BOOK 3 LAND PROBLEMS AND REMEDI ES

A ctions that affect title to or possession of real pro perty or interest therein are called real
actio ns.

A certificate o f title shall no t be subject to co llateral attack. It canno t be altered, modified, or

cancelled except in a direct p roceeding in acco rdance with law.

The To rrens secret is to find the key that will open the door to the Torrens Axioms which are
culled from the decision of the Supreme Court.

To rrens A xioms –are rules, principles, doctrines and maxims of the Torrens System which are
culled from land mark of the Supreme Court on actual cases and widely accepted on their intrinsic
merit or as demanded by legal or equitable consideration of the facts and circumstances.

1. A Torrens Certificate o f Title is the best evidence of ownership of the land describ ed therein.

2. A To rrens system g ives notice to the whole world.

A Torrens title binds the whole world
The issuance of a certificate of title is a constructive notice to all persons
Registration of a deed of sale in the Registry of Deeds constitutes constructive notice to the
whole world
No one can plead ignorance of the registration

3. A To rrens title bars all p rior claims not reg istered on the title.

4. A T orrens Certificate of title serves as evidence of an indefeasible title to the property in

favo r of the person whose name appear therein.
After 1year from the entry if the decree of registration

5. A To rrens title is imprescrip tible.

No title to registered land in derogation of the title of the registered owner shall be
acquired by prescription or adverse possession.
The owner of the land registered under the Torrens System cannot lose by prescription.
6. The integ rity of the To rrens System must be proved.
Every person dealing with registered land may safely rely on the correctness of the
certificate of title issued and the law will no way oblige him to go behind the certificate to
determine the condition of the property.

7. A certificate o f title shall not be subject to collateral attack. It cannot be altered, modified
or cancelled except in a direct proceeding in accordance with law.

8. The perso n in whose name the land is fraudulently reg istered holds it as a mere trustee with
the leg al oblig ation to reconvey the property and the title in favor o f the true owner.

9. Any reg istration procured b y the presentation of a forg ed dup licate certificate o f title or a
fo rg ed deed or other instrument shall be null and void.
A fraudulent or forged document of sale may become the root of a valid title if the
certificate of title has already been transferred from the name of the true owner to the name of
the forger or the name indicated by the forger.

10. A s b etween 2 innocent perso ns, the o ne who made it possible for the wrong to be done
should be the one to bear the resulting loss.

11. ‘
’ ’
Prio r tempore p otio r jure’He who is first in time is preferred in rig ht.
 The act of registration in the Registry of Deeds shall be the operative act to convey or affect
the land insofar as 3r d persons are concerned.
12. Where 2 certificates of title include the same land, the certificate that is earlier date
prevails.

13. A Torrens title is presumed to have been issued reg ularly and leg ally.
The presumption is that the transferee of registered land is not aware of any defect in the
title of the property he purchased.

14. Every perso n dealing with reg istered land may safely rely on the correctness of the
certificate if title issued therefo r.
One who deals with property registered under the Torrens system need not go beyond the
same but only has to rely on the title, he is charged with notice only of such burdens and claims as
are annotated on the title.
He is not required to explore than what Torrens title on its face indicates, in quest for any
hidden defects that may subsequently defeat his right.
Where innocent 3r d persons relying on the correctness of the certificate of title issued,
acquire rights over the property, the court cannot disregard such rights and order the total
cancellation of the certificate for that would impair public confidence of the certificate of title
otherwise everyone dealing with property registered under the Torrens system would have to
inquire in every instance as to whether the title had been regularly or irregularly issued by the
court.
Where the Torrens system is in the name of the vendor, the vendee has the right to rely on
what appears on the title and in the absence of anything to arouse suspicion, the vendee has no
obligation to look beyond the title.

15. I f a certificate of title is void, all subsequent certificates of title derived therefrom are also
void because of the truism that the ‘ ’ ’
spring cannot arise hig her than its so urce.’
This truism is in accord with the L atin maxims ‘
’Nemo potest plus juris ad alium transferre
quam ipse habet’ ’‘
’No one can transfer a g reater rig ht to another than he himself has.’ ’

PART I
TO RECOVER REAL PROPERTY

A person whose land has been wrongfully or illegally registered and titled in the name of another
may file in court the proper action for the recovery of title to, or ownership of, the property.
The complaint is the pleading that alleges plaintiff’
s cause of action or causes of action.
A p leading must be verified by an affidavit that the affiant has read the pleading and that the
allegations therein are true and correct of his personal knowledge or based on authentic records.

