What publications are best for selling a lot

One would be a fool to do anything here without one mate! I know; as I was initially suckered into buying the Lot with a LOT of misinformation. We asked the right questions, but were told the wrong answers and trusted people who were suppose to be close and like a part of our family!

Only when I bought in Alma Luz Arrieta (who worked for the DENR for around a decade before opening her own practice dealing in Land matters) did we finally straighten out the Seller forcing her hand to conforming to what was the Law. Alma knows the Laws inside out and is very good at her job with a great network of people working under her to get the job done quickly and efficiently.

If it had not been for her, we were about to walk away, losing 500,000php on the deal as we could not resolve the problems we were facing at the time. Now we are on the countdown to paying off the final portion of land and on our way to obtaining a Clear Title. Nothing gets done now without prior approval by Alma!

 

In two weeks we will be on the 3F of the Justice Hall in a courtroom with the Register of Deeds as respondent where my Attorney will be demanding and explanation from that office as to how they could allow a scam-adverse claim to have been filed by a family member the land we bought from his family with his agreement. His adverse claim filing means nothing other than to discourage cash buyers from buying your land. Why did the RoD allow the fake filing? Well, it will be funny hearing what they have to say in open court. They must be so surprised, never thinking that the new owners of 2004 would ever actually “move” here and be able to plant our feet on the ground permanently and sue them right here in Dumaguete; to do whatever it takes! Yes, it costs me money to do this. My other option was to pay the family member scammer US 3K so he would remove the adverse claim based on some extrajudicial settlement amongst brothers and sisters divvying up land that they had no control over because dad had sold the land to a richer daughter 8 years previously and whose records are right there in the RoD, backing up our claim to free and clear status with the RoD. Sorry scammer, no pay you SOB.Here is my point: Watch out in the Philippines! I am about to flag this to the Duterte anti corruption project. But watch out; know that Philippine real estate law is based on American law which is based on old English law, which dates back to the magna carta. In itself this means nothing except that old English law was practiced by people who valued gentlemen’s agreements, a buy-in to play by basic rules of good conduct, honesty and good faith that the seller or buyer will not lie, betray or otherwise try to screw you later on, not taking advantage of the “code of honor” amongst businessmen. Under English law, you can totally screw up the system if you are dishonest and you can get away with it. Good if you have a lawyer, however, STILL no guarantees. In the US and Probably UK, civil methods are place as tools to protect against land scammers in spite of the generally honest land dealings back home. There you will find things like “title insurance” to protect you and to chase away dishonest little family scammers with their tail between their legs. I have never heard of that being available here. There must be a reason. I know I will be ok on the waste of time attempted land scam, and I suspect some RoD people may be embarrassed in court in a few weeks, and who knows, with this new Duterte anti corruption attitude in place I may even see a little justice, such as having my legal fees paid for. If I lose? The fight has just begun.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Thankfully there are only two on our plate to deal with. We forced the Seller to gain Special Power of Attorney to be able to deal with the Sale legally on her mother's behalf as well as that of her Cousin, instead of selling as she originally tried doing, she was not the legal owner so should have never sold us the land to begin with but had originally claimed that she was the Heir and owned the land. We have pushed through forcing her to submit the subdivision, pay all appropriate Taxes etc and had the land surveyed twice, using Alma's Surveyor the second time around. A year later, and we are still waiting for the original Sketch Plans and a receipt from the Seller's Cousin who surveyed the land originally. Alma's Surveyor gave us a Receipt and a rough sketch within an hour of completing the survey. Everything is now lodged in Cebu awaiting final payment to issue the proper Sketch Plans.

I am concerned that the second party will get screwed in this deal and later on come seeking compensation, or doing something similar to what has happened to you, but our Attorney assures us that is not our responsibility to ensure he is paid, it is up to his Cousin who has Special Power of Attorney, so any future attempt at any compensation claims must be directed to the person holding the Special Power of Attorney, to whom he has given permission to deal on his behalf. Hopefully ignorance is not am excuse to lodge a claim against us at a later date. But nothing surprises me here...

 

The probable reason why, there seems to be no local protective tools such as those civil methods you had found in US or UK, could be because this country's civil law originally was the Spanish Código Civil enforced by Spanish Royal Decree in 1889 on Cuba, Philippines, and Puerto Rico as colonies of the former Spanish empire.

The Código Civil remained in effect even throughout the American colonizaton from 1899 to 1946, inclusive of Japanese invasion period.

In 1950, a new Civil Code of the Philippines -- drafted in 1940 and finalized in 1947 -- was passed into law as Republic Act No. 386. Consisting of four (4) books -- Book I or Persons; Book II or Property, Ownership, And Its Modifications; Book III or Different Modes Of Acquiring Ownership; and Book IV or Obligations and Contracts -- it remains an adaptation of the colonial Spanish Código Civil, perhaps because of long vested rights and interests.

