Dear IBP,
Good pm po Attorney. May Karapatan pa ba ang Papa ko sa lupang ibinenta ng Lola ko ng palihim. Kasi nung chineck naming sa assessors nakapangalan pa sa kanya, pero sinabi po na may deed of sale na ang nakabili nito. Diba ba po pag may deed of sale dapat nakapangalan na sa kanya ang lupa? Salamat po
Dear Ma’am,
Due to the lack of specific details, I would have to qualify my answer to your questions. If the title of the property is under the name of your grandmother, then your father has no right over the property that was sold anymore. While your father as a child of your grandmother is a compulsory heir, the fact of inheriting is only an inchoate right while your grandmother is alive. Hence, your grandmother has the right to sell the property without the consent of your father, because as the owner she has the right to enjoy and dispose of a thing, without other limitations than those established by law.
However, it will be a different story if the property is owned by your father. If the property is under the name of your father, then by all means he can avail of the remedies under the law to vindicate his rights. Since according to you, the property was sold by your grandmother secretly, therefore without his consent, your father can file an action to nullify the deed of sale that was executed.
An action for annulment of sale is filed where consent is vitiated by lack of legal capacity of one of the contracting parties, or by mistake, violence, intimidation, undue influence or fraud. By its very nature, annulment contemplates a contract which is voidable, that is, valid until annulled. Annullable contracts that have been annulled are the confer no right and produce no legal effect.
Furthermore, If the title in under the name of your father and that the sale transaction happened without his consent, then it is highly probable that a document was forged to facilitate the sale. Take note that an action to annul a deed of sale prescribes after four (4) years from discovery.
You should first check with the Registry of Deeds to make sure that the title has not been transferred yet. If the title has already been transferred to the name of the buyer, then the action that should be filed is Reconveyance of Property.
An action for reconveyance, on the other hand, is a legal and equitable remedy granted to the rightful owner of land which has been wrongfully or erroneously registered in the name of another for the purpose of compelling the latter to transfer or reconvey the land to the rightful and lawful owner, or to the party with superior right over it, without prejudice to innocent purchasers in good faith.
While the Deed of Sale is a legal instrument proving the sale transaction, it will not automatically transfer the title to the name of the buyer. You still have to go through a process before the title under the name of the seller will be cancelled and consequently a new one will be issued under the name of the buyer. With that being said, it is possible that while a sale transaction indeed happened, the party (this could be the buyer or the seller) did not process the registration of the sale just yet.
We hope that we are able to answer your questions and help you. We wish that you will be able to resolve your problem as peaceful as possible, as this involves family members. Good luck!
