FUNDAMENTALS OF PROPERTY

OWNERSHIP

Ow nership – is the independent right of a person to

the exclusive enjoyment and control of a
property including the disposition and recovery
subject only to the restrictions established by
law and rights of others.
A PROPERTY MAY MEAN:

 A physical tangible or corporeal object (car,

parcel of land),
 or an intangible object (patent, contract,
franchise, shares of stocks)
RIGHTS INCLUDED IN OWNERSHIP

 Fee of the so-called “bundle of rights”

which are inherent in or appurenant to
ownership, without any limitations or
restrictions other than those imposed by law or
contract.
THE BUNDLE OF RIGHTS INCLUDES THE
FOLLOWING:
1. Right to possess
2. Right to use and enjoy
3. Right to the fruits
4. Right to dispose
5. Right to vindicate or recover
LIMITATIONS ON RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP

1. Those imposed in general by the State in the

exercise of the power of taxation, police power,
and power of eminent domain.
2. Those imposed by law such as legal easement,
requirement of legitime in succession, zoning,
building code, rent control, urban and agrarian
reform, subdivision regulations, escheat.
3. Those imposed by the grantor of the property
on the grantee by contract, such as donation,
last will, usufruct.
4. Those imposed by the owner himself such as
voluntary easement, lease, mortgage.
KINDS OF OWNERSHIP:

1. Sole Ownership – benefits and property

interest are undivided; “whole property
interest”
2. Co-ownership – benefits are presented in
proportion to the co-owners; primary property
interest is undivided; undivided primary
property interest is a whole interest
3. Diverse ownership- benefits are assorted into
different kinds; the primary property interest
is divided and the aggregate of the property
rights in the entity do not constitute the whole
property interest;
4. Condominium ownership - combination of
sole and co-ownership;
SURFACE, SUBSURFACE AND AIR RIGHT
Land, in its legal significant, extends from the
surface downwards to the center of the earth and
extends upwards indefinitely to the skies.
The surface and subsurface of rights of an owner
entitle him to construct thereon any works or make
any plantations and excavations without detriment
to servitudes and special laws.
Air right is the right of an owner to use and control
the air space over his land subject to the
requirements of aerial navigation, laws, or
contract.
RIGHT TO HIDDEN TREASURE
1. Hidden Treasure belongs to the owner of the
land, building, and other property on which it
is found.
2. When the delivery is made on the property of
another, or of the State or any of its
subdivisions, and by chance, one-half of the
treasure shall be allowed to the finder. If the
finder is a trespasser, he shall not be entitled
to any share of the treasure.
3. If the things found be of interest to science or
arts, the State may acquire them at their just
price, which shall be divided in conformity with
the rule above.
4. Hidden treasure, for legal purpose is
understood to be any hidden and unknown
deposit of money, jewelry, or the precious
objects, the lawful ownership of which does
not appear.
RIGHT OF ACCESSION
1. In General - The ownership of property gives
the right by accession to everything which is
produced thereby, or which is incorporated or
attached thereto, whether naturally or
artificially.
2. With Respect to Produce of Property – To the
owner belongs the:
a) Natural Fruits - the spontaneous product
of the soil
b) Industrial Fruits – those produce by land
cultivation or labor.
c) Civil Fruits - the rental income of building
and/or lands.
3. WITH RESPECT TO IMMOVABLE PROPERTY

a) The owner of land on which anything has been

built, sown or planted in good faith shall have
the right:
a.1. To appropriate as his own the works,
sowing or planting after payment of indemnity
provided by law, or;
a.2. To oblige the builder or planter to pay the price
of the land, however, the builder or planter
cannot be obliged to pay for the land if its value is
considerably more than that of the building or
planting. In such case, he shall pay reasonable
rent as the proper indemnity. The parties shall
agree on the terms of the lease and in case of
disagreement, the court shall fix the terms
thereof.
B) THE OWNER OF THE LAND ON WHICH
ANYTHING HAS BEEN BUILT, PLANTED OR SOWN
IN BAD FAITH MAY:
b.1. Demand the demolition of the work or
removal of the planting or sowing at the
expense of the builder or planter, or;
b.2. Compel the builder or planter to pay the
price of the land and the sower, the proper
rent.
c) To the owners of land adjoining the banks of
rivers belongs the accretion which they
gradually receive from the effects of the current
of the water.
d) The owners of the estates adjoining ponds or
lagoons do not acquire the land left dry by the
natural decrease of the waters, or lose that
inundated by them in extraordinary floods.
e) Riverbeds which are abandoned through the
natural change in the course of the waters
belong to the owners whose lands are occupied
by the new bed in proportion to the area lost.
However, the owners of the land adjoining the
old bed shall have the right to acquire the same
by paying the value thereof, which value shall
not exceed the value of the area occupied by
the new bed.
f) Whenever a river, changing its course by
natural causes, opens a new bed through a
private estate, the bed shall become a public
dominion.
MEANING OF TITLE

