Finance & Legal Real Estate Attorney & Qualified Surveyor

If anyone is looking for a lawyer and surveyor, I can thoroughly recommend Attorney Rilt Dorado for any land, property purchases. He is honest and will not take advantage of you being a foreigner. I have used him on three different transactions and I was very satisfied. He can be located in the same building as Alima Cafe which is located along the road next to the new 7/11 on Aldecoa Drive opposite Silliman Medical Centre. If you walk past the Cafe to the end of the building, there is an alleyway and his office is signed: Geoscape Survey Services.
https://www.google.com.ph/maps/@9.3172883,123.3037864,18z

 

GOOD TO KNOW

cant have enough good guys in your corner down this neck of the woods

 

I agree wholeheartedly. Attorney and Geodetic Engineer Rilt Dorado, the owner of Geoscape Survey Services, is really excellent. It's a bit disconcerting to at least this American that he is so "laid back," but he is knowledgeable and gives the straight story. We close on our first land purchase this week and, while the process seemed chaotic to this foreigner, it all fell together nicely at the end. His fees seems to be very reasonable (some say the most reasonable) compared to other real estate attorneys. We needed a right-of-way purchase on this, and one group of heirs/owners insisted on using their own brother-in-law attorney (who is very prominent and totally competent) to complete that one piece of the deal. That attorney has demanded PHP 80K to do the exact same thing that Rilt Dorado is doing for PHP 50K on another piece of the three-lot puzzle. And Mr. Dorado reservedly appreciates my twisted sense of humor.

 

NYC, we're looking for right-of-way attorney who has courtroom experience, speaks good English, knows how to handle right-of-way cases, keeps you informed of process and progress, and makes things happen.

 

Check your Private Messages I have sent you some info that may help....

 

YES! Have just been down this very road! I wanted to use the approved Surveyor my Attorney normally uses, the Seller flat out refused and insisted we use her Cousin who is a Registered Geodetic Surveyor. When I paid him I asked for my Receipt and was told; "Sir you can pick it up from my Office in 7 days along with the Sketch Plan" to which the Seller threw up her hand and said she would pick those up and deliver to us as it was near to her work...

Fast Forward SIX Months! Jack with it all I message the Seller to tell them I am going back to the Attorney to hire their Surveyor! THREE days later we are delivered the Sketch Plan, no Receipt... Take it to the Attorney who laughed as it was printed on A4 Paper and was far from 'Official'! So again we inform the Seller who tries to convince us that the real Sketch is in Cebu awaiting approval.

Sorry! Back to the Attorney to meet up with their Surveyor who claims we will have a Receipt on the day he surveys as well as have the correct Sketch Plans within 3 days of surveying the Property. Time will tell...

 

I don't know if that attorney you describe exists in Dumaguete. I hired Rilt Dorado for the work I needed done which included surveying and legal, since he is both a geodetic engineer and attorney. I was quite happy with him and he seemed very knowledgeable. His English is excellent. Since this deal was my first contact with him, I have no idea how much courtroom experience he has or specialized right-of-way cases he may have handled. I went to him for the survey on a recommendation by a VERY reliable Filipino friend. Since he is an attorney, I just hired him for the legal end, too. Good luck.

 

Can you share the situation? You are willing to buy right of way, but owner won't sell. You want the right of way, but don't care to own the land. Sounds like you and the owner can't come to an amicable agreement.

 

From talking with others, I knew that buying land in the Philippines can be a huge exercise in frustration. So I was ready for anything, including walking away from any deal that became too difficult.

We chose a nice lot that did not touch any road. A relative of the owners (four sibling heirs to the deceased person on the title) was acting as a representative for the owners. She was knowledgeable on real estate dealings, but not licensed as real estate agents are in my country (US). Not even sure if there are licensed agents here. She kept the deal moving along. It wasn't so much that owners refused to sell as much as the vagaries of how land is owned and titled, and the absence (overseas) of essential players. This representative actually worked out several right-of-way plans before one finally worked. The biggest obstacle was that one lot which was essential to two of the plans was never claimed or titled. So the "owner" of that land (we needed only about 15 square meter) was more than willing to sell, but he and his 10 siblings did not legally own it since his deceased father never claimed the lot back in the 1990s when the government did the survey. He likely did not have the money to pay the taxes and fees to get the title, and his surviving children still don't have the money to pay those fees, back taxes and late fees. So, unless we wanted to spend a lot just to get this land titled for him, that entire plot was useless to us.

The representative worked out a deal (after three other plans fell through) with two other land owners who were willing to sell for a right-of-way, and that's how it worked out. From the start, we insisted that we would own the right-of-way on a separate title. Legally dividing up a lot and getting a separate title costs about 50,000 pesos each just in legal and government fees, and we had two lots to split. But when the dust settles, it will be worth it we think. The other cheaper option is just having the right-of-way as an amendment (addendum?) to the owners title. Since all of this titling was done in the 1990s when the government completed its survey, most of the title holders are now deceased and few Filipino heirs have bothered to get the title changed since it requires effort and money.

All that being said, it sounds essential that an attorney handle these things. Evidently the law allows someone with a lot to simply claim access via the shortest route and start to use it. Ownership doesn't change, but the right-of-way becomes the responsiblity of the person claiming its use. If you own a lot, the government gives you the right to access it over private property. But I would certinly consult an attorney before trying this. The other consideration is that you are then dealing with someone who may resent your intrusion and likely has everyone in the neighborhood on his side.

Bottom line: Even though you have the right to access your lot, it is probably better to seek out a different situation and walk away from a deal where you willl end up leglly using someone else's property against their will.