Photo from Unsplash | Tierra Mallorca
The following post does not create a lawyer-client relationship between Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices (or any of its lawyers) and the reader. It is still best for you to engage the services of a lawyer or you may directly contact and consult Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices to address your specific legal concerns, if there is any.
Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
Lis pendens literally means “pending suit”.
Simply put, there is a pending case involving the subject property. Thus, the annotation of lis pendens at the back of the original copy of the certificate of title constitutes as notice to all people that the property is in controversy and that the resolution of which is subject to the outcome of the trial.
Section 76, of Presidential Decree 1529 provides that:
Section 76. Notice of lis pendens. No action to recover possession of real estate, or to quiet title thereto, or to remove clouds upon the title thereof, or for partition, or other proceedings of any kind in court directly affecting the title to land or the use or occupation thereof or the buildings thereon, and no judgment, and no proceeding to vacate or reverse any judgment, shall have any effect upon registered land as against persons other than the parties thereto, unless a memorandum or notice stating the institution of such action or proceeding and the court wherein the same is pending, as well as the date of the institution thereof, together with a reference to the number of the certificate of title, and an adequate description of the land affected and the registered owner thereof, shall have been filed and registered.
The purpose of annotating lis pendens is to protect the rights of the party applying thereof pending the final decision of the case.
As a consequence, when a person dealing with a specific property finds out that there is annotation of lis pendens on the title of said property, he deals with the same at his own peril. If he bought it despite the fact of being notified of the said Lis Pendens, he is not considered a buyer in good faith and is not protected under the law because he knows that the property is the subject of a pending case, the status of which is highly dependent on the judge’s eventual decision.
A notice of lis pendens may be cancelled when the person applying for the same files a notice of cancellation of the registration of said notice, when it is done for the purpose of molesting the other party or when it would cause unnecessary delay in the progress of the case.
(Sps. Lim v. Vera Cruz, G.R. No. 143646, April 4, 2001); (Valderama v. Arguelles,G.R. No. 223660, 02 Apr. 2018; P.D. 1529, as amended)
Related article: Basics of land titles, transactions, and real property registration
Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries regarding taxation and taxpayer’s remedies, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/0917-5772207.
All rights reserved.