REGISTRATION OF JUDGMENTS; ORDERS; PARTIONS

REGISTRATION OF JUDGMENT TO RECOVER POSSESSION

OR OWNERSHIP OF REAL ESTATE (SEC. 78-80)

REGISTRATION OF JUDGMENT
-A judgment for the plaintiff in an action for the recovery of possession or ownership affecting registered
land shall be entitled to registration upon presentation of a certificate of entry from the clerk of court to
the RD who shall enter a memorandum upon the certificate of title covering the land subject of the action.

- If only a portion of the land described in the certificate is affected by the judgment, the certificate of the
clerk of court shall contain a description of the portion involved.
- Registration is important to apprise third persons of the status of the land affected by the judgment.

There are two (2) ways by which a judgment may be recorded by the Register of Deeds:
1. Through the Clerk of Court forwarding a copy of the judgment to the Register of Deeds; and
2. Through a winning party presenting a copy of the judgment to the Register of Deeds.
The law does not distinguish between who may present a copy of the judgment.

REGISTRATION OF JUDGMENT ADJUDICATING OWNERSHIP

- When in an action for recovery of possession judgment has been rendered in favor of the plaintiff, the
judgment shall likewise be registered and the adjudicatee shall be entitled to the issuance of a new
certificate of title upon cancellation of the title of the preceding owner.

EXECUTION OF DEED PURSUANT TO A JUDGMENT

- The court, in all cases where it renders judgment affecting registered property or any interest therein,
shall direct parties to execute the requisite deed or instrument as may be necessary to give effect to the
judgment of registration, and when required by the terms of the judgment, direct the registered owner to
surrender his owner’s duplicate certificate for cancellation or entry of the appropriate memorandum
thereon.

REGISTRATION OF ACTION FOR PARTITION

REGISTERED LAND (SEC. 82)
PARTITION, GENERALLY.
- Partition is the separation, division, and assignment of a thing held in common among those to whom it
may belong.
- Every act which is intended to put an end to an indivision among co-heirs and legatees or devisees is
deemed to be a partition, although it should purport to be a sale, exchange, a compromise or any other
transaction.
- The titles of acquisition or ownership of each property shall be delivered to the co-heir to whom said
property has been adjudicated.
- When the title comprises of two or more pieces of land which has been assigned to two or more co-
heirs, or when it covers on piece of land which has been divided between two or more coheirs, the title
shall be delivered to the one having the largest interest, and authentic copies of the title shall be
furnished to the other co-heirs at the expense of the estate. If the interest of each co-heir should be the
same, the oldest shall have the title.

- In an action for partition, there should be simultaneous

presentment of two issues—
o There is the issue of whether the plaintiff is indeed a co-owner of the property sought to be partitioned
o Assuming that the plaintiff successfully hurdles the first issue, there is the secondary issue of how the
property is
to be divided between the plaintiff and the defendants.
JUDICIAL PARTITION

• An action for partition for real property is a judicial controversy between persons who being co-
owners seek to secure division or partition among them of the common property, giving to each
one the part corresponding to him.

• A person having the right to compel the partition of real estate may do so by setting forth in his
complaint the nature and extent of his title and an adequate description of the real estate of which
partition is demanded and joining as defendants all other persons interested in the property

• If the court after trial finds that the plaintiff has a right thereto, it shall order the partition of the
real estate among all the parties in interest.

• Thereupon, the parties may, if they are able to agree, make the make the partition among
themselves by proper instruments of conveyance, and the court shall confirm the partition so
agreed by all of the parties, and such partition, together with the order of the court confirming the
same, shall be recorded in the RD of the place in which the property is situated.

• If actual partition is made, the judgment shall state definitely by metes and bounds and adequate
description, the particular portion of the real assigned to each party, and the effect of the judgment
shall be to vest in each party and the severalty the portion of the real estate assigned to him
partition among themselves by proper instruments of conveyance, and the court shall confirm the
partition so agreed by all of the parties, and such partition, together with the order of the court
confirming the same, shall be recorded in the RD of the place in which the property is situated.

EXTRAJUDICIAL PARTITION

The parties may without having letters of authorization, divide the estate among themselves as they see
fit by means of a public instrument filed in the office of the RD and should they disagree, they may do so
in an ordinary action for partition.

