1. Voluntary Dealings

G. Subsequent Registration (P.D. No. 1529, secs. 51-53)

• Voluntary Dealings – P.D. No. 1529, secs. 55-59
• Involuntary Dealings – P.D. No. 1529, secs. 69, 74 and 76; Adverse Claims and Notice of Lis Pendens – P.D. No. 1529, secs. 70 and 77

P.D. No. 1529, secs. 51-53

I. VOLUNTARY DEALINGS WITH REGISTERED LANDS GENERAL PROVISIONS

SEC. 51. Conveyance and other dealings by registered owner.—An owner of registered land may convey, mortgage, lease, charge or otherwise deal with the same in accordance with existing laws. He may use such forms of deeds, mortgages, lease or other voluntary instruments as are sufficient in law. But no deed, mortgage, lease, or other voluntary instrument, except a will purporting to convey or affect registered land shall take effect as a conveyance or bind the land, but shall operate only as a contract between the parties and as evidence of authority to the Register of Deeds to make registration.

The act of registration shall be the operative act to convey or affect the land insofar as third persons are concerned, and in all cases under this Decree, the registration shall be made in the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or city where the land lies.

SEC. 52. Constructive notice upon registration.—Every conveyance, mortgage, lease, lien, attachment, order, judgment, instrument or entry affecting registered land shall, if registered, filed or entered in the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or city where the land to which it relates lies, be constructive notice to all persons from the time of such registering, filing or entering.

SEC. 53. Presentation of owner's duplicate upon entry of new certificate.—No voluntary instrument shall be registered by the Register of Deeds, unless the owner's duplicate certificate is presented with such instrument, except in cases expressly provided for in this Decree or upon order of the court, for cause shown.

The production of the owner's duplicate certificate, whenever any voluntary instrument is presented for registration, shall be conclusive authority from the registered owner to the Register of Deeds to enter a new certificate or to make a memorandum of registration in accordance with such instrument, and the new certificate or memorandum shall be binding upon the registered owner and upon all persons claiming under him, in favor of every purchaser for value and in good faith.

In all cases of registration procured by fraud, the owner may pursue all his legal and equitable remedies against the parties to such fraud without prejudice, however, to the rights of any innocent holder for value of a certificate of title. After this entry of the decree of registration on the original petition or application, any subsequent registration procured by the presentation of a forged duplicate certificate of title, or a forged deed or other instrument, shall be null and void.

It is where incidental matters after original registration may be brought before the land registration court by way of motion or petition filed by the registered owner or a party in interest.

Necessity and Effects of Registration

Q: After registering his land, what conveyances may the registered owner do?

A: An owner of registered land may convey, mortgage, lease, charge or otherwise deal with the same in accordance with existing laws. He may use such forms of deeds, mortgages, leases or other voluntary instruments as are sufficient in law.

GR: Such deed, mortgage, lease, or other voluntary instrument shall operate only as a contract between the parties and as evidence of authority to the Register of Deeds to make registration. It is the act of registration which shall operate to convey or affect the land insofar as third persons are concerned, and in all cases, the registration shall be made in the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or city where the land lies.

The act of registration creates a constructive notice to the whole world of such voluntary or involuntary instrument or court writ or process. (Sec. 52,. P.D. 1529)

XPN: A will purporting to convey or affect registered land is excepted from the rule that an unregistered voluntary instrument operates only as a contract between the parties. Its effect as a testamentary disposition remains subject to the requirements of succession law, including probate. (Sec. 51,. P.D. 1529; Rule 75, Sec. 1, Rules of Court)

Voluntary Dealings – P.D. No. 1529, secs. 55-59

SEC. 55. Grantee's name, nationality, etc., to be stated.—Every deed or other voluntary instrument presented for registration shall contain or have endorsed upon it the full name, nationality, residence and postal address of the grantee or other person acquiring or claiming an interest under such instrument, and every deed shall also state whether the grantee is married or unmarried, and if married, the name in full of the husband or wife. If the grantee is a corporation or association, the instrument must contain a recital to show that such corporation or association is legally qualified to acquire private lands. Any change in the residence or postal address of such person shall be endorsed by the Register of Deeds on the original copy of the corresponding certificate of title, upon receiving a sworn statement of such change. All names and addresses shall also be entered on all certificates.

Notices and processes issued in relation to registered land in pursuance of this Decree may be served upon any person in interest by mailing the same to the addresses given, and shall be binding, whether such person resides within or without the Philippines, but the court may, in its discretion, require further or other notice to be given in any case, if in its opinion the interest of justice so requires.

SEC. 56. Primary Entry Book; fees; certified copies.—Each Register of Deeds shall keep a primary entry book in which, upon payment of the entry fee, he shall enter, in the order of their reception, all instruments including copies of writs and processes filed with him relating to registered land. He shall, as a preliminary process in registration, note in such book the date, hour and minute of reception of all instruments, in the order in which they were received. They shall be regarded as registered from the time so noted, and the memorandum of each instrument, when made on the certificate of title to which it refers, shall bear the same date: Provided, that the national government as well as the provincial and city governments shall be exempt from the payment of such fees in advance in order to be entitled to entry and registration.

Every deed or other instrument, whether voluntary or involuntary, so filed with the Register of Deeds shall be numbered and indexed and endorsed with a reference to the proper certificate of title. All records and papers relative to registered land in the office of the Register of Deeds shall be open to the public in the same manner as court records, subject to such reasonable regulations as the Register of Deeds, under the direction of the Commissioner of Land Registration, may prescribe.

