I.

Dealings with Registered Lands

registration by owner; deed not registered binding only between parties
Functions of the Deed of Register

-The office of the Register of Deeds constitutes a public repository of records of

instruments affecting registered or unregistered lands and chattel mortgages in the
province or city wherein such office is situated.

General Functions

1. to immediately register an instrument presented for registration dealing with real

or personal property which complies with all the requisites for registration
2. see to it that said instrument bears the proper documentary and science stamps
and that the same are properly canceled
3. If the instrument is not registerable, he shall forthwith deny registration thereof
and inform the presentor of such denial in writing, stating the ground or reason
therefor, and advising him of his right to appeal by consultation in accordance
with Section 117 of this Decree.

Minesteral Duty of the Register of Deeds

Duty of Register of Deeds to register, ministerial.

a. Register of Deeds perform both functions of an administrative

character and functions which are at least of a quasi-judicial nature.
b. However, the function of a Register of Deeds with reference to the registration of
deeds, encumbrances, instruments and the like is ministerial in nature.
c. Registration is a mere ministerial act by which a deed, contract or instrument is
sought to be inscribed in the records of the office of the Register of Deeds and
annotated at the back of the certificate of the title covering the land subject of the
deed, contract or instrument. Whether the document is invalid, frivolous or
intended to harass, is not the duty of a Register of Deeds to decide, but is for a
court of competent jurisdiction to determine.

Instances where Register of Deeds may deny registration:

a. Where there are several copies of the title (co-owners duplicate) but only one is
presented with the instrument to be registered.
b. Where the property is presumed to be conjugal but the instrument of conveyance
bears the signature of only one spouse.
b. Where there is a pending case in court where the character of the land and
validity of the conveyance are in issue.
c. Where required certificates or documents are not submitted.

The refusal by the Register of Deeds to register an instrument affecting registered land
by reason of non-compliance with certain requirements does not bar registration if
thereafter the defects are cured.

Conveyance/ Registration of Conveyance of Registered Land and

Unregistered Lands

When a conveyance has been properly recorded, such record is constructive

notice of its contents and all interests, legal and equitable, included therein.

The act of registration does not validate an otherwise void contract.

it was held
that the law on registration does not require that only valid instruments
shall be registered.
It must follow as a necessary consequence
that registration must fi rst be allowed, and validity or effect litigated
afterwards.

Purpose and Effect of Registration of Documents dealing with

Registered Lands

Effect of Registration:

a. 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.

b. Registration in the public registry is notice to the whole world.

c. Thus, between two buyers of the same immovable property registered under
the Torrens system, the law gives ownership priority to:

i. The first registrant in good faith;

ii. Then, the first possessor in good faith; and

iii. Finally, the buyer who in good faith presents the oldest title.

This rule, however, does not apply if the property is not registered
under the Torrens system.

d. In a case, two certificates of title were issued covering the very same
property derived from two different land patents, the Court ruled in favor
of the owner who registered his land patent first regardless of the date
of issuance of the said land patent.

The requirements for deeds and other

voluntary instruments of conveyance to be registrable thereunder are
specifi ed in the law, thus: (1) The presentation of the owners duplicate
certifi cate whenever any duly executed voluntary instrument is
fi led for registration; (2) the payment of the prescribed registration
fees and the requisite documentary stamps; (3) the evidence of full
payment of real estate tax as may be due; and (4) the inclusion of one
extra copy of any document of transfer or alienation of real property,
to be furnished the city or provincial assessor. Upon satisfaction of
such minimum requirements set by the existing statutes, it becomes
the duty of the Register of Deeds to give course to registration.

1. Voluntary and Involuntary Documents dealing with titled Lands

By registration, it creates constructive notice to the whole world.

A person dealing
with registered land is not required to go behind the register to
determine the condition of the property. He is only charged with
notice of the burdens on the property which are noted on the face
of the register or the certifi cate of title. A bona fi de purchaser for
value of such property at an auction sale acquires good title as
against a prior transferee of the same property if such transfer
was unrecorded at the time of the auction sale. The existence or
absence of good faith will, of course, have to be determined upon
the facts and the legal environment of each particular case

it has been held that where

there was nothing in the certifi cate of title to indicate any cloud or
vice in the ownership of the property, or any encumbrance thereon,
the purchaser is not required to explore farther than what the Torrens
title upon its face indicates in quest of any hidden defect or inchoate
right that may subsequently defeat his right thereto

The general rule that one who buys from a person who is not
the registered owner is not a purchaser in good faith does not apply
to a case where the seller, while he may not have been the registered
owner of the land at the time of the sale, acquired subsequently valid
title to the land in his own name, which title was then transferred to
the vendee.10