CA USES OF A CTON A RE THE FOL L OWING:

1. Mistake, Fraud, I llegality, Breach of Trust
2. Forgery
3. L ack of Marital Consent
4. Erroneous Inclusion of L and
5. Registration in Bad Faith
6. Double Titles
7. Co-heirs Excluded
8. Expanded Areas
9. Equity
The leg al principle is that if the registration of the land is fraudulent, the person in whose name the
land is registered holds it as a mere trustee; and the real owner is entitled to file an actio n for
reco nveyance ag ainst such person within a period of ten years.

FORGERY
 Whoever alleges forgery has the burden of proving the same. Forgery cannot be
presumed, but should be proved clear and convincing evidence.
The rule is that registration procured by the presentation of forged duplicate certificate of
title or a forged deed or other instruments shall be null and void.

Purchaser in b ad faith –one who buys from another who is not a registered owner is expected to
examine not only the certificate of title but all factual circumstances necessary for him to deliver if
there are many flaws in the title of the transferor or in his capacity to transfer the land, but where
the certificate of title was already in the name of the forger when the land was sold to an innocent
purchaser, it was held that the vendee had the right to rely on what appeared in the certificate and
he was under no obligation to look beyond the certificate and investigate the title of the vendor
appearing on the face of the said certificate.
A forg ed deed can be the root o f a valid title when an innocent p urchaser for value
intervenes. The right of the innocent purchaser for value must be respected and protected even
the seller obtained his title through fraud.
There is g o od faith where there is an honest intention to abstain from taking any
unconscientious advantage from another.
It is a recog nized principle that a certificate is not conclusive evidence if it is sho wn
that the same land had already b een reg istered and an earlier certificate for the same land is
in existence.
It was held that ‘’
as between two persons both of whom are in good faith and both innocent
of any negligence, the law must prefer and protect the lawful holder of registered title over the
transfer of a vendor deprived of any transmissible rights.
The defense of indefeasibility o f the To rrens Title do es not extend to a transferee who
takes the certificate o f title with no tice of a flaw in his title.

DOUBL E TITL ES
A certificate of title is not a conclusive evidence of title if the same land had already been
registered and an earlier certificate of title is in existence.
A land registration court has no jurisdiction to order the registration of land already decreed
in the name of another in an earlier land registration case. A second decree for the same land is null
and void.
The rule is that in case of a do uble reg istratio n the owner of the earlier certificate is the
owner of the land, applies to the successive vendees of the owners of such certificates. The vendee
of the earlier certificate would be the owner as against the vendee of the owner of the later
certificate.
Where two certificates of title purp ort to include the same land, an earlier in date
prevails.
The sale first made and registered is the valid one, considering that when the subsequent sale was
made by the former owner he had nothing more to sell even if the title he surrendered to the
subsequent vendees is one issued covering the same property.

DOUBL E SAL ES
A rticle 154 4:
If the same thing should have been sold to different vendees, the ownership shall be
transferred to the person who may have taken possession thereof in good faith, if it should b e
mo vable p rop erty.
Should it be immovable property, the ownership shall belong to the person acquiring it
who in good faith first recorded it in the Registry of Property.
Should there be no inscription; the ownership shall pertain to the person who in good faith
was first in the possession and in absence thereof to the person who presents the oldest title,
provided there is good faith.

A co-heir who, through fraud, obtained a certificate of title in his name to the prejudice of his co-
heir, is deemed to hold the land in trust for the latter. The action by the latter to recover the
property does not p rescribe.
 Under the Pub lic L and Act, alienable and disposable lands of the public domain may be
granted to citizens of the Philippines by means of patents.
A Free Patent cannot be issued by the government over a parcel of land which is of private
ownership.
The Torrens System does not protect the riparian owner against the diminution of the area
of his registered land throug h g radual chang es in the course of an adjoining stream.