EXCEPTION THE GENERAL RULE OF INPRESCRIPTIBILITY OF AN

ACTION FOR PARTITION

Imprescriptibility cannot be invoked when one of the co-owners of a property has possessed the property
as exclusive owner and for a period sufficient to acquire it by prescription.

STAGES IN PARTITION

- Determination of whether or not a co-ownership in fact exists and a partition is proper, that is, it is not
otherwise legally proscribed and may be made by voluntary agreement of all the parties interested in the
property.

- Second stage is when the parties are unable to agree upon the partition ordered by the court.

-In that event, the partition shall be effected for the parties by the court with the assistance of not
more than 3 commissioners. The second stage may also deal with the rendition of the accounting
itself and its approval by the Court after the parties have been accorded the opportunity to be heard
thereon, and the award for the recovery by the parties entitled of their just shares in the rents and
profits of the real estate in question. Such an order is to be sure also final and appealable.
SECTION 82. REGISTRATION OF PRIOR REGISTERED
MORTGAGED OR LEASE ON PARTITIONED PROPERTY.

PARTITION OF LAND SUBJECT OF MORTGAGE

- When a certified copy of the final judgment or decree of partition is presented for registration and it
appears that a mortgage or lease affecting a specific portion or an undivided share of the property had
been previously registered, the RD shall carry over and annotate such encumbrance on the certificate of
title that may be issued, with a description of the land set-off in severalty on which such mortgage or lease
remains in force

LAND TAKEN BY EMINENT DOMAIN (SEC. 85)

Eminent Domain, Generally

- Ultimate right of the sovereign power to appropriate any property within its territorial sovereignty for a
public purpose.

- Manifest in the nature of expropriation proceedings.

- Expropriation proceedings are not adversarial in the conventional sense for the condemning authority
isn’t required to assert any conflicting interest in the property.

- Thus, by filing the action, the condemnor in effect merely serves notice that it is taking title and possession
of the property, and the defendant asserts title or interest in the property, not to prove a right of possession,
but to prove a right to compensation for the taking.

2 REQUIREMENTS:

1. Public Use
2. Just Compensation

EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT BY AGREEMENT

OF THE PARTIES (Sec. 86)

- If the decedent left no will and no debts and the heirs are all of age, or the minors are represented by
their judicial or legal representatives duly authorized for the purpose, the parties may, without securing
letters of administration, divide the estate among themselves as they see fit by means of a public instrument
filed in the office of the RD and should they disagree, they may do so in an ordinary action of partition.

- If there is only one heir, he may adjudicate to himself the entire estate by means of an affidavit filed in
the office of the RD.

!!!TAKE NOTE!!!

Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement – Many heirs involved

Affidavit of Self-Adjudication – Sole heir

- The parties to an extrajudicial settlement, whether by public instrument or by stipulation in a pending

action for partition, or the sole heir who adjudicates the entire estate to himself by means of an affidavit
shall file, simultaneously with and as a condition precedent to the filing of the public instrument, or
stipulation in the action for partition, or of the affidavit in the office of the RD, a bond with the said RD, in
an amount equivalent to the value of the personal property involved as certified to under oath by the
parties concerned and conditioned upon the payment of any just claim that may be filed.
In the registration of an extrajudicial settlement of estate, the two-year lien shall be annotated on the TCT
issued.

ACTUAL SAMPLE:

REGISTRATION OF FINAL DISTRIBUTION OF ESTATE

- A certified copy of the partition and distribution, together with the final judgment or order of the court
approving the same or otherwise making final distribution, supported by evidence of payment of estate tax
or exemption therefrom, as the case may be, shall be filed with the RD and upon presentment of the
owner’s duplicate certificate of title, new certificates of title shall be issued to the parties severally entitled
thereto in accordance with the approved partition and distribution.

AMENDMENT OR CORRECTION OF TITLE (Sec. 108)

“No erasure, alteration, or amendment shall be made upon the registration book
after the entry of the certificate of title, or a memorandum thereon and the
attestation of the same by the clerk or any registrar of deeds, except by order of
the court.