2. Process of registration

While Section 52 of P.D. No. 1529 declares from what time the
effect of registration should be reckoned, Section 54 specifi es the
manner of accomplishing registration. The latter provides that no
new certifi cate of title shall be entered or issued upon any transfer
of registered land which does not divest the land in fee simple from
the owners or from someone of the registered owners. All interests
in registered land less than an estate in fee sample are registered by
fi ling with the Register of Deeds the instrument creating or transferring
or claiming such interests, and this offi cial makes a brief memorandum
thereof upon the certifi cate of title, signed by him. A similar
memorandum is also made on the owners duplicate. In like manner,
the cancellation or extinguishment of such interests is registered.

3. Presentation and Surrender of owners Dulpicate

For the registration of voluntary instruments, the owners title

should be presented because it is necessary not only to record the
deed, instrument of assignment, mortgage, or lease in the entry book
of the registry, but also to cause a memorandum thereof made by the
Register of Deeds on the owners duplicate certifi cate and its original.
On the other hand, in case of involuntary instruments, such as an
attachment, and other lien or adverse claim of any description, as
the registration thereof is contrary to the interests of the registered
owner or will affect him adversely, it is but natural that he will not
willingly present or produce his duplicate certifi cate or at least delay
its production as long as he can. For that reason, the law does not
require its presentation together with the involuntary instruments,
as in the case of voluntary instruments, and considers the annotation
of such instrument upon the entry book as suffi cient to affect the real
estate to which it relates.

4. Sufficiency of registration

a question was raised as

to whether an entry of a document in the day book of the Register
of Deeds may be considered suffi cient to accomplish registration.
This was answered in the negative. While the effect of registration
retroacts as of the date of the entry of the document in the day book
of the Register of Deeds, registration is not considered accomplished
until and unless a memorandum of such document is made on the
certifi cate of title.

In case of sale of land, where the owners duplicate certifi cate

of title has been presented with the document sought to be registered,
and the registration fees paid, although the purchaser has not
actually obtained a new certifi cate of title issued in his name, still
registration may be deemed accomplished or suffi cient.

5. Effect of Belated registration

belated registration of the transfer made does not impair

the validity and effi cacy thereof, so long as the records show that all
the requisites of the law therefor have been complied with. In other
words, an earlier sale, even if not registered in the meantime, may
still prevail over a subsequent attachment although the seller and
judgment debtor remains in the records as the registered owner because
the property by equity no longer belongs to said debtor.

6. Effect of Failure to regiser

While it is true that the act of registration of a deed of sale of

land is the operative act to convey and affect the land sold, because
the deed serves only as evidence of authority to the Register of Deeds
to make registration (Sec. 51. P.D. No. 1529), the purchaser does not
necessarily lose his rights by his mere failure to register until after a
third party who has acquired the land in good faith and for value shall
have registered the subsequent deed. However, the purchaser who
knows or ought to know that the land he is acquiring has previous]y
been sold, but which sale has not been registered, is not a purchaser
in good faith and for that reason his acquisition cannot defeat the
right of the fi rst purchaser on the mere ground that the second deed
has been registered.
It is a well-settled rule that registration is not necessary to make
a contract of sale valid and effective as between the parties thereto.
For, actual notice is equivalent to registration. This principle holds
true with respect to privies of the contracting parties. It is likewise
settled that the purpose of registration is to give notice to third persons.

Failure of registration would not, at anytime after the sale,

vitiate or annul the right of ownership conferred by such sale

7. Registration of an Invalid Contract

No valid objection can be interposed to the registration of a

document by the Register of Deeds who fi nds nothing defective or
irregular on its face upon an examination thereof. Thus, it was held
that the law on registration does not require that only valid instruments
shall be registered. How can parties affected thereby be supposed
to know their invalidity before they become aware, actually or
constructively, of their existence or of their provisions? If the purpose
of registration is merely to give notice, then questions regarding the
effect or invalidity of instruments are expected to be decided after,
not before, registration. It must follow as a necessary consequence
that registration must fi rst be allowed, and validity or effect litigated
afterwards.28
However, according to the same case laying down the above rule,
the procedure indicated must not be understood to be an absolute and
invariable rule, for parties may, by mutual consent, submit issues for
determination at the time of the proceeding to register a document.
In that event the court should only proceed with the determination
of such issues upon giving all the parties concerned suffi cient opportunity
to present their respective sides and the evidence in support
thereof, and if this cannot be done, the determination of the issues
should be reserved in a subsequent proceeding and the registration
of the document ordered.

