CREDIT TRANSACTION CASE DIGEST/ RAMIREZ VS. CA, 144 SCRA 292

RAMIREZ VS. CA,

144 SCRA 292

TOPIC/DOCTRINE

An antichretic creditor cannot acquire land of debtor by prescription. Fact that such creditor has been in actual possession of land given as security will not bar its registration in favor of heirs of antichretic debtor.

FACTS

On September 15, 1959, petitioners-spouses Hilario Ramirez and Valentina Bonifacio filed an application for registration of a parcel of riceland in Rizal. In their application for registration, they alleged that to the best of their knowledge and belief, there is no mortgage or encumbrance of any kind whatsoever affecting said land and that they had acquired it by purchase from certain Gregoria Pascual during the early part of the American regime but the corresponding contract of sale was lot and no copy or record of the same was available.

The Court found, however, that the applicants are not the owners of the land sought to be registered. They were ANTICHRETIC CREDITORS- mere holders placed in possession of the land by its owners as security for loan. The applicants were found guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment when they declared that no other person had any claim or interest in the said land.

ISSUE

Can an antichretic creditor acquire land of debtor by prescription?

RULING

No.

The court held that an antichretic creditor cannot acquire land of debtor by prescription. Fact that such creditor has been in actual possession of land given as security will not bar its registration in favor of heirs of antichretic debtor.

Here, the court held that the court below found that the petitioners are merely antichretic creditors. This finding and its factual bases were affirmed by the Court of Appeals. On the basis of the evidence supporting this conclusion, this finding is binding on us as it is not our duty to weigh evidence on this point all over again. This court has on several occasions held that the antichretic creditor cannot ordinarily acquire by prescription the land surrendered to him by the debtor (Trillana v. Manansala, et al., 96 Phil. 865; Valencia v. Acala, 42 Phil. 177; Barreto v. Barreto, 3 Phil. 234). The petitioners are not possessors in the concept of owner but mere holders placed in possession of the land by its owners. Thus, their possession cannot serve as a title for acquiring dominion (See Art. 540, Civil Code).

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