3. Respondents in Action to Claim

Respondents in an Action to Claim from the Assurance Fund

An action for compensation from the Assurance Fund is a last resort: the person who caused the fraud must be pursued first, and the Fund answers only if the judgment cannot be executed against that person or the person’s estate. ¹ In Register of Deeds of Negros Occidental v. Anglo, G.R. No. 171804, 5 August 2015, the Court held that substantially complying with the requirement to implead the person who caused the fraud does not excuse failure to satisfy the specific requisites for recovery from the Fund. ¹

The claimant need not obtain a prior declaration of the usurper’s insolvency before filing the action; insolvency and payment are addressed at execution, as held in Spouses Stilianopoulos v. Register of Deeds for Legazpi City, G.R. No. 224678, 3 July 2018. ² Under Section 102 of PD 1529, an action for compensation against the Fund must generally be brought within six years from accrual of the right of action, subject to the section’s stated exceptions. ³