Prevailing Rule:

The prevailing rule is that proceedings under Section 108 of PD 1529 are summary in
nature, contemplating corrections or insertions of mistakes which are only clerical
but certainly not controversial issues.

-It is somewhat a summary procedure.

- Alterations to correct obvious mistakes, without opening the decree of registration
Thus:
1. When there is a serious objection;
2. When there is an adverse claim on the part of an interested party;
3. When there is absence of unanimity among the parties.

The case becomes controversial and should be threshed out in an ordinary case.

Based on settled jurisprudence, Section 108 of PD 1529 is limited only to seven instances or
situations, namely:

(a) when registered interests of any description, whether vested, contingent,

expectant, or inchoate, have terminated and ceased;

Example: All adverse claimants have all died.

(b) when new interests have arisen or been created which do not appear upon the
certificate;

Example 1: When the title to land contains annotation to the effect that buildings and
improvements thereon belong to a third person and such buildings and improvements were later
burned, the registered owner of the land may petition the court to amend the certificate on the
ground that the registered interest has already terminated.

Example 2. At the time of the original registration there was no improvements on the land covered
by the certificate.

(c) when any error, omission or mistake was made in entering a certificate or
any memorandum thereon or on any duplicate certificate;

Example: When the certificate of title is in the name of Juan Dela Cruz, who was described as
widow. There is an error made because Juan Dela Cruz should have been a widower.

(d) when the name of any person on the certificate has been changed;

Example: When at the time of the application for registration, the applicant was still single and
subsequent she got married.

(e) when the registered owner has been married, or, registered as married, the marriage
has been terminated and no right or interest of heirs or creditors will thereby be affected;

Example: When at the time of the application for registration, the applicant described himself as
married, but soon after the issuance of the certificate of title he becomes a widower, he may
petition the court for the correction of his status, PROVIDED no right or interest of heirs or
creditors will be affected thereby.

(f) when a corporation, which owned registered land and has been dissolved, has not
conveyed the same within three years after its dissolution; and

(g) when there is reasonable ground for the amendment or alteration of title.

GROUNDS FOR CANCELLATION OF TITLE

A certificate of title, be it an original or a duplicate, may be ordered cancelled on the following grounds:

1. WHEN THE TITLE IS VOID

a. because it is procured through fraud

Examples:

1. When a person applied for registration of land in his name when he knows that the same belongs
to another.

2. When a person, by means of forged deed of sale succeeds in obtaining transfer certificate of title
in his name based on the forged document, the title issued to the forger should be cancelled.

b. because it is issued for a land covered by a prior Torrens title:

Example:

1. When a piece of land or part thereof registered in the name of a person is registered again in
the name of another person, the latter registration is null and void. Recall land registration
proceedings are actions in rem.
 c. because it covers a land which has not been brought under the registration
proceeding.

Example:

No person has put in no claim to a land or has not applied for the same, the court has nor
jurisdiction to order its registration in his name and the title issued is null and void and can be
cancelled.

2. When the title is replaced by one issued under cadastral proceeding;

3. When the condition for its issuance has been violated by the registered owner.
- refer to the PUBLIC LAND LAW

PETITIONS INVOLVING CERTIFICATE OF TITLE

There are 4 petitions:

1. Petition for Surrender of Title (Sec. 107);
2. Petition for Correction, Amendments, or Alterations in the Certificate of Title (sec. 108);
3. Petition for The Issuance of New Owner’s Duplicate of Title (Sec. 109);
4. Petition for Reconstitution (sec. 110)

1. PETITION FOR THE SURRENDER OF THE OWNER’S DUPLICATE OF TITLE—the law

speaks of two instances. The first one involves involuntary transactions and the other one,
voluntary transactions. In both instances the procedure is to file a petition in the Regional Trial
Court for the owner to surrender the owner’s duplicate of title.

2. PETITION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF NEW OWNER’S DUPLICATE OF TITLE

WHERE TO FILE: Regional Trial Court

WHO MAY FILE: The owner or any person who has an interest over the property.

Important Step: Execute an affidavit of loss and have it annotated on the office copy of the
certificate of title with the Registry of Deeds.