8. Sale of Lands to Aliens

held that aliens are not allowed to acquire ownership of

urban or residential lands in the Philippines, and as a consequence,
all acquisitions made in contravention of the prohibition since the
fundamental law became effective are null and void per se and ab
initio.

9. Validity of Acquisition of Land with money furnished by alien

There is no question that under the Constitution an alien cannot

acquire by purchase lands in the Philippines, and what an alien
cannot do directly he cannot be permitted to do indirectly. However,
in an actual case decided by the Court of Appeals, it was held that
acquisition by a citizen of the Philippines of private agricultural lands
with money given or donated to him by an alien, provided the transaction
was done in good faith, is valid.47 It is explained that what is
prohibited by the Constitution and the statutes is the acquisition of
private agricultural lands by an alien for himself.

Elevation of Doubts and Controversies o Commissioner of LRA

When the Register of deeds is in doubt with regard to

the proper step to be taken or memorandum to be made in pursuance
of any deed, mortgage, or other instrument presented to him
for registration, or where any party in interest does not agree with
the Register of Deeds with reference to any such matter, the question
shall be submitted to the Commissioner of Land Registration either
upon the certifi cation of the Register of Deeds, stating the question
upon which he is in doubt, or upon the suggestion in writing by the
party in interest; and thereupon the Commissioner, after consideration
of the matter shown by the records certifi ed to him, and in case
of registered lands, after notice to the parties and hearing, shall
enter an order prescribing the step to be taken or memorandum to
be made.

To pursue an appeal by consulta from the Register of Deeds to

the Commissioner of Land Registration, the party in interest is allowed
a period of the fi ve days from receipt of notice of the denial of
registration, provided the documents involved have not been withdrawn
from the Registry and the prescribed consulta fee paid, in
accordance with the provision of Section 117 of Presidential Decree
No. 1529.

-Mandamus is not applicable

Even assuming
that the remedy of appeal to the Commissioner of Land Registration
as provided in the law partakes of the nature of an administrative
proceeding, still it would seem that the party in interest cannot bypass
the Commissioner in such matters. To permit such a recourse
would be deviating from the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative
remedies, which is so well-settled in this jurisdiction.

Appeal from Decision of LRA

the party aggrieved by a fi nal ruling, order or decision of the Land

Registration Commission may appeal therefrom to the Court of Appeals,
instead of the Supreme Court, within fi fteen days after notice,
regardless of whether the appeal involves questions of fact, mixed
questions of fact and law, or questions of law, or all the three kinds
of questions.

Double Sale s of Same land

Bayoca vs. Nogales
G.R. No. 138201, Sept. 21, 2000
In double sales, what is relevant and material is not
whether the second buyer is a buyer in good faith but whether
he registered the sale in good faith.
The requirement of the law, where title to the property is
recorded in the Register of Deeds, is two-fold; acquisition in good
faith and recording in good faith. To be entitled to priority, the
second purchaser must not only prove prior recording of his title
but that he acted in good faith or without knowledge or notice
of a prior sale to another. The presence of good faith should be
ascertained from the circumstances surrounding the purchase of
the land. (Martinez vs. CA, G.R. No. 123547, May 21, 2001).

Right of Redemption or Preemtion

A co-owner may alienate his undivided or ideal share in the

community even without the consent of his co-owners, although this
may be subject to the right of redemption or preemption as provided
by law. The purchaser in such a case does not acquire, however, any
determinate, but only an ideal share in the property held in common.

Effects of

Sale of land by or in behalf of a minor

Without the courts authority or approval, the sale is ineffective

as to a minor child, even if the one who executed the sale is the minors
judicial guardian. A guardian has no authority to sell the real
estate of his ward, merely by reason of his general powers, and in the
absence of any special authority to sell conferred by will, statute or
order of court.18 A sale of the wards realty by the guardian without
authority from the court is void.19

Sale of land under duress

In order that duress may be suffi cient to void a sale contract,

Article 1267 (now 1335) of the Civil Code requires that the intimidation
be reasonable and well grounded. This presupposes that the
threatened injury to the person or property must be probable and
serious, and that the person from whom the intimidation comes has
the necessary means to infl ict the threatened injury.23
Thus, in order to cause the nullifi cation of acts executed during
the Japanese occupation, the duress or intimidation must be more
than the general feeling of fear on the part of the occupied over
the show of might by the occupant. In other words, there must be
specifi c acts or instances of such nature and magnitude as to have, of themselves, infl icted fear
or terror upon the subject thereof, in order
that his execution of the questioned deed or act cannot be considered
voluntary.24

