Coronel vs.

Court of Appeals
GR No. 103577
October 7, 1996


FACTS:

On January 19, 1985, Romulo Coronel executed a document entitled Receipt of
Down Payment in favor of Ramona Patricia Alcaraz wherein petitioners agreed to
transfer title of a parcel of land in Quezon City upon completion of payment of the
purchase price of P1,240,000. The payment was subject to a condition that the title of
the property will be transferred to petitioners name from the name of the petitioners
father. Clearly, the conditions appurtenant to the sale are the following: (1) Ramona
will make a down payment of P50,000.00 upon execution of the document foretasted;
(2) The Coronels will cause the transfer in their names of the title of the property
registered in the name of their deceased father upon receipt of the P50,000.00 down
payment; (3) Upon the transfer in their names of the subject property, the Coronels will
execute the deed of absolute sale in favor of Ramona and the latter will pay the former
the whole balance of P1,190,000.00.

On the same date, Concepcion D. Alcaraz, mother of Ramona, paid P50,000.00
as down payment. On February 18, 1985, the Coronels sold the property to Catalina B.
Mabanag for P1,580,000.00 after the latter has paid P300,000.00. Because of this,
Coronels canceled and rescinded the contract with Ramona by depositing the down
payment paid by Concepcion in the bank in trust for Ramona Patricia Alcaraz.

Respondent filed a complaint for specific performance against petitioners on
February 22, 1985, and caused the annotation of a notice of lis pendens at the back of
the title.
On April 2, 1985, Mabanag caused the annotation of a notice of adverse claim
covering the same property with the Registry of Deeds. On April 25, 1985, petitioners
executed a Deed of Absolute Sale over the subject property in favor of Mabanag and a
new title was issued in her name.

The lower court ordered the petitioners to execute the deed of absolute sale of
the said property with the respondent Ramona and upon receipt thereof, Ramona is
ordered to pay petitioners the whole balance of the purchase price amounting to P
1,190,000 in cash. The new title issued to Mabanag was canceled and declared to be
without force and effect. The petitioners thereupon appealed to the Court of Appeals
but appellate court agreed with the lower courts decision.

ISSUE:

The issue in this case is whether or not the legal significance of the document
entitled Receipt of Down payment constitutes as a Contract of Sale or Contract to Sell.

DECISION:

The Receipt of Down Payment in the case at bar is a Contract of Sale. When
the Receipt of Down payment is considered in its entirety, it becomes more manifest
that there was a clear intent on the part of petitioners to transfer title to the buyer, but
since the transfer certificate of title was still in the name of petitioners father, they
could not fully effect such transfer although the buyer was then willing and able to
immediately pay the purchase price. Therefore, petitioners undertook upon receipt of
the down payment from private respondent Ramona P. Alcaraz, to cause the issuance
of a new certificate of title in their names from that of their father, after which, they
promised to present said title, now in their names, to the latter and to execute the deed
of absolute sale whereupon, the latter shall, in turn, pay the entire balance of the
purchase price. Furthermore, the agreement could not have been a contract to sell
because the sellers herein made no express reservation of ownership or title to the
subject parcel of land. The instant petition is hereby dismissed and the appealed
judgment affirmed.

LAW:

A Contract of Sale as defined by Article 1458 of the Civil Code is whereby one
obligates himself to transfer ownership and to deliver a determinate thing, and the
other to pay thereof a price certain in money or its equivalent. Sale, by its very nature,
is a consensual contract because it is perfected by mere consent. The essential
elements of a contract of sale are the following: (1) consent or meeting of the minds,
that is, consent to transfer ownership in exchange for the price; (2) determinate subject
matter; and (3) price certain in money or its equivalent.

Under this definition, A Contract to Sell may not be considered as a Contract of
Sale because the first essential element is lacking. In a contract to sell, the prospective
seller explicitly reserves the transfer of title to the prospective buyer, meaning, the
prospective seller does not as yet agree or consent to transfer ownership of the
property subject of the contract to sell until the happening of an event, which for
present purposes we shall take as the full payment of the purchase price.