the owner without any recourse to the buyer as long as the buyer does not have the title of the lot. The buyer can only be obligated to pay the realty tax if he has the title or occupied the lot for a year. After a year, the owner can ask for the realty tax payment. Other charges, for common needs of the buyers, are not oblige to pay unless the Organization of Homeowners Association has a written request of all homeowners and have the majority of

approval. The Organization of Homeowners Association is made by the owner to ensure the social mutuality of the residents as states in Section 30. The owner cannot alter the plans or make any changes to public domains or any anything within the plans the he submitted. The owner must make a right of way for the public to ensure proper circulation of traffic. The owner can also donate some open spaces that are in the site to the government and the government must not do any changes or build structures to the said open space unless a hearing occurred. The owner must also make a free access to any public and government structures that are in the site. When it comes to subdivisions, the owner can divide it into phases providing that the phases have not less than 10 hectares. Like any other laws with violators, PD 957 also indicated some penalties. First penalty is 10,000 pesos. This penalty is given by the Authority when caught red handed by them. Second one is 20,000 pesos and an imprisonment of not less than ten years; these are for those who violated the provisions of this decree. And its stated that if any person who controls another person to commit a violation, that person will also have the same degree of punishment the doer of the violation have.