Sale of land with subsisting encumbrances

The proper remedy in case of such breach is

not rescission or cancellation of the contract but the removal of the
prohibited constructions.14

A party who sells registered land subject to the covenant that

it shall be used only for residential, commercial, or educational
purposes, annotated on the title of the vendee, has a cause of action
against a subsequent purchaser whose title bears the same restriction,
notwithstanding the fact that the deed of conveyance in his favor
does not mention such restriction. Limitations of this nature imposed
by the owner have been sustained. The restrictive covenant binds the
subsequent purchaser, a privy. For, it is axiomatic that contracts are
enforceable against the parties and their privies.13

Double sales of same land

Land may be sold twice to two different persons, although the

possibility of success in registering the two sales under the Torrens
system is quite remote, not to say impossible. But, just in case, the rule is that the person holding
under the prior certifi cate is entitled
to the land as against the person who obtained the second certifi cate
covering the same land. A declaration of nullity of one of the titles
can be obtained in an action to quiet title under Article 476 of the
new Civil Code.54
However, where there was bad faith on the part of one of the
purchasers of the same land, the preference is always in favor of the
other, in view of Article 1544 of the New Civil Code, as

II. Actions to Recover Real Property

Action for:

Reconveyance
Recovery
Cancellation of Title
Recovery of property
 Recovery of ownership
Accion reinvidicatoria
Quiting of title

Nature and purpose of action

Jurisdiction

Grounds

Prescription

III. Action to recover possession

Actions for
Acciion publiciana
Forcible entry
Unlawful detainer
Accion reinvindication

There are three kinds of actions for the recovery of possession

of real property: the fi rst is the summary action established by Rule
70 of the Rules of Court, known as an action for forcible entry or
unlawful detainer, which seeks the recovery of physical possession
only, and is brought within the period of one year from the act of
dispossession or the expiration of the tenants right of possession,
in the proper inferior court; the second is the accion publiciana, the
same being for the recovery of the right to possess and is deemed to
be plenary action to be instituted in the Regional Trial Court; and
the third is the accion reivindicatoria, which seeks the recovery of
ownership, including, of course, possession, which is also within the
jurisdiction of Regional Trial Courts

Iv. Action involving reconstitution or re-issuance of lost title

Reconstitution of lost Owners duplicate and or original title

-nature

reconstitution of a certifi cate of title denotes restoration in

the original form and condition of a lost or destroyed instrument
attesting the title of a person to a piece of land. The purpose of the
reconstitution of title is to have, after observing the procedures prescribed
by law, the title reproduced in exactly the same way it has
been when the loss or destruction occurred.

The purpose of the reconstitution of any document, book or

record is to have the same reproduced, after observing the procedure
prescribed by law, in the same form they existed when the
loss or destruction occurred.77 When certifi cates of title have been
so reconstituted, they shall have the same validity and legal effect
as the originals thereof. And Republic Act No. 26 enumerates under
Sections 2 and 3 thereof the sources from which an original copy of
an original certifi cate of title or transfer certifi cate of title, as
such titles are denominated under the Land Registration Act, may
be reconstituted.

A reconstitution proceeding is an in rem proceedings. When anorder in such a proceeding has

become fi nal, the fi ndings of the court
therein can no longer be opened for review. However, if it can be
shown that the order of reconstitution was issued by the court without
previous publication in the Offi cial Gazette as required by Section 13
of Republic Act No. 26, which is mandatory and jurisdictional, such
order is null and void and of no effect, and naturally anything done
under said order is likewise null and void. Publication in a newspaper
of general circulation like the Manila Daily Bulletin, in lieu of the
Offi cial Gazette, cannot be considered in itself suffi cient compliance. 80
An error on the part of the court may result in the prejudice of the
real owner of the land covered by the reconstituted certifi cate of title,
and damage may be recovered from the Assurance Fund.

As earlier mentioned, a reconstitution of title is the re-issuance

of a new certifi cate of title lost or destroyed in its original form and
condition. It does not pass upon the ownership of the land covered by
the lost or destroyed title. Any change in the ownership of the property
must be the subject of a separate suit. Thus, although petitioners
are in possession of the land, a separate proceeding is necessary to
thresh out the issue of ownership of the land.
Even if the reconstitution order was invalid,

