Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Aurora Alcantara-Daus vs. Sps. Hermoso
Aurora Alcantara-Daus vs. Sps. Hermoso
It is
and Soccoro de Leon June 16, 2003 during the delivery that the law requires the seller to
have the right to transfer ownership of the thing
sold. In general, a perfected contract of sale cannot
Facts: Hermoso De Leon inherited a parcel of land be challenged on the ground of the seller’s non-
from his father by virtue of a Deed of Extra-judicial ownership of the thing sold at the time of the
Partition. In 1960s, he engaged the services of the perfection of the contract.
late Atty. Juan to take care of the documents of the
properties of his parents. Atty. Juan let them sign
voluminous documents. After the death of Atty. Further, even after the contract of sale has been
Juan, some documents surfaced and most perfected between the parties, its consummation by
revealed that their properties had been conveyed delivery is yet another matter. It is through tradition
by sale or quitclaim to Hermoso’s brothers and or delivery that the buyer acquires the real right of
sisters, to Atty. Juan and his sisters, when in truth ownership over the thing sold.
and in fact, no such conveyances were ever
intended by them. His sign in the quitclaim in favor
of brother RODOLFO DE LEON was forged. They Undisputed is the fact that at the time of the sale,
just discovered that land was sold to herein RODOLFO WAS NOT THE OWNER of the land he
petitioner AURORA, thus they demanded for delivered to petitioner AURORA. Thus, the
annulment of contracts and reconveyance. consummation of the contract and the consequent
transfer of ownership would depend on whether he
subsequently acquired ownership of the land in
AURORA averred that she bought it in good faith accordance with Article 1434 of the Civil Code.
and for value on DECEMBER 1975 and has been Thus there’s a need to resolve the issue of the
in continuous, public, peaceful, open possession authenticity and the due execution of the
over the same and has been appropriating the Extrajudicial Partition and Quitclaim in his favor.
produce thereof without objection from anyone. However, after poring over the records, we find no
reason to reverse the factual finding of the
appellate court. A comparison of the genuine
RTC – In favor of AURORA and said claim was signatures of HERMOSO with his purported
barred by laches because 18 years has passed and signature on the Deed of Extrajudicial Partition with
that the deed was a notarial document hence Quitclaim will readily reveal that the latter is a
presumptively authentic forgery.