LIS PENDENS as provided for under Section 76 of PD 1529

Section 76. Notice of lis pendens. No action to recover possession of real

estate, or to quiet title thereto, or to remove clouds upon the title thereof, or for
partition, or other proceedings of any kind in court directly affecting the title to
land or the use or occupation thereof or the buildings thereon, and no
judgment, and no proceeding to vacate or reverse any judgment, shall have any
effect upon registered land as against persons other than the parties thereto,
unless a memorandum or notice stating the institution of such action or
proceeding and the court wherein the same is pending, as well as the date of
the institution thereof, together with a reference to the number of the certificate
of title, and an adequate description of the land affected and the registered
owner thereof, shall have been filed and registered.
NATURE OF LIS PENDENS
 Lis pendens literally means a pending suit
 Doctrine that refers to the jurisdiction, power or control which a court
acquires over a property involved in a suit, pending the continuance of
the action, until final judgment
 May involve actions that deal not only with title or possession of a
property but also with the use and occupation of a property
 The litigation must directly involve a specific property which is
necessarily affected by the judgment
PURPOSE OF LIS PENDENS
 To protect the rights of the party causing the registration of the lis
pendens
 To advise third persons who purchase or contract on the subject
property that they do so at their peril and subject to the result of the
pending litigation
EFFECT OF NOTICE OF LIS PENDENS
 Keeps the subject matter of litigation within the power of the court until
entry of final judgment so as to prevent the defeat of the latter by
successive alienations
 Binds the purchaser of the land subject of the litigation to the judgment
or decree that will be promulgated thereon whether such purchaser is a
bona fide purchaser or not

NOTICE IS ONLY AN INCIDENT IN THE MAIN CASE; MERITS THEREOF

UNAFFECTED
 A notice of lis pendens is ordinarily recorded without the intervention of
the court where the action is pending
  It is but an incident in an action, an extrajudicial one. It doesn’t affect
the merits thereof.
NOTICE NEED NOT BE ANNOTATED ON THE OWNER’S COPY
 Annotation at the back of the original copy of the certificate of title on file
with the RD is sufficient to constitute constructive notice to purchasers
or other persons subsequently dealing with the same property
 One who deals with property subject of a notice of lis pendens cannot
invoke the right of a purchaser in good faith—neither can he acquire the
rights better than those of his predecessor-interest

NOTICE OF LIS PENDENS—WHEN APPROPRIATE

 Action to recover possession of real property
 Action to quiet title thereto
 Action to remove cloud thereon
 Action for partition
 Any other proceedings of any kind in court directly affecting the title to
the land or the use or occupation thereof or the buildings thereon

NOTICE NOT PROPER IN THE FOLLOWING

 Preliminary attachment
 Proceedings for the probates of wills
 Levies on execution
 Proceedings for the administration of estate of deceased persons
 Proceedings in which the only subject is the recovery of a money
judgment

CONTENTS OF NOTICE OF LIS PENDENS

 A statement of the institution of an action or proceedings
 The court where the same is pending
 The date of its institution
 A reference to the number of certificate of title of the land
 An adequate description of the land affected and its registered owner

PRINCIPLE OF PRIMUS IN TEMPORE POTIOR EST JURE (“The first in

time (is) the more powerful in right.”); EFFECT OF LIS PENDENS
 The principle of primus in tempore potior jure gains greater significance
in the law on double sale of immovable property
 Reliance on the principle of constructive notice operates only such upon
the registration of the notice of lis pendens
  More fundamentally, a notice of lis pendens is only a warning to the
prospective purchaser or incumbrancer that the particular property is in
litigation and that he should keep his hands off the same, unless he
intends to gamble on the results of the litigation
CARRY OVER OF NOTICE ON SUBSEQUENT TITLES
 In case of subsequent transfers or sales, the RD is duty bound to carry
over the notice of lis pendens on all titles to be issued
 Act of RD in erasing notice of lis pendens is in plain violation of his duty,
constitutes misfeasance in the performance of his duties for which he
may be held civilly and even criminally liable for any prejudice caused to
innocent third persons and cannot affect those who are protected by the
notice inscribed in the original title