Could someone please explain the difference between buying titled agricutural land and tax declaration land. Is tax declared land safe to purchase or should you ONLY buy titled land?
Philippines is a whole world of inconsistencies from the established standards....In any country or most non communist type countries where land is always subjct to the governments domain,,,,Title infidelity can cause problems and also tax infidelity can cause problem...if you have the title clear and present,you need to also have the tax invoices clear and up to the present day...if the taxes are not up to date,it is subject to government domain..if the title is not clear,then it is subject to any claimants domain.....in rural farm land where land is mostly untitled,and recognized as such by the concerned government offices,,the record of taxes paid is the strongest claim proof to the land and that is why people go by the tax declaration because by getting the government to take taxes from you for the land,you get them to associate you with the ownership and is only a side option in untitled regions...getting the title and taxes all recorded and up to date is the safest bet, but does not resolve any personal family disputes from generations ago that continue even after court rulings settle the matter.....
So, if I want to live in an agricultural area where no land is titled and I get all the tax declaration issues transferred into my wife's name than it might be my only way to go? Is there any way to investigate if there are known claims to the land before purchasing?
Tunji, gives good informationand advice. The Filippines has no central registry for guaranteeing land titles. No company that i know of will give title insurance. I dont think title guarantee companies exist. If u must buy land be sure taxes are paid up and u have a title BUT, that is even subject to problems. BE absolutly sure there are not squatters on the land because then they will have a claim on it.Also try to get a real survey. Very little land especially in the rural areas is surveyed. I once paid for a survey and couldnt find any markers at all. Finally some relatives came and pointed out some sticks in the ground and said they were the survey markers!!! If you are American, Aussie, etc, it is assumed you are rich and land claimants will come out of the woodwork hoping to get a payoff to drop a suit. Try to deal with an established , well regarded local real estate BROKER, not agent. Anyone and their brother can be a real estate agent in the Filippines. I have land in Cebu province, the city of Cebu and waterfront on Comotes and i have to keep an eye on all of it . It also helps to have a knowledgble wife/GF or ? because only she/he as a citizen can own property in the Phils.
Land in the name of a local citizen and best bet is lawyer who knows what it takes to make a land claim stick in court...The only info i can give from here is a true story...My local friend from bacolod area has land over 10 hectares in the mountain country and they farm and have mountain retreat home there and all the adult children of the oldest survior to inherit the land are building thier little homes on it and its plenty land with room for farming also....I stayed there for some time and my friend and his dad told me it was my friends grand father who first purchased the land into the family and titles did not really exisit on it...His grand father was a judge in bacolod and would know how to get to the right offices to get the right things done to secure the land for his family and he did just that and the family resides there now going into the next generation...One thing odd about the land,,Right next door is a whole other unrelated family living on the same land having built a house and i asked who they were...I was told by the judges son that after the judge died and or passed on the land,people came claiming the land and it got ugly- local mountain style ugly..Even though his claim was secure,he paid off the claimant...So why the building there? when the claimant got paid,word got out to the extended family and they all came with a claim,it was too much too many to pay each family member..So he allocated a share of the land to the family and both families now live there happy helping each other out....and this is a story of local family born and raised buying land and having these problems even when local judge bought the land and did what was needed......IT WORKED OUT BUT NOT WITHOUT THE ALL TOO COMMON DIFFICULTY AND EXPENSE.....murder stories are often associated with land disputes and most locals know this....
