How to Process Land Transfer in the Philippines

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How to Process Land Transfer in the Philippines In the previous years, the government solved problems of land titling and land transactions through the establishment of the Torrens System. This served and will continuously serve as protection for land owners and buyers who transact land transactions. However, processing land transfer is still tedious enough for a non-expert. It may take some time to finish everything and could also be too costly to hire someone who can assist you with this process. So in order for you to have an idea on what to do, here are some helpful tips on this process. Step 1. The first thing to do is to provide the documentary requirements set by the Assessor’s Office, Register of Deeds and Treasurer’s Office in your area. Depending upon the agreement of the buyer and seller, but the seller usually file for the tax clearance required by the Treasurer’s Office. To be cleared, it is important to submit receipts and tax declarations of the land to said office. If there are arrears, then it is need to pay them for the transfer to take place.

Step 2. Secure assessment of Transfer of Taxes from BIR and City Treasurer’s Office and file for Issuance of Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR) or BIR clearance from the BIR. The CAR will serve as evidence that the sale has taken place and the taxes has been paid. BIR will ask for documents such as TIN of seller and buyer, Notarized Deed of Sale, certified true copy of the Tax Declaration by the Assessor’s Office, and a copy of the Original Certificate of Title (OCT) or Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT).

Step 3. Pay the transfer taxes within 60 days from the date of execution of the Deed of Sale to the Treasurer’s Office presenting the CAR from the BIR, Tax Clearance from the Treasurer’s Office, and official receipt of payment of documentary tax from the BIR.

Step 4. File documents at the Registry of Deeds for the issuance of title. The documents to be presented are the copy of deed of absolute sale, receipt of payment of transfer tax, CAR, tax clearance, and TCT in the name of the seller.

Step 5. File documents at the Assessor’s Office for the issuance of new Tax Declaration.

On a case to case basis, processing to acquire Torrens Certificate of Title for land transfer is not easy as expected. There are problems along the way if you have not checked thoroughly on the previous ownership of the land. So to be sure, check first the encumbrance or marks at the back of the title on the property you are going to purchase. If there are a lot of marks, ask someone who is knowledgeable enough on this matter and ask opinion whether to proceed with the purchase or not. If not, buy a title that is free of encumbrances. Aside from this, transferring title of land that are undivided or has many owners is complicated because all the owners need to sign for the approval of the sale. So it is advisable to buy a land that has already been subdivided from previous owners to avoid complication.

How to verify if the Land Title is Authentic in the Philippines One of the best and least risky investments is buying a real property. Today that the price of almost everything goes up, buying a piece of land will profit you in the future if you sell it. But before you pay make sure that the transactions are legit and the person you are talking is the owner to avoid loss or problem in the future.

When buying a real property, particularly land, the first thing that you would ask is the title, you don’t want to buy a real property without a clean and authentic title. In this article, I will list down simple steps that you can follow to know the authenticity of the title.

How to verify if the land title is authentic Step 1. The first step is to ask the seller for the photocopy of the TCT (Transfer Certificate of Title) or the title of the land that you are going to buy.

Step 2. When you secure a copy, go to the Registry of Deeds where the land is registered and ask for “Certified True Copy” of the title. They will give a form where you can fill up, sometimes they will do it for you, and they just need the Title number, the name of the property owner and the purpose why you want a copy, tell them or write into the request form that you want to buy the property.

Step 3. Wait for your request to be assessed, check the transaction details that they prepare and pay the required processing fees indicated, around three hundred pesos (Php 300).

Step 4. After paying, return your request paper with the assessment form and payment orders with the receipt to the window that will print for the certified true copy of the title.

Step 5. Once, you secured a copy, compare the TCT copy that you get from the seller and the one that you get from the Registry of Deeds, all the details should match.

Step 6. When you check and everything is the same, it means that the title is authentic and you can proceed with the transactions if you want the property.

Making all the papers double check particularly the title, will save you a large amount of money and a lot of trouble in the future if you don’t check it firsthand. So make sure that everything is clear and clean before going to any agreement or transactions.

Documentary Requirements for Land Transfer in the Philippines There are certain documents that you need to provide to the respective office in order for the transfer of the land to take effect. There are four offices that require these documents. The Register of Deeds, the BIR, the Office of the Lawyer that you would have your deed of sale be notarized and the City Treasurer’s Office.

First, in order for the Deed of Sale to be secured, present it to the lawyer for notarization. You have to take note that the presence of the buyer and the seller is needed together with two known witnesses. In addition, the seller must be the one who owns the property to be sold or his authorized representative with a Special power of attorney to do so.

Documents Applicant should bring for the lawyer 

TIN of both buyer and seller;

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Resident Certificate;

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Owner’s Copy of the Transfer Certificate of Title;

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Owner’s Copy of the Tax declarations.

