General Real Estate Information
As a rule, only Filipino citizens and corporations or partnerships with least
60% of the shares are owned by Filipinos are entitled to acquire land in the
Philippines.
Aliens can acquire land in the Philippines only on a few exceptions: 1)
Acquisition before the 1935 constitution. 2) Acquisition thru hereditary
succession -if the foreigner is a legal heir. 4) Purchase of not more than 40%
interest as a whole in a condominium project. 4) Purchase by a former natural
born Filipino citizen who acquired foreign citizenship & has not applied and
granted dual citizenship can purchase up to 1,000 square meters of residential
land and 1 hectare of agricultural or farm land.
Modes of Acquiring Land:
- Private Grant - voluntary transfer or conveyance of private property by
a private owner, such as sale or donation.
- Public Grant – acquisition of alienable lands of the public domain by
homestead patent, free patent, sales patent, or other government awards.
- Involuntary Grant – acquisition of private party against the consent of the
former owner, such as foreclosure sale, execution sale, or tax sale.
- Inheritance – acquisition of private property through hereditary succession.
- Reclamation – filling of submerged land, subject to existing laws and
government regulations.
- Accretion – acquisition of more lands adjoining the banks of rivers due to
the gradual deposit of soil as a result of the river current.
- Prescription – acquisition of title by actual, open, continuous, and
uninterrupted possession in the concept of owner for the period required by
law.
A foreign national and or corporation may enter into a lease agreement with
Filipino landowners for an initial period of up to 50 years, and renewable
for another 25 years. Or lease the property in your Philippine Corporation
name for an unlimited period of time.
Acquisition is the act of procuring or getting a hold of real estate
property. Disposition is the manner of alienation, transfer of possession
and ownership thereof as prescribed by the Philippine law. The acquisition
and disposition of real estate is embodied in written agreements or
contracts voluntarily entered into and subscribed by the selling and buying
parties thereof, before a public officer designated as the Notary Public of
the City or Province where the subject property is located. Thereafter, the
instrument embodying the particular real estate transaction is required by
law to be recorded in the Registry of Deeds in the City or Province where
the real estate property is involved and located. The Philippines uses the
"Torrens" system of real estate ownership.
The Bundle of Rights Theory
The bundle of rights theory inherent to property ownership are the right to
use (Jus-Utendi), the right to enjoy the fruits of (Jus-Fruendi), the right
to dispose (Jus-Disponendi), the right to abuse (Jus-Abutendi), the right to
recover (Jus-Vindicandi), and the right to possess (Jus-Possidendi). The
rights incident to ownership are, the right:
- to enjoy and dispose of a property without other limitations than those
established by law;
- to file action against third parties to recover ownership;
- to use force as may be reasonably necessary to repeal or prevent an actual
or threatened unlawful invasion or usurpation of his property (Art. 429, NCC,
relate to Art. 312, RPC);
- the right to enclose or fence property - walls ditches, live or dead hedges
- or by any other means without detriment of servitudes constituted thereon;
- to demand indemnity for damages caused to property;
- the right to compensation in the event of expropriation;
- the right to be restored to possession in case of unlawful dispossession;
- the right to the surface and subsurface of the land, right to construct
thereon any works, plantation and excavation without detriment to servitude
and subject to special laws and without right to complain of the reasonable
requirements of aerial navigation;
- the right to hidden treasure;
- the right to accession and fruits of the property;
- the right to "quiet title" to real property or any interest therein.
Limitations on right of property ownership:
- CONSTITUTIONAL - such as police power, eminent domain or expropriation of
private property for public use, taxation and escheat when revision of
private property to state ownership in case of death of property owner
without an heir;
- LEGAL - zoning ordinances, regulations on subdivision projects, building
code, and other special laws and regulations; and
- CONSENSUAL/VOLUNTARY - easements and servitudes, usufructs, lease
agreements, restrictions in subdivision and condominium deeds or restriction.
The Regalian Doctrine of property ownership
A principle in law which means
that all natural wealth - agricultural, forest or timber, and mineral lands
of the public domain and all other natural resources belong to the state.
Thus, even if the private person owns the property where minerals are discovered,
his ownership for such does not give him the right to extract or utilize said minerals without permission
from the state to which such minerals belong.
The Steward Concept of property ownership
The Steward Concept is a legal doctrine which holds that property ownership
presupposes concomitant obligations to the state and the community and that
property is supposed to be held by the individual only as trustee for people
in general; and that as mere steward, the property owner must exercise his
rights to the property not just for his own exclusive and selfish benefit or
interest but for the good and general welfare of the nation as a whole.
The National Housing Authority
Presidential Decree No. 957, which regulates the sale of subdivision and
condominium developments, and providing penalties for violations thereof.
The National Housing Authority has exclusive jurisdiction to regulate real
estate trade and business, a function, which is presently exercised by the
Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB). Certain conditions are
required before a license to sell condominium development units and or
subdivision development lots and homes is issued to a Filipino or Foreign
owned individual or corporation. The requirements include a certificate of
registration, a performance bond, and an approval of the building plans and
specifications. Violation of these rules could mean fines, cancellation of
license and or imprisonment.
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