“TITLE” is not synonymous with Torrens

Certificate of Title. Rather, it is a generic word
which means proof, evidence, or muniment of
ownership, such as tax declaration, realty tax
receipts, deed of sale, and Torrens certificate
of Title. But, of course, the best title or best
evidence of ownership is the Torrens Title
because it is indefeasible, imprescriptible,
and binding against the whole world.
MODES OF ACQUIRING TITLE

1. Private Grant – voluntary transfer of conveyance

of private property by a private owner, such as
sale or donation.
2. Public Grant - acquisition of alienable lands of the
public domain by homestead patent, free patent,
sales patent or other gov’t awards.
3. Involuntary Grant - acquisition of private party
against the consent of the former owners, such
as foreclosure sale, execution sale or tax sale.
4. Inheritance- acquisition of private property
through hereditary succession.
5. Reclamation - filling of submerged land,
subject to existing laws and government
regulations.
6. Accretion - acquisition of more lands adjoining
the banks of rivers due to the gradual deposit
of soil as a result of the river current.
7. Prescription - acquisition of title by actual,
open, continuous, and uninterrupted
possession in the concept of owner for the
period required by law.
RIGHT TO OWN

1. General Rule – Only Filipino citizens and

corporation at least sixty percent of the capital
of which is owned by Filipinos are entitled to
acquire and own land in the Philippines.
2. Exceptions to General Rule – Alien acquisition
of real estate in the Philippines is allowed in
the following cases:
- Acquisition before the 1935 Constitution
- Acquisition thru hereditary succession if the
acquire is a legal heir.
- Purchase not more than forty percent interest
in a condominium project.
- Purchase by former natural born Filipino
citizens subject to limitations prescribed by B.P.
185 and R.A. 8179.
-
3. A Filipina who marries an alien retains her
Philippine citizenship (unless the law of her
husband’s country makes her assume the
citizenship of her husband because of such
marriage) and can therefore acquire real
estate in the Philippines.
ACQUISITION BY FORMER NATURAL BORN
FILIPINO CITIZENS
1. Mode of acquisition is not limited to voluntary
deeds (such as sale or donation) but includes
involuntary deeds (such as foreclosure,
execution or tax deliquency sale).
2. Maximum area that may be acquired:
A)FOR RESIDENTIAL PURPOSE
- 1,000 square meters of urban land or
- one hectare of rural land
B) FOR BUSINESS PURPOSE

- 5,000 square meters of urban land or

- Three hectares or rural land

“Business purpose refers to the use of land

primarily, directly, and actually in the conduct
of business or commercial activities in the
broad areas of agriculture, industry and
services, including the lease of land but
excluding the buying and selling thereof.
3. IN CASE OF MARRIED COUPLE WHERE BOTH
SPOUSES ARE FORMER NATURAL BORN
FILIPINO CITIZENS, BOTH OF THEM MAY AVAIL
Of the right provided that the total acquisition shall
not exceed the maximum area allowed.

4. A transferee who acquired urban or rural land for

residential purpose while still a Filipino citizen
may acquire additional urban or rural land for
residential purpose which, when added to that
already owned by him, shall not exceed the
maximum area allowed by law.
The same right applies to a transferee who already
owns urban or rural land for business purpose
while still a Filipino citizen.
5. A transferee who as already acquired urban land
for residential purpose shall be disqualified to
acquire rural land for residential purpose and vice
versa.
However, a transferee of residential land under B.P.
185 may still avail of the right to acquire land for
business purpose under R.A. 8179.
LAND OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
1. Under the Constitution, lands of the public
domain are classified into agricultural, forest
or timber, mineral and national parks.
2. Alienable lands of the public domain shall be
limited to agricultural lands.
3. Filipino citizens may acquire alienable lands of
the public domain not more than 12 hectares
by purchase, homestead, or patent, or lease
not more than 500 hectares.
4. Private corporation cannot acquire, but may
only lease alienable lands of the public domain
for a period not exceeding twenty-five years,
renewable for the same term, and not to
exceed 1,000 hectares.
ENCUMBRANCE- IS A CHARGE, CLAIM OR
LIABILITY ON REAL ESTATE.
-It may reduce a property’s  There are two types of
value or place encumbrance:
restrictions on how it  Non-physical – affects
can be used; however, only the title
it does not necessarily  Physical - affects both
prevent title to the the title and property
property from conditions
transferring to someone
else.
 Liens  Easement
- Real Estate Taxes - Appurtenant
- Mechanic’s Lien - By Necessity
- Mortgage Liens - By Prescription
- Judgment
A. ENCROACHMENT

Encroachment - are unauthorized physical

intrusions of a building or other form of real
property onto an adjoining property. It can
mean a trespass, and the owner of the
property being encroached on can take court
action either to force the removal of the
encroachment or to recover damages.
B. EASEMENT

An easement is the right to use someone’s land.

