Suggestion Best Posts in Thread: LAND REFORM

Dave & Imp · Apr 24, 2017

The stories I have heard about ownership battles over land are amusing and amazing. That is one of the primary reason I would probably never consider buying land. Too many times I have heard that a distant previous clan relative arrives on the buyer's doorstep (usually after improvement like building a house has been completed by the new owner) claiming a percent of the ownership and demands "their rights" for their fair share out of the new owner. Honest clear title are hard to find
Recently I meet a young couple on their way for the final meeting to Siquijor to finalize the purchase of a piece of property to complete their life dreams of starting a homestead/family farm. Upon return when asked about their new purchase, they replied the ownership signatures on documents were forged (and probably notarized too) for some of owners involved. They stopped the purchase. We all know who would have paid/suffered for that scam. I just do not want to wake up in a cold or warm sweat some morning, wondering if what I paid for I actually own, or if some stranger will arrive on my doorstep someday demanding additional money.
I came to the Philippines for peace, not stress. When I need stress I drive in the Philippines...

Rye83 · Apr 25, 2017

cabb said: ↑

Is there some kind of statue of limitations on something like this? Speak within X years for forever hold your peace.
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Depends if they are related to a lawyer or a judge and how high in the court system it gets taken.

The answer seems to be "10 years"....but that depends on several factors:

In a series of cases, [10] this Court permitted the filing of an action for reconveyance despite the lapse of ten years and declared that said action, when based on fraud, is imprescriptible as long as the land has not passed to an innocent purchaser for value. But in all those cases including Vital vs. Anore [11] on which the appellate court based its assailed decision, the common factual backdrop was that the registered owners were never in possession of the disputed property. Instead, it was the persons with the better right or the legal owners of the land who had always been in possession of the same. Thus, the Court allowed the action for reconveyance to prosper in those cases despite the lapse of more than ten years from the issuance of title to the land. The exception was based on the theory that registration proceedings could not be used as a shield for fraud or for enriching a person at the expense of another. [12]

CHAN ROBLES VIRTUAL LAW LIBRARY : PHILIPPINE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
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Note: "this court" quoted above is the Supreme Court.

Seems that if you have possession of the land and are living on it you should be clear after 10 years (if you are once removed from the fraudulent sale). My brain isn't working all that well this morning so I could be very wrong about that. As always: don't mistake anything I say for legal advice. It's not.

Rye83 · Apr 24, 2017

It has been screwed up (by Western standards) for a very long time and I doubt it will be fixed any time soon. They take clan/family very serious in the Philippines (and much of Asia) and any reform to the land laws would threaten the hand-me-down/keep-it-in-the-family status quo. They care not about making things easier or more civil for anyone outside of their own clans/families. /opinion

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Suggestion Best Posts in Thread: LAND REFORM

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