Domingo Realty Inc vs.

Court of Appeals (513 SCRA 40) Caveat Emptor

Principle
Hopefully this case will serve as a precaution to prospective parties to a contract
involving titled lands for them to exercise the diligence of a reasonably prudent
person by undertaking measures to ensure the legality of the title and the
accurate metes and bounds of the lot embraced in the title. It is advisable that
such parties (1) verify the origin, history, authenticity, and validity of the title
with the Office of the Register of Deeds and the Land Registration Authority; (2)
engage the services of a competent and reliable geodetic engineer to verify the
boundary, metes, and bounds of the lot subject of said title based on the
technical description in the said title and the approved survey plan in the Land
Management Bureau; (3) conduct an actual ocular inspection of the lot; (4)
inquire from the owners and possessors of adjoining lots with respect to the true
and legal ownership of the lot in question; (5) put up signs that said lot is being
purchased, leased, or encumbered; and (6) undertake such other measures to
make the general public aware that said lot will be subject to alienation, lease, or
encumbrance by the parties. Respondent Acero, for all his woes, may have a
legal recourse against lessor David Victorio who inveigled him to lease the lot
which turned out to be owned by another.
Kim Raisa O. Uy
Ateneo Law School 2012

Kim Raisa O. Uy
Ateneo Law School 2012