The right may be to use the land’s surface or
the air space above it. It is also called a non-
possessory interest in real estate because they
give the easement holder the right to use the
property but not to possess it.
- APPURTENANT EASEMENT

- Allows the owner of a parcel of land to use the

land next to it:
- - Servient estate - the one giving the right-of-
way or easement;
- - Dominant estate - the parcel of land that
benefits from the easement
EASEMENT BY NECESSITY

 -Owners of land have the right to enter (ingress)

and leave (egress) their property, to prevent
them from becoming land-locking, making the
property useless.
EASEMENT BY PRESCRIPTION/PRESCRIPTIVE
EASEMENT

-A claimant uses another’s land for a period of time

as defined by state of law.
- Usual requirements to acquire prescriptive
easement:
- - Uninterrupted use of property
- - Use must be continuous
- - Use must be adverse, without the owner’s
- consent
- - Use must be visible, open and notorious, so that
the owner can easily learn from it.
C. DEED OF RESTRICTION
- These are conditions or limitations placed in a
deed by the owner when property is transferred to
another party. It is usually created by individual
parties and affect a particular property.
- - Those conditions placed in the deeds by
developers and usually affect an entire subdivision
are called restrictive covenants.
- - If restrictions placed are unreasonable or
unlawful restraints on an owner’s use of the land,
they will be unenforceable.
D. LIENS (MONEY CLAIM)
 These are claims or charges against the
property to provide security for a debt or
obligation. A lien allows the creditor to have
the property sold to satisfy the debt in case of
default. To enforce it, the creditor must take
legal action and obtain a court order to have
the property sold.
 Liensagainst real estate may reduce the value of the
property; however, the owner can still convey title to
another party.
- GENERAL (AD VALOREM) REAL ESTATE TAX
LIEN
- The right of the government to sell a property at
a tax sale to satisfy outstanding tax
deliquencies plus interest and penalties.
- The deliquent property owner has a right of
redemption, considering that he/she pays all
obligations before (equitable redemption right)
or after (statutory redemption) the tax sale.
MORTGAGE LIEN

 - A specific, voluntary lien created after a lender

makes a loan using real estate as security. The
property owner signs a mortgage document
that creates a lien against the property.
 -The lien automatically ends after payment of a
loan. If loan is unpaid, the lender may
foreclose and sell the property.
MECHANIC’S LIEN

 - A protection on the part of a

supplier/contractor who provides materials or
services for the real estate. (e.g., lumber
companies, building materials suppliers,
carpenters, plumbers, builders, etc.)
 A specific and involuntary lien, it is used when
a property owner does not pay for the work or
materials provided.
JUDGMENT LIEN

 - A lien imposed on both the real and personal

property of a defendant/debtor, after a
judgment that concludes a lawsuit is issued
and recorded by the court.
 -It is a general, involuntary lien that is cleared
out after a satisfaction of judgment is recorded
and issued to a debtor, say, a property is sold
to satisfy a debt.
AT THE BACK OF THE CERTIFICATE OF TITLE
(OCT, TCT OR CCT) IS BLANK PORTION WITH
HEADING- MEMORANDUM OF ENCUMBRANCES.
ANNOTATIONS NORMALLY FOUND ARE:
1. Mortagage lien, tax lien, judgment lien- money
lien
2. Writ of attachment, writ of execution
3. Section 4 Rule 74 of the Rules of Court (2-year
prescriptive period for any claim in inheritance
on the estate of the deceased; from
extrajudicial or judicial settlement of estate)
4. RIGHT –OF-WAY OR EASEMENT
5. LEASE
6. Adverse claim
7. Lis pendens – ownership claim
8. Cancellation of annotations
9. Conveyance of portion of the property
10. Deed of assignment
11. Master Deed in a condominium
12. Subdivision and condominium restrictions
13. Special power of attorney
14. JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT
15. DONATION
16. Socialized housing annotation
17. Affidavit of loss
18. And many more……
LAND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Land Management system in the Philippines

