PD 1529, the Property Registration Decree: what to read on a title before you buy
Presidential Decree 1529 of 1978 governs how land is registered in the Philippines under the Torrens system. For someone buying a lot or a house, it decides what the title shows, what binds the land, and when the sale actually takes effect against everyone else. Each row below carries the section it comes from. The decree names some offices that have since been renamed; this page does not say which office does what today.
PD 1529, section by section, for a buyer
Each row gives the point, the rule in short, and the section it comes from.
What a title is
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Original and transfer certificates | OCT, then TCTs | Sections 39, 40 and 43: the original certificate follows the decree of registration; every later one is a Transfer Certificate of Title that names the certificate before it |
| Your copy | the owner's duplicate | Sections 40 and 57: the Register of Deeds keeps the original and issues the owner an owner's duplicate; on a sale the seller's are stamped "canceled" and new ones are made out to the buyer |
| The original decree, one year after its entry | incontrovertible | Section 32: the decree of registration may be reopened for actual fraud only within one year of its entry, and never against an innocent purchaser for value; after that, the decree and the certificate are incontrovertible, and a person defrauded may sue those responsible for damages |
What binds the land
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| A signed deed of sale on its own | binds only the parties | Section 51: registration is the operative act that conveys or affects the land as far as third persons are concerned, at the Register of Deeds where the land lies |
| Anything registered against the title | notice to everyone | Section 52: every registered conveyance, mortgage, lease, lien, attachment, order or judgment is constructive notice to all persons from the time it is registered |
| Encumbrances on the title when it passes | carried over to yours | Section 59: subsisting encumbrances and annotations are restated on the new certificate unless released at the same time |
| What a good-faith buyer takes free of | all but what is noted, and four more | Section 44: the buyer for value in good faith holds free of encumbrances except those noted on the certificate and these four: rights under the laws and Constitution that need not be registered to bind a buyer; unpaid real estate taxes of the two years before the purchase; public highways, private ways recognised by law and government irrigation canals where the title does not fix their boundaries; and agrarian reform limitations |
What to look for on the title
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| A mortgage or lease | a memorandum on the title | Sections 54 and 60: interests less than ownership are registered by a memorandum on the certificate and on the owner's duplicate, and take effect on the title only from registration |
| An adverse claim | 30 days, then stays until cancelled | Section 70: a sworn written claim adverse to the registered owner, annotated on the title and effective for 30 days; after that it stays on the title until cancelled on a verified petition, and before then a court may cancel it after a hearing if it finds the claim invalid |
| A notice of lis pendens | a pending case over the land | Section 76: a case affecting title, possession or use has no effect on people other than the parties unless a notice of it is registered; a registered notice warns that the outcome can reach the land and anyone who acquires it afterwards (with Section 52) |
| Roads, passageways and open space in a subdivision outside PD 957 | cannot be closed or sold without court approval | Section 50: on a subdivision plan outside PD 957, the title to streets, passageways, waterways or open space is annotated that they cannot be closed or disposed of without the court's approval, except by donation to government |
The seller's side
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Presenting the owner's duplicate | needed to register a sale | Section 53: no voluntary instrument is registered without it, except as the decree provides or a court orders; a registration procured with a forged duplicate or a forged deed is void, and an owner defrauded keeps their remedies without prejudice to an innocent holder for value |
| A lost owner's duplicate | replaced only by the court | Section 109: notice under oath to the Register of Deeds, then a petition; the court may order a new duplicate after notice and hearing, and it carries a memorandum that it replaces the lost one, which is worth looking for |
| Correcting a title | by court order | Section 108: no erasure, alteration or amendment after entry except by order of the court, on a petition by the owner or another person with an interest; the court may order nothing that impairs the title of a purchaser for value in good faith without their written consent |
| How the deed must be made to be registered | a notarised public instrument | Section 112: signed before at least two witnesses who also sign, acknowledged before a notary public or other authorised officer, each page other than the signature page signed on the left margin, and all pages sealed |
Land with no Torrens title
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| A deed over untitled land | valid only between the parties unless recorded | Section 113: it must be recorded with the Register of Deeds where the land lies to bind anyone else, and even then a third party with a better right is not affected |
What it means when you buy a lot or house
- Read the title at the Register of Deeds, not only the seller's copy. Most of what binds the land is what is registered there (Sections 51 and 52), and every mortgage, adverse claim or notice of a pending case is a memorandum on the certificate (Sections 54, 70 and 76). Section 44 lists what binds the land even without a note.
- The sale is not finished at signing. The deed binds you and the seller at once, but it binds everyone else only once it is registered (Section 51). The new title is made out to you on registration (Section 57). The deed of absolute sale guide covers the deed itself.
- Ask about taxes and roads. A good-faith buyer still takes the land subject to, among other things, unpaid real estate taxes of the two years before the purchase, recognised roads and government irrigation canals whose boundaries the title does not fix, rights the law gives without registration, and agrarian reform limitations (Section 44).
- Look at the land as well as the paper. Our consultation for future home buyers looks at the lot's size, shape, orientation and what the zoning allows before you commit, and the guide to choosing a lot and the easements guide cover what the title does not show.
What this page does not cover
- Getting land registered for the first time. Original registration is outside this page. Titling land you have long occupied is covered in the RA 11573 guide.
- Advice on a particular title. Whether a given annotation is a problem depends on the document behind it; have a lawyer read it before you pay.
- Buying from a developer. A subdivision lot or unit bought from a developer also carries the rights in PD 957, covered in the PD 957 guide.
- Fees and fines. The decree sets some amounts; this page does not print them.
Source: Presidential Decree No. 1529, the Property Registration Decree, as published by the Lawphil Project.