In 1974, Presidential Decree No. 603 amended Book I to institute the Child And Welfare Code. In 1987, Executive Order 209 further amended Book I to promulgate The Family Code of the Philippines. Book I speaks about persons and family relations. By reading it, foreigners will be able to comprehend why Filipino family members not only are culturally or religiously inclined but also are legally mandated to be supportive of one other, to the extent of living together as close-knit extended families in adulthood or of selflessly sending hard-earned money gained from labor abroad as OFW instead of keeping it as one's own.

However, apart from land reform laws that were consolidated into the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, the law on properties, ownership, and contracts in the Philippine Archipelago have remained practically almost the same, if not since 1889 then from 1950 and until now. In fact, in the absence of local decision precedents, reference was made to Spanish civil law jurisprudence so that some Supreme Court decisions were still rendered in Spanish language in the 1960s.

On the other hand, as a consequence of American colonization, most other Philippine laws are indeed derived from American law which, in turn, are derived from British law. Upon complete translation of Supreme Court decisions in civil law from Spanish to English after the 1960s, American laws of intepretation became the standard and Spanish language ceased to be a requirement in Philippine high school and college curriculum beginning in late 1980s.

 

The a Philippine real estate laws, like all legislation here, is written in the English language, not Spanish. And there was never a large scale translation from Spanish to English after the Americans believed they were morally obligated to oversee-and develop the colony as a result of the Spanish Am war. The USA simply adopted US law where appropriate in the ENGLISH language. No different than Puerto Rico. The terms used in Phil real estate law, “liens”, “deeds” and the like are American/UK.

But what is your point?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The point missed is that those civil methods in US or UK laws that serve as protective tools are missing in local laws because of this reason: The Civil Code of the Philippines (RA 386, for short) is not adapted from American law or from British law.

"Never a large scale translation from Spanish to English" in the history of Philippine written law, as you say, is not quite true.

RA 386, as it exists today since 1950, although written in American English language, originated or was adapted from Spanish law. One can infer from brief history at Civil Code of the Philippines - Wikipedia that the draft of the Philippine Civil Code initiated in 1940, destroyed in 1945 by Japanese invasion, finalized in 1947, and then legislated as RA 386 by Congress of the Philippines in 1950 necessarily had to be an adaptation of the Spanish Código Civil that was enforced by church and state in the islands since 1889, in order to protect and preserve the civil rights and interests already vested in the Philippine general populace in accordance with the spirit of democracy espoused by American colonists.

Notwithstanding legislation of RA 386 in American English, long after Philippine independence from the later American colonists, the Supreme Court set local precedence in the matter of civil issues by referring to and drawing contextual interpretations from Spanish civil law decisions, so that civil case decisions in the 1950s and the 1960s were still rendered in Spanish language. Take for example this case decision (read in original language, not in Google-auto translation) at at G.R. No. L-3624

Since American English was becoming the general medium of instruction in the educational system, the Philippine Government endeavoured to also translate all Supreme Court decisions from Spanish into American English, in due diligence to help the public be duly informed of their civil rights as well as to maintain justice. Therefore, in the mean time that such painstaking Spanish to American English translation endeavour was in progress and was not yet finished, Filipinos continued to be required to also study Spanish language in school. As a Baby Boomer, I myself had to study Spanish language from high school until second year college to be able to graduate. Spanish language became optional in the Philippine educational system only in the 1980s.

On the other hand, real estate practice is governed by another set of laws adapted from American law; but the matter of property laws remains the same as it was from Spanish colonial times, except for land reform law that authorizes expropriation.

Best of luck in your Court hearing!

 

@Zambo2017

I just noticed this Lot posted an hour ago which may suit your needs, seems to be fairly priced IMHO;

Abby Zhane Bangay
1 hr
LOT FOR SALE!!!! 2055 SQR MTR. NEGOTIABLE
₱2,000,000
BONG-AO VALENCIA
2055 SQR MTR, CLEAN TITLE, ALONG BRGY ROAD, 400 MTRS AWAY FROM NATIONAL HIGHWAY, WITH COCONUT TREES, NEGOTIABLE.... DIRECT BUYER ONLY. CALL FOR INTERESTED BUYERS PM OR TXT 09262130697

 

Thank's, I found my "dream-lot" now in Valencia/Jawa and start with construction.

 

Great, congrats. Sorta curious if you'd share about how big and about how much per square meter and was there any building ?? Very interested to keep abreast of values, as we go thru Jawa to get to our place.