All deeds and voluntary instruments shall be presented with their respective copies and shall be attested and sealed by the Register of Deeds, endorsed with the file number, and copies may be delivered to the person presenting them.

Certified copies of all instruments filed and registered may also be obtained from the Register of Deeds upon payment of the prescribed fees.

(A) CONVEYANCES AND TRANSFERS

SEC. 57. Procedure in registration of conveyances.—An owner desiring to convey his registered land in fee simple shall execute and register a deed of conveyance in a form sufficient in law. The Register of Deeds shall thereafter make out in the registration book a new certificate of title to the grantee and shall prepare and deliver to him an owner's duplicate certificate. The Register of Deeds shall note upon the original and duplicate certificate the date of transfer, the volume and page of the registration book in which the new certificate is registered and a reference by number to the last preceding certificate. The original and the owner's duplicate of the grantor's certificate shall be stamped "cancelled". The deed of conveyance shall be filed and indorsed with the number and the place of registration of the certificate of title of the land conveyed.

SEC. 58. Procedure where conveyance involves portion of land.—If a deed of conveyance is for a part only of the land described in a certificate of title, the Register of Deeds shall not enter any transfer certificate to the grantee until a plan of such land showing all the portions or lots into which it has been subdivided and the corresponding technical descriptions shall have been verified and approved pursuant to Section 50 of this Decree. Meanwhile, such deed may only be annotated by way of memorandum upon the grantor's certificate of title, original and duplicate, said memorandum to serve as a notice to third persons of the fact that certain unsegregated portion of the land described therein has been conveyed, and every certificate with such memorandum shall be effectual for the purpose of showing the grantee's title to the portion conveyed to him, pending the actual issuance of the corresponding certificate in his name.

Upon the approval of the plan and technical descriptions, the original of the plan, together with a certified copy of the technical descriptions shall be filed with the register of Deeds for annotation in the corresponding certificate of title and thereupon said officer shall issue a new certificate of title to the grantee for the portion conveyed, and at the same time cancel the grantor's certificate partially with respect only to said portion conveyed, or, if the grantor so desires, his certificate may be cancelled totally and a new one issued to him describing therein the remaining portion: Provided, however, that pending approval of said plan, no further registration or annotation of any subsequent deed or other voluntary instrument involving the unsegregated portion conveyed shall be effected by the Register of Deeds, except where such unsegregated portion was purchased from the Government or any of its instrumentalities. If the land has been subdivided into several lots, designated by numbers or letters, the Register of Deeds may, if desired by the grantor, instead of cancelling the latter's certificate and issuing a new one to the same for the remaining unconveyed lots, enter on said certificate and on its owner's duplicate a memorandum of such deed of conveyance and of the issuance transfer certificate to the grantee for the lot or lots thus conveyed, and that the grantor's certificate is cancelled as to such lot or lots.

SEC. 59. Carry over of encumbrances.—If, at the time of any transfer, subsisting encumbrances or annotations appear in the registration book, they shall be carried over and stated in the new certificate or certificates, except so far as they may be simultaneously released or discharged.

Effects of Registration of Voluntary Dealings

• For a mortgage, registration makes the mortgage effective against third persons; and
• Constitutes constructive notice of the mortgagee’s interest in the property to the whole world.
• Other voluntary dealings have effects appropriate to the instrument registered.

Voluntary vs. Involuntary Dealings

Instances when the ROD may validly deny registration of a voluntary instrument:

• Where there is more than 1 copy of the owner’s duplicate certificate of title and not all such copies are presented to the ROD. (Balbin v. ROD, G.R. No. L-20611, 1969);
• Where the voluntary instrument bears on its face an infirmity (e.g., where the property is presumed to be conjugal but the instrument of conveyance bears the signature of only one spouse);
• Where the validity of the instrument sought to be registered is in issue in a pending court suit, notice of which must be given to parties;
• Where required certificates or documents such as DAR clearance, copy of latest tax declaration, are not submitted NOTE: Any disposition of private agricultural lands made prior to June 15, 1988, when RA 6657 took effect, must be registered within 3 months from said date or on or before September 15, 1988 to be binding on the government. (R.A. No. 6657, Sec. 6) Thus, on this ground, the proper DAR clearances must first be secured.
• Where the transfer/sale involves a total aggregate landholding of 5 has. and below of a particular landowner and the transferee will not own an aggregate of more than 5 has., the transfer is legal and proper but a DAR clearance is needed for the purpose of monitoring and as requisite for registration. (DAR Administrative Order No. 05-06)
• The ROD may also refuse to register a private document since Section 112 of P.D. 1529 requires a registrable voluntary instrument to be executed as a public instrument, signed in the presence of at least two witnesses, and acknowledged as the executing person’s free act and deed before a notary public or other public officer authorized by law to take acknowledgment. (Gallardo v. IAC, G.R. No. L-67742, 1987)

Limitation of Area

For CA 141, application is only for a maximum of 12 hectares. (R.A. 6940, § 3.)

Kinds of Assignment

• Legal – governed by the insolvency law
• Voluntary – agreement of creditors

Requisites of Voluntary Assignment:

• More than one Debt
• More than one Creditor
• Insolvency of debtor
• Abandonment of all debtor’s property not exempt from execution
• Acceptance or Consent on the part of the creditors