focuses on the supervision of lands owned by
the government, or land of public domain. It
includes activities like classification,
acquisition, disposition and development of
the country’s land resources. Strategies and
approaches to it greatly rest on constitutional
and legal provisions created and maintained by
the government for the past five decades.
A MAJOR MILESTONE IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL
HISTORY OF LAND MANAGEMENT IN THE
COUNTRY IS THE ENACTMENT OF URBAN LAND
Management, aptly called as “Urban Land
Reform and Housing.” It was characterized as
a long-term and continuing program that
focuses on the provision of affordable decent
housing, basic services and adequate
employment opportunities to underprivileged
and homeless citizens in urban and
resettlement areas, with due respect to the
rights of small property owners.
BASIC FRAMEWORK OF LAND MANAGEMENT

1. Land Tenure
a) Absolute ownership (known as fee simple)
b) Less than absolute, or those subject to certain
limitations, qualifications or restrictions-
2. Land Ownership and Transfer
a) Ownership of a land belongs only to those
individuals, associations and corporations legally
qualified to acquire or hold lands of public
domain.
b) Exception to the rule are conveyances through
hereditary succession.
c) Privilege is given to former natural-born
Filipinos in terms of acquiring private lands in
urban and rural areas.
3. Land Titling and Registration
4. A) Torrens Title
5. B) System of recording unregistered lands
4.) LAND SUB-DIVISION

a)Property Registration decree – PD 1529, June

1978
b) Subdivision and Condominium Buyer’s
Protective Decree – PD 957, July 1976
GOVERNMENT LAND MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

1. Land Use Allocation

- undertaken by LGUs, as authorized by RA
7160, or Local Government Code of 1991
- tasked to adopt a comprehensive land use
plan in coordination with the approved
provincial comprehensive land use plan, and
enact integrated zoning ordinances.
2. Land Conversion or reclassification
-Land conversion from agricultural to other uses
through reclassification by local government units,
limited to the following ranges of total agricultural
land area at the time of the passage of ordinance,
and exclusive of those distribute to land reform
beneficiaries:
- 15% for highly urbanized and independent
component cities
- 10% for component city of 1st to 3rd class
municipality
 - 5% for 4th to 6th class municipality
3. Land Acquisition
- Land swapping, land assembly, land banking,
donation to the government, joint venture
agreement, negotiated purchase (UDHA, RA
7279)
- Just compensation; immediate possession is
effected through payment of at least 15% of the
FMV based on the current tax declaration of the
property to be expropriated.
LAND ASSEMBLY OR CONSOLIDATION
- Acquisition of lots varying ownership through
purchase or expropriation, for the purpose of
planned and rational development and
socialized housing programs without individual
property restrictions.
LAND BANKING – acquisition of land at values
based on existing use, in advance of actual
need to promote planned development and
socialized housing programs.
LAND SWAPPING

- Acquisition by exchanging land for another piece

of land of equal value, or for shares of stock in
a government whose book value is of equal to
the land being exchanged, for purpose of
planned and rational development.
LAND DISPOSITION- UNDERTAKEN BY THE DENR

a) Sales Patent - sale of within a certain timeframe

lands to individuals, to ensure its development.
subject to conditions, c) Free Patent –
aimed at minimizing administrative process
speculation and under the Public Land Act
encouraging by which Titles are
development. “perfected” through the
b)Homestead Patent - awarding of a free patent.
gratuitously conveying to d) Voluntary Confirmation -
individuals, parcels of provides an opportunity for
land subject to those who have claims to
conditions requiring title to present their case
residence in and voluntarily before the
cultivating of the land courts which do not award
But, as the name suggests,  The Cadastral Act was
merely confirms it on the passed in 1913 where the
basis of the evidence government declared
presented. specific cities or
e) Compulsory Confirmation municipalites to be subject
– due to the unsuccessful to comprehensive
orderly conversion of cadastral survey.
lands with uncertain
status (for various
reasons such as
ignorance of the law,
costs, etc.)
5. LAND DEVELOPMENT AND ITS REGULATIONS

- Housing and Land Use

Regulatory Board (EO
648) the national
agency that sets
policies and standards,
reviews local
development plans and
zoning ordinances; and
resolves land use
conflicts;
LAND DEVELOPMENT AND ITS REGULATIONS
CONTINUE…
 Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (EO 648)
the national agency that sets policies and
standards, reviews local development plans and
zoning ordinances; and resolves land use
conflicts;
6. Land Conservation
- Effected through declaration of parks and open
spaces, green belts and buffer zones, including
preservation of historical and cultural landmarks,
with or without improvements.