Rubias vs. Batiller, 51 SCRA 120, G.R. No. L-35702 May 29, 1973 TOPIC/DOCTRINE: Lawyers are prohibited by law t o acquire by purchase, even at a public auction, either in person of through the mediation of another, the property and rights which may be the object of any litigation where they may take part on by virtue of their profession. FACTS: Prior to the war with Japan, Francisco Militante filed an application for the registration of the title of a lot before the CFI of Iloilo, the case record was lost before it was heard due to the war. Militante filed for a reconstitution of the case. The CFI reconstituted it, yet dismissed the application for registration.   Militante, appealed before the CA . Pending the disposal of the appeal, Militante sold the lot to Domingo Rubias (his son-in-law and counsel) through a Contract of Sale. In 1958, the CA dismissed Militante’s appea l. Rubias filed a case to recover ownership before the CFI, and assailed that the lot was illegal...

ANG VS. COURT OF APPEALS,  567 SCRA 54, SEPTEMBER 29, 2008   TOPIC/DOCTRINE “Warranty,” Explained.—A warranty is a statement or representation made by the seller of goods, contemporaneously and as part of the contract of sale, having reference to the character, quality or title of the goods, and by which he promises or undertakes to insure that certain facts are or shall be as he then represents them.   FACTS Under a “car-swapping” scheme, respondent Bruno Soledad (Soledad) sold his Mitsubishi GSR sedan 1982 model to petitioner Jaime Ang (Ang) by Deed of Absolute Sale1 dated July 28, 1992. For his part, Ang conveyed to Soledad his Mitsubishi Lancer model 1988, also by Deed of Absolute Sale2 of even date. As Ang’s car was of a later model, Soledad paid him an additional P55,000.00. Ang, a buyer and seller of used vehicles, later offered the Mitsubishi GSR for sale through Far Eastern Motors, a second-hand auto display center. The vehicle was eventually...

POWER COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CORP. VS. COURT OF APPEALS,  274 SCRA 597, JUNE 20, 1997   TOPIC/DOCTRINE A breach of warranty requires the concurrence of the following circumstances: (1) The purchaser has been deprived of the whole or part of the thing sold; (2) This eviction is by a final judgment; (3) The basis thereof is by virtue of a right prior to the sale made by the vendor; and (4) The vendor has been summoned and made co-defendant in the suit for eviction at the instance of the vendee. In the absence of these requisites, a breach of the warranty against eviction under Article 1547 cannot be declared. FACTS On January 31, 1979, petitioner Power Commercial entered into a contract of sale with the respondent spouses Reynaldo and Angelita R. Quiambao—involving a 612-sq. m. parcel of land in San Antonio Village, Makati City. The parties agreed that petitioner would pay private respondents spouses Quiambao P108,000.00 as down payment, and the balance of P2...

BABASA VS. COURT OF APPEALS,  290 SCRA 532, MAY 21, 1998   TOPIC/DOCTRINE A deed of sale is absolute in nature although denominated a “conditional sale” absent such stipulations reserving title to the vendor until full payment of the purchase price, nor any stipulation giving them the right to unilaterally rescind the contract in case of non-payment;   FACTS A contract of “Conditional Sale of Registered Lands” was executed between the spouses Vivencio and Elena Babasa as vendors and Tabangao Realty, Inc. (TABANGAO) as vendee over three (3) parcels of land. It was agreed that the total purchase price of P2,121,920.00 would be paid in the following manner: P300,000.00 upon signing of the contract, and P1,821,920.00 upon presentation by the BABASAS of transfer certificates of titles in their name, free from all liens and encumbrances, and delivery of registerable documents of sale in favor of TABANGAO within twenty (20) months from the signing of the contr...