Actual Example:
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF A
LOST DUPLICATE CERTIFICATE ARE:

1. The registered owner or other person in interest shall send notice of the loss or
destruction of the owner’s duplicate certificate of title to the RD of the province or city
where the land lies as soon as the loss or destruction is discovered;

2. The corresponding petition for the replacement of the loss or destroyed owner’s
duplicate certificate shall then be filed in RTC and entitled in the original case in which
the decree of registration was entered;

3. The petition shall state under oath the facts and circumstances surrounding such loss
or destruction;

4. The court may set the petition for hearing, after due notice to the RD and other
interested parties as shown in the memorandum of encumbrances noted in the Original
Certificate of Title or Transfer Certificate of Title on file in the office of the Register of
Deeds

5. After due notice and hearing, the court may direct the issuance of a new duplicate
certificate which shall contain a memorandum of the fact that it is issued in place of the
lost or destroyed certificate and shall in all respects be entitled to the same faith and
credit as the original duplicate

4. PETITION FOR RECONSTITUTION

“Loss or destruction of original or duplicate copies of titles to properties is

common, with reasons ranging from theft to a natural calamity.”

WHERE TO FILE: Regional Trial Court

WHO MAY FILE: The owner or any person who has an interest over the property.

RECONSTITUTION of a certificate of title denotes the restoration in its original

form and condition of a lost or destroyed original or transfer certificate of title on
file in the office of the Register of Deeds.

There are two kinds of restitution:

JUDICIAL and ADMINISTRATIVE.

1. Judicial is when you file a petition in court.

2. Administrative is when you file the petition with the RD.

The court in entertaining petitions for reconstitution should be careful and cautious.
Section 12 and 13 are mandatory requirements. Section 12 refers to the contents
requirement as 13 refers to the publication requirements.
ADMINISTRATIVE RECONSTITUTION

Republic Act No. 6732 provides for the administrative reconstitution of lost or destroyed
certificate of title, which may only be availed of:

(a) in case of substantial loss or destruction of land titles due to fire, flood, or other force
majeure as determined by the Land Registration Authority (LRA) Administrator;
(b) when the number of certificates of titles lost or damaged should be at least 10 percent
of the total number in the possession of the Office of the Register of Deeds; and
(c) when the number of titles lost or damaged is more than or equal to 500.

Said petition may be filed with the Register of Deeds concerned by the registered owner,
his assigns, or other persons, both natural and juridical, having an interest in the property.
Thereafter, the Register of Deeds shall forward the petition and its accompanying
documents, together with its comments, if any, to the Reconstituting Officer, whose order
of reconstitution, however, may be reviewed, revised, reversed, or modified by the LRA
upon appeal.

In any case, for those whose titles got lost or destroyed in the Registry of Deeds, but no
administrative reconstitution was determined to be necessary, they need to undergo judicial
reconstitution of title.

JUDICIAL RECONSTITUTION
UNDER REPUBLIC ACT 26

GOVERNING LAW: Republic Act 26: An Act Providing a Special Procedure for The
Reconstitution of Torrens Certificate of Titles Lost or Destroyed

REPUBLIC ACT 26 provides for special procedure for the reconstitution of torrens
certificate of title that are missing and not fictitious titles which are existing.

- Where a certificate of title over a parcel of land was reconstituted judicially and
later it was found that there existed a previous certificate of title covering the same land
in the name of another person, the court ruled that the existence of the prior title ipso
facto nullified the reconstitution proceedings.

> Reconstitution of title is an action in rem

> A judicially reconstituted title has the same validity and legal effect as the original
thereof.

> The limitation that reconstitution of title should be limited to the certificate as it stood
at the time of its loss or destruction has reference only to changes which alter or affect
title of the registered owner and not to mere liens and other encumbrances.