-Jurisdiction

Grounds
-notice of action

The possessor of the lot, the title of which is under reconstitution

is not entitled to notice of the petition for reconstitution. In Jesus
San Agustin vs. CA, et al., G.R. No. 121940, Dec. 4, 2001, it was said
that such possessor is not entitled to notice based under P.D. 1529
which provides:
Section 109. Notice and replacement of lost duplicate
certifi cate In case of loss or theft or an owners duplicate
certifi cate of title, due notice under oath shall be sent by the
owner or by someone in his behalf to the Register of Deeds of
the province or city where the land lies as soon as the loss or
theft is discovered. If a duplicate certifi cate is lost or destroyed,
or cannot be produced by a person applying for the entry of a
new certifi cate to him or for the registration of any instrument,
a sworn statement of the fact of such loss or destruction may
be fi led by the registered owner or other person in interest and
registered.
Upon the petition of the registered owner or other person in
interest, the court may, after notice and due hearing, direct

Re-issuance of lost owners duplicate of title

-nature

-Jurisdiction

Grounds

-notice of action

IV. Real Estate and Chattel Mortgage

Nature and Purpose of mortgage
Kinds of mortgages
Essential requisites of morgages
Purpose and effect of registration
Comparison between
-mortgage and antichresis
=real mortgage and chattel
-mortgage and pledge

Purpose of reg of mortgage/ effect of failure o register

Pactum commisorium and nature and effect
Stipulation against subsequent alientation
Discharge of mortgage
Judicial and extra judicial forclosure
Right of redemption
 Grounds to set aside foreclosure
Deficiency judgement after foreclosure
Remedies of morgagee upon death of mortgagor
V. Involuntary Dealings with registered land

involuntary dealings with registered

lands refer to certain kind of transactions affecting such lands in
which the cooperation of the registered owner is not needed. It may
even be against his will.
Involuntary dealing and involuntary transactions are synonymous.
Under the Uniform Land Registration Act, the term is
defi ned as the transmission of registered land or any interest therein
by descent, the right of curtesy and dower, all equitable rights and
claims, judicial proceedings or statutory liens or charges, the exercise
of the right of eminent domain, the lien of delinquent taxes and levies,
affecting registered land or any interest therein. 1

Attachments

In general, an attachment is a writ issued at the institution or

during the progress of an action, commanding the sheriff or other
public offi cer to attach the property, rights, credits, or effects of the
defendant to satisfy the demands of the plaintiff.2
Attachment may be classifi ed into three kinds, namely: (1)
preliminary attachment; (2) garnishment; and (3) levy on execution.
Preliminary attachment is that issued at the institution or during
the progress of an action. It is a mesne process, liable to be dissolved
at any time and the judgment upon which may or may not affect the
property seized. Garnishment is an attachment by means of which
1 9 Uniform

-nature

plaintiff seeks to subject to his claim property of the defendant in the

hands of a third person called the garnishee, as well as money owed by
such third person to defendant. Garnishment proceedings are usually
directed to personal property. Levy on execution is the attachment
issued after the fi nal judgment in satisfaction thereof.3
Under the Land Registration Act we shall not be concerned
about garnishment.
3. Registration of attachments and other liens.
Under the provisions of Section 69 of P.D. 1529, an attachment
or copy of any writ, order or process, in order to create or preserve
any lien, right or attachment upon registered land, may be fi led and
registered in the offi ce of the Register of Deeds for the province or city
in which the land lies, such writing to contain, among other things,
a reference to the number of the certifi cate of title of the land to be
affected, and also if the attachment, right, or lien is not claimed on all
the land in any certifi cate of title, a description suffi ciently accurate
for identifi cation of the land intended to be affected.
On the other hand, Rule 57, Section 7, of the Rules of Court, requires
that a copy of the order of attachment, together with a description
of the property attached, and a notice that it is attached, be fi led
with the Registrar, the notice to contain a reference to the number
of the certifi cate of title and the volume and page in the registration
book where the certifi cate is registered. The Registrar is also directed
to index the attachment in the names of both the plaintiff and the
defendant as well as in the name of the persons, if any, by whom the
property is held or in whose name it stands on the records.
-kinds
-registration of attachment
Properties subject of attachment
Tax lien superior to attachment
Who may redeem execution sale
Registration of lis pendens
-meaning
-purpose
-notice/ requisites
-effect of failure
-cancellation or discharge
Adverse Claim
 -Purpose of registration of adverse claim
Examples
-when adverse claim deemed registered
-ground for denial of application
-effectivity of adverse claim

VI. Transmission by Decent or devise

-jujidcial or extrajudicial settlement of estate

VIII. Amendement or correction of erroneosentry in torrens title

-basis or ground

-necessity of court order

IX. Consulta

-naure and purpose

-procedure

-appeal

X. Action for Damages/ action against assurance fund

-nature and basis of action

-proof of damages

-prescriptive period

-parties in interest

XI. Legal Forms

-formal requisites

-deed of absolute sale

-deed of donation

=Contract to sell