RAMOS VS. CA 279 SCRA 118, SEPTEMBER 15, 1979   TOPIC/DOCTRINE Where the “Deed of Absolute Sale with Assumption of Mortgage” is ineffective, the seller remains the owner and mortgagor of the property, and as such, he retains the right to redeem the foreclosed property.   FACTS On September 8, 1967, Eduardo Yuseco (now deceased) obtained a loan of P35,000.00 from the Government Service Insurance System. To guarantee payment of the loan, Yuseco constituted a mortgage over his property covered by TCT No. 123161 of the Register of Deeds of Quezon City in favor of GSIS. Under the mortgage contract, Yuseco was prohibited from selling, disposing of, mortgaging, or in any manner encumbering the mortgaged property without the prior written consent of the GSIS. On November 17, 1969, Yuseco executed a “Contract to Sell” (Exh. A) of the mortgaged property in favor of petitioner Felipe Belmonte, by virtue of which Belmonte agreed to assume Yuseco’s obligation to the GSIS. B...

RADIOWEALTH FINANCE COMPANY VS. PALILEO,  197 SCRA 245, MAY 20, 1991   TOPIC/DOCTRINE Act No. 3344, registration of instruments affecting unregistered lands is “without prejudice to a third party with a better right”.   FACTS On April 13, 1970, defendant spouses Enrique Castro and Herminia R. Castro sold to plaintiff-appellee Manuelito Palileo (private respondent herein), a parcel of unregistered coconut land situated in Candiis, Mansayaw, Mainit, Surigao del Norte. The deed was not registered in the Registry of Property for unregistered lands. Since the execution of the deed of sale, appellee Manuelito Palileo exercised acts of ownership over the land through his mother Rafaela Palileo, as administratrix or overseer. On November 29, 1976, a judgment was rendered against defendant Enrique T. Castro, in Civil Case to pay herein defendant-appellant Radiowealth Finance Company (petitioner herein), the sum of P22,350.35 with interest thereon at the rate o...

NAAWAN COMMUNITY RURAL BANK, INC. VS. COURT OF APPEALS,  395 SCRA 43, JANUARY 13, 2003   TOPIC/DOCTRINE A party dealing with a registered land need not go beyond the Certificate of Title to determine the true owner thereof so as to guard or protect her interest. She has only to look and rely on the entries in the Certificate of Title. (Toledo-Banaga vs. Court of Appeals, 302 SCRA 331 [1999]) FACTS On April 30, 1988, a certain Guillermo Comayas offered to sell to private respondent-spouses Alfredo and Annabelle Lumo, a house and lot measuring 340 square meters located at Pinikitan, Camaman-an, Cagayan de Oro City. Before private respondents bought the subject property from Guillermo Comayas, inquiries were made with the Registry of Deeds and the Bureau of Lands regarding the status of the vendor’s title. No liens or encumbrances were found to have been annotated on the certificate of title. Neither were private respondents aware of any adverse claim or lien o...

URACA VS. COURT OF APPEALS,  278 SCRA 702, SEPTEMBER 05, 1997   TOPIC/DOCTRINE A purchaser in good faith and for value is one who buys property without notice that some other person has a right to or interest in such property and pays its fair price before he has notice of the adverse claims and interest of another person in the same property.   FACTS The Velezes were the owners of the lot and commercial building in Cebu while the petitioners were lessees of the said building. The Velezes through Ting wrote a letter offering to sell the subject property for P1,050,000.00. Uraca went to see Ting about the offer to sell but she was told by the latter that the price was P1,400,000.00 in cash or managers check and not P1,050,000.00 as erroneously stated in their letter-offer after some haggling. Emilia Uraca agreed to the price of P1,400,000.00 but counter- proposed that payment be paid in installments with a down payment of P1,000,000.00 and the balance ...

FUDOT VS. CATTLEYA LAND, INC.,  533 SCRA 350, SEPTEMBER 13, 2007   TOPIC/DOCTRINE Art. 1544 of the Civil Code, which provides the rule on double sale, applies only to a situation where the same property is validly sold to different vendees.   FACTS Sometime in July 1992, Cattleya Land, Inc., after the former finding no defect on the titles, purchased the nine lots from spouses Troadio and Asuncion Tecson through a Deed of Absolute Sale. The Deed of Conditional Sale and the Deed of Absolute Sale were registered with the Register of Deeds on 06 November 1992 and 04 October 1993, respectively. Titles to six (6) of the nine (9) lots were issued, but the Register of Deeds refused to issue titles to the remaining three (3) lots, because the titles covering the same were still unaccounted for. On 23 January 1995, petitioner presented for registration before the Register of Deeds the owner’s copy of the title of the subject property, together with the deed ...