Documents Applicant should bring for the Register of Deeds 

Transfer documents with the transfer fee paid to the LGU where the property is located;

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Tax Clearance Certificate from the LGU Treasurer;

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Certified true copy of the tax declarations of the property;

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BIR Certification Authorizing Registration;

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BIR Form for the Transfer

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Owner’s Duplicate Certificate of Title

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In some cases the Department of Agrarian Reform will ask for additional requirements on properties that are subdivided, consolidation of properties and inherited properties as the case may be.

Documents Applicant should bring for the BIR Payment of capital gains tax and documentary stamp tax will still be paid before submitting the requirements for the transfer to the new owner. After this, requirements shall be submitted to get the Certificate of Authorizing Registration. The tax identification numbers of the seller and the buyer is still needed for the transaction. If the one who is processing the papers is not the owner or the buyer, a Special Power of Attorney is still needed that states that he/she is allowed to process the documents on the buyer/seller’s behalf.

How to replace lost or damage Land Titles Land titles serve as one strong proof that you are the owner of the land, the one who pays for the taxes, and the one maintaining it. Have you ever thought that you would somehow misplace or lose, or even damage your land titles? Because yeah, it’s just a piece of paper you can place at any location; it can be easily be misplaced or damaged because it is not that thick of a sheet. However, there are ways wherein you can replace or reconstitute lost and destroyed land titles.

Why you should protect and take care of your land titles.

Before getting deep into how you can replace or reconstitute your lost or destroyed land titles, do you ever wonder why you are obliged to take good care of it? You evidently need

your land title if you plan on selling it or passing the ownership to someone else. So if you think that this piece of paper is not that significant, you better think again because it can cause you your property.

Another thing is that there are unethical people who would try to take advantage if they become aware that there is a complication as regards to your land title; they would try and take advantage of that situation. It’s really better to be safe than sorry; here’s how you can protect your land titles from natural calamities, weather extremities, and other things that can destroy or lose your land title:

Points to remember: 

When properties are mortgaged, the original owner’s copy of the land title is kept safe somewhere; free from flood, fires, and destruction than can lose or damage the title.

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However if a property is fully-paid, the payer should have knowledge on where the original land title is located.

How can you keep it safe? 

Ensure that the land title is somewhere where water can’t reach it, where fire can’t eat it, and where robbers can’t find it; assure yourself that it is kept in a very confidential place in order to assert its security.

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You can also make it digital. You can protect your physical land title by converting it to eTitle through the Land Registration Authority’s Voluntary Standardization Program.

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You can have it inside a safety deposit box (SDP) that is not too far away from your home. With this, you will have the assurance of it getting dry and complete even if a calamity trenches your home. Choose a bank that is high enough to be extra safe.

Reconstitution of Land Titles Under the Republic Act No. 26 as Amended by R.A 6732 Administrative-Reconstitution This is the flowchart of the reconstitution of land titles because there were cases where land titles were lost due to natural calamities such as floods, fires, etc.

Judicial reconstitution flowchart from ombudsman.gov.ph

Judicial Reconstitution There are cases where the titles in the Registry of Deeds got lost or destroyed but there were no administrative reconstitution was determined to be inexorable, they need to undergo judicial reconstitution.

Yes, reconstitution of a title requires a bit of hard work and patience; it also needs a lot of time. The process could take months before it is fully complete, sometimes even years. What you need to prepare are legal documents, affixed certifications and clearances, and you need a good counsel to represent you in court hearings and proceedings.

This is a flowchart of judicial reconstitution, from ombudsman website.

Administrative reconstitution flowchart from ombudsman.gov.ph If anyhow what you lost is the duplicate of the original owner’s land title, do not panic because it is not the end of the world. The original title might be in the Registry of Deeds or maybe it’s with the owner himself. Section 109 of PD 1529 discusses the procedure in getting a new duplicate of the original document.

Section 109. Notice and replacement of lost duplicate certificate. In case of loss or theft of an owner’s duplicate certificate of title, due notice under oath shall be sent by the owner or by

someone in his behalf to the Register of Deeds of the province or city where the land lies as soon as the loss or theft is discovered. If a duplicate certificate is lost or destroyed, or cannot be produced by a person applying for the entry of a new certificate to him or for the registration of any instrument, a sworn statement of the fact of such loss or destruction may be filed by the registered owner or other person in interest and registered.

Upon the petition of the registered owner or other person in interest, the court may, after notice and due hearing, direct the issuance of a new duplicate certificate, which shall contain a memorandum of the fact that it is issued in place of the lost duplicate certificate, but shall in all respects be entitled to like faith and credit as the original duplicate, and shall thereafter be regarded as such for all purposes of this decree.

This is how you reconstitute or replace a lost or damaged land title (Original and duplicate.) Of course, it is better to just prevent a negative outcome from happening rather than curing it. Follow the guidelines I’ve stated above to ensure the completeness of your land title.