> Section 2 and 3 of RA 26 will tell the different documents or evidence that you can
submit for a petition for reconstitution can prosper. Sources found in the law are in a
hierarchy of preference. First and foremost in this list, may it be for the original or transfer
certificates of title is the owner’s duplicate of title.
SOURCES OF RECONSTITUTION ORIGINAL CERTIFICATES OF TITLE

1. The owner’s duplicate certificate of title;

2. The co-owner’s, mortgagee’s, or lessee’s duplicate certificate of title;
3. A certified copy of the certificate of title, previously issued by the RD or by a legal
custodian thereof;
4. An authenticated copy of the decree of registration or patent, as the case may be,
pursuant to which the original certificate of title was issued;
5. A document, on file with the RD, by which the property, the description of which is
given in said document, is mortgaged, leased, or encumbered, or an authenticated copy
of said document showing that its original has been registered;
6. Any other document which, in the judgment of the court is sufficient and proper
basis for reconstituting the lost or destroyed certificate of title;

FOR TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE

1. The owner’s duplicate certificate of title;

2. The co-owner’s, mortgagee’s, or lessee’s duplicate certificate of title;
3. A certified copy of the certificate of title, previously issued by the RD or by a legal
custodian thereof;
4. The deed of transfer or other document, on file in the RD, containing a description of
the property, or an authenticated copy thereof, showing that its original had been
registered, and pursuant to which the lost or destroyed transfer certificate of title was
issued;
5. A document, on file with the RD, by which the property, the description of which is
given in said document, is mortgaged, leased, or encumbered, or an authenticated copy
of said document showing that its original has been registered;
6. Any other document which, in the judgment of the court is sufficient and proper
basis for reconstituting the lost or destroyed certificate of title;

9. The phrase “Any other document” will pertain to documents similar to those previously
enumerated. An example is a case pertaining to an action for the recovery of possession.
The court decision contained the technical description of the land and whatnot as would
pertain to any other document that warrants reconstitution.

WHERE TO FILE PETITION: Shall be filed by the registered owner, his assigns, or any
person having interest in the property with the proper RTC where the same is based on
sources enumerated earlier.

CONTENTS SHALL BE AS FOLLOWED:

1. That the owner’s duplicate had been lost or destroyed

2. That no co-owner’s, mortgagee’s, lessee’s, duplicate had been issued or, if any had been
issued, the same had been lost or destroyed;
3. The location, area and boundaries of the property;
4. The nature and description of the buildings or improvements, if any, which don’t belong to
the owner of the land, and the names and addresses of the owners of such buildings or
improvements;
5. The names and addresses of the occupants or persons in possession of the property, of the
owners of the adjoining properties and all persons who may have any interest in the property;
6. A detailed description of the encumbrances if any, affecting the property;
7. A statement that no deeds or other instruments affecting the property have been presented
for registration, or if there be any, the registration thereof hasn’t been accomplished, as yet;
REQUIREMENTS OF NOTICE BY PUBLICATION, POSTING AND MAILING
1. To be published twice, at the expense of the petitioner, in successive issues of the
Official Gazette;
2. To be posted on the main entrance of the provincial building and of the municipal
building of the municipality or city in which the land is situated
3. Copy of the notice to be sent by registered mail or otherwise, at the expense of the
petitioner, to every person named therein whose address is known, within 30 days prior
the date of hearing

FORMS USED IN LAND REGISTRATION

AND CONVEYANCING (Section 112)

Forms in conveyancing. The Commissioner of Land Registration shall prepare convenient

blank forms as may be necessary to help facilitate the proceedings in land registration
and shall take charge of the printing of land title forms.

Deeds, conveyances, encumbrances, discharges, powers of attorney and other

voluntary instruments, whether affecting registered or unregistered land,
executed in accordance with law in the form of public instruments shall be
registerable: Provided, that, every such instrument shall be signed by the person or
persons executing the same in the presence of at least two witnesses who shall likewise
sign thereon, and shall acknowledged to be the free act and deed of the person or persons
executing the same before a notary public or other public officer authorized by law to
take acknowledgment. Where the instrument so acknowledged consists of two or more
pages including the page whereon acknowledgment is written, each page of the copy
which is to be registered in the office of the Register of Deeds, or if registration is not
contemplated, each page of the copy to be kept by the notary public, except the page
where the signatures already appear at the foot of the instrument, shall be signed on the
left margin thereof by the person or persons executing the instrument and their
witnesses, and all the ages sealed with the notarial seal, and this fact as well as the
number of pages shall be stated in the acknowledgment. Where the instrument
acknowledged relates to a sale, transfer, mortgage or encumbrance of two or more
parcels of land, the number thereof shall likewise be set forth in said acknowledgment.