CORONEL VS. COURT OF APPEALS,  263 SCRA 15, OCTOBER 07, 1996 TOPIC/DOCTRINE In interpreting Art. 1544 of the Civil Code, the governing principle is primus tempore, potior jure (first in time, stronger in right)—knowledge gained by the first buyer of the second sale cannot defeat the first buyer’s rights, except where the second buyer registers in good faith the second sale ahead of the first. FACTS On January 15, 1985, plaintiff-appellee Concepcion D. Alcaraz, paid the down payment of Fifty Thousand (P50,000.00) Pesos to consummate the sale of a parcel of land originally owned by Coronel under house and lot, covered by TCT No. 119627. On February 6, 1985, the property originally registered in the name of the Coronel’s father was transferred in their names under TCT No. 327043. On February 18, 1985, the Coronels sold the property to intervenor-appellant Catalina B. Mabanag for One Million Five Hundred Eighty Thousand (P1,580,000.00) Pesos after the latter has paid Thr...

CHENG VS. GENATO,  300 SCRA 722, DECEMBER 29, 1998   TOPIC/DOCTRINE Art. 1544 of the Civil Code on double sales connotes that the following circumstances must concur: “(a) The two (or more) sales transactions in issue must pertain to exactly the same subject matter, and must be valid sales transactions; (b) The two (or more) buyers at odds over the rightful ownership of the subject matter must each represent conflicting interests; and (c) The two (or more) buyers at odds over the rightful ownership of the subject matter must each have bought from the very same seller.” These situations obviously are lacking in a contract to sell for neither a transfer of ownership nor a sales transaction has been consummated. The contract to be binding upon the obligee or the vendor depends upon the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of an event.   FACTS Respondent Genato entered a contract to sell to spouses Da Jose pertaining to his property in Bulacan. The contract made in...

CHRYSLER PHILIPPINES CORP. V. CA 133 SCRA 567, DECEMBER 19, 1984   TOPIC/DOCTRINE Where the seller delivers to the buyer a quantity of goods less than he contracted to sell, the buyer may reject them.   FACTS   Petitioner is a domestic corporation engaged in the assembling and sale of motor vehicles and other automotive products. Respondent Sambok Motors Co., a general partnership, during the period relevant to these proceedings, was its dealer for automotive products with offices at Bacolod (Sambok, Bacolod) and Iloilo (Sambok, Iloilo).   The evidence is clear that Negros Navigation could not produce the merchandise motor vehicles and other automotive products from Petitioner nor ascertain its whereabouts at the time Sambok Bacolod, was ready to take delivery. Despite this, petitioner failed to comply with the conditions precedent to the filing of a judicial action against Negros Navigation.   It was only four years later when a warehous...

RAMOS V. NGASEO 445 SCRA 529, DECEMBER 9, 2004   TOPIC/DOCTRINE Mere demand for delivery of the litigated property does not cause the transfer of ownership, hence, not a prohibited transaction within the contemplation of Article 1491.   FACTS This is a complaint for suspension of respondent Atty. Patricio A. Ngaseo for violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Article 1491 of the Civil Code by demanding from his client, complainant Federico N. Ramos, the delivery of 1,000 square meters of land, a litigated property, as payment for his appearance fees.   ISSUE Whether respondent violated the prohibition against lawyers under Article 1491 (5) of the Civil Code.   RULING No.   The court held that Article 1491 (5) of the Civil Code prohibiting lawyers from acquiring either by purchase or assignment the property or rights involved which are the object of the litigation in which they intervene by virtue of their profession ...

PHIL. TRUST CO. V. ROLDAN 99 PHIL. 393, MAY 31, 1956 TOPIC/DOCTRINE whenever the guardian acquires the ward's property through an intermediary, he violates the provision of Article 1459 of the Civil Code and such transaction and subsequent ones emanating therefrom shall be annulled. FACTS As guardian of the property of the minor Mariano L. Bernardo, the Philippine Trust Company filed in the Manila court of first instance a complaint to annul two contracts regarding 17 parcels of land: (a) sale thereof by Socorro Roldan, as guardian of said minor, to Fidel C. Ramos; and (6) sale thereof by Fidel C. Ramos to Socorro Roldan personally. The complaint likewise sought to annul a conveyance of four out of the said seventeen parcels by Socorro Roldan to Emilio Cruz. The action rests on the proposition that the first two sales were in reality a sale by the guardian to herself therefore, null and void under Article 1459 of the Civil Code. As to the third conveyance, it is also inef...

LAW ON SALES CASE DIGEST FILINVEST CREDIT CORP. VS. PHIL. ACETYLENE, CO., INC.,  111 SCRA 421 (JANUARY 30, 1982) TOPIC/DOCTRINE It is the fact of foreclosure and actual sale of the mortgaged chattel that bar the recovery by the vendor of any balance of the purchaser’s outstanding obligation not satisfied by the sale.  FACTS                The Philippine Acetylene Co., Inc., defendant-appellant, purchased from one Alexander Lim, a motor vehicle, for P55,247.80 with a down payment of P20,000.00 and the balance of P35,247.80 payable, under the terms and conditions of the promissory note, at a monthly installment of P1,036.70 for thirty-four (34) months. As security for the payment of said promissory note, the appellant executed a chattel mortgage over the same motor vehicle in favor of said Alexander Lim.                 Subsequently, Alexander Lim assigned to the Filinvest Finance Corp...

LAW ON SALES CASE DIGEST DE LA CRUZ VS. ASIAN CONSUMER AND INDUSTRIAL FINANCE CORP.,  214 SCRA 103 (SEPTEMBER 18, 1992) TOPIC/DOCTRINE If the vendor desisted, on his own initiative, from consummating the auction sale, such desistance was a timely disavowal of the remedy of foreclosure and the vendor can still sue for specific performance.” FACTS The spouses Romulo de la Cruz and Delia de la Cruz, and one Daniel Fajardo, petitioners, purchased on installment basis one (1) unit Hino truck from Benter Motor Sales Corporation (BENTER for brevity). To secure payment, they executed in favor of BENTER a chattel mortgage over the vehicle and a promissory note for P282,360.00 payable in thirty (30) monthly installments of P9,412.00. On the same date, BENTER assigned its rights and interest over the vehicle in favor of private respondent Asian Consumer and Industrial Finance Corporation (ASIAN for brevity).   Although petitioners initially paid some installments they subsequen...

  LAW ON SALES CASE DIGEST NONATO VS. INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT 140 SCRA 255 (NOVEMBER 22, 1985) TOPIC/DOCTRINE A seller where the buyer fails to pay the personal property in installments is an alternative, not cumulative, that the exercise of one would bar the exercise of the others. FACTS             On June 28, 1976, defendant spouses Restituto Nonato and Ester Nonato purchased one (1) unit of Volkswagen Sakbayan from the People's Car, Inc., on an installment basis. To secure complete payment, the defendants executed a promissory note and a chattel mortgage in favor of People's Car, Inc. People's Car, Inc., assigned its rights and interests over the note and mortgage in favor of the plaintiff Investor's Finance Corporation (FNCB).             For failure of defendants to pay two or more installments, despite demands, the car was repossessed by the plaintiff on March 20, 1978."Despit...

LAW ON SALES CASE DIGEST CERNA VS. COURT OF APPEALS 220 SCRA 517 (MARCH 30, 1993) TOPIC/DOCTRINE Institution of money claim against estate of deceased principal debtor bars the foreclosure of a mortgage. FACTS                On or about October 16, 1972, Celerino Delgado (Delgado) and Conrad Leviste (Leviste) entered into a loan agreement. On the same date, Delgado executed a chattel mortgage over Willy's jeep owned by him. And acting as the attorney-in-fact of herein petitioner, Manolo P. Cerna (petitioner), he also mortgaged a Taunus' car owned by the latter. Only Delgado signed the promissory note and accordingly, he was the only one bound by the contract of loan. Nowhere did it appear in the promissory note that the petitioner was a co-debtor.                The period lapsed without Delgado paying the loan. This prompted Leviste to file a collection suit against the estate of now-dec...