RA 11201: which housing office handles what
Republic Act 11201 of 2019 merged the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board into one Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, DHSUD, and turned the board's adjudication side into a separate body, the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission, HSAC. The HLURB named in older laws and contracts is now one or the other. Each row below carries the section it comes from.
The split in one line
DHSUD makes and enforces the rules: subdivision and condominium standards, homeowners association registration, and the planning standards cities and municipalities follow (Sections 4, 5 and 25). HSAC decides disputes: its Regional Adjudicators hear cases first, and the Commission hears appeals (Sections 12, 15 and 16). Your building permit is neither: it comes from the local Building Official under PD 1096, as the building permit guide sets out.
RA 11201, section by section: DHSUD and HSAC
Each row gives the point, the office or rule in short, and the section it comes from.
Who does what
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Rules and standards for subdivisions and condominiums | DHSUD | Section 25(b): the HLURB's regulatory function, including making and enforcing rules and standards for subdivisions, condominiums and similar developments, moved to the Department |
| Registering and supervising homeowners associations | DHSUD | Sections 5(IV)(a) and 25(c): registration, regulation and supervision of associations in subdivision and government housing projects |
| Land use plans and zoning | your city or municipality, to DHSUD standards | Sections 5(II)(e) and 25(a): the Department sets planning and zoning standards for the comprehensive land use plans (CLUPs) that cities and municipalities adopt, and may penalise one that does not follow them |
| Abandoned licensed developments | DHSUD may take over | Section 5(III)(d): unfinished, incomplete or abandoned licensed projects under PD 957, and DHSUD then regulates the use of their roads and streets |
| Subdivision roads | may be opened to the public | Section 5(V)(h): when the general welfare requires it, after consulting stakeholders |
| Housing permits and licences in one place | one-stop processing centres | Section 23: regional centres where every agency that issues a housing-related permit, clearance or licence is represented |
| Pag-IBIG, NHA, NHMFC and SHFC | attached, under their own charters | Section 22: the Department has administrative supervision over them; they stay attached for policy and programme coordination and run under their own charters, subject to the Board's policy directions |
Where a dispute goes
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer against developer: refunds, unsound practices, promised development | HSAC Regional Adjudicator | Section 16(a)(1) to (3): original and exclusive jurisdiction over unsound business practices by the owner or developer that prejudice buyers or are done in bad faith, refund and other claims against the owner, developer, dealer, broker or salesman, and obligations arising from the sale and the development |
| A bank loan paid the price | the lender is joined | Section 16(a)(2): where the claim rests on PD 957 Section 23 and a bank or other lender financed the purchase, the lender is made a necessary party |
| Open spaces, common areas and easements in a subdivision | HSAC Regional Adjudicator | Section 16(a)(4) and (6): disputes over open spaces and common areas brought by the developer or the registered association, and easements within or among subdivisions |
| A developer's mortgage on your lot, made against PD 957 | HSAC Regional Adjudicator | Section 16(a)(7): a buyer's action to annul a mortgage made in violation of PD 957 Section 18 |
| Declaring a development abandoned | HSAC Regional Adjudicator | Section 16(a)(5): suits to declare a subdivision, condominium or similar development abandoned, for the purpose of PD 957 Section 35. Section 3(a): abandoned means not completed at least ten years after the target date, with the developer showing no intention to finish or not found despite five years of diligent effort |
| Homeowners association disputes | HSAC Regional Adjudicator | Section 16(b): registration, disputes among members and with the association, and disputes between associations |
| The balanced housing requirement on developers | HSAC Regional Adjudicator | Section 16(c): disputes over the implementation of Section 18 of RA 7279, as amended |
| Anything else under the laws DHSUD implements | HSAC Regional Adjudicator | Section 16(d): unless the case belongs to another court or quasi-judicial body |
| Stopping an unlawful act | injunction | Section 17(d): after notice and hearing, the Commission may restrain a prohibited or unlawful act, or order a particular act, in a dispute before it where waiting may cause grave or irreparable damage. An injunction needs findings of fact on five conditions, among them that the complainant has no adequate remedy at law |
| A zoning or planning decision | HSAC, on appeal | Section 15(b): the Commission hears appeals from decisions of local and regional planning and zoning bodies |
| Crimes under the housing laws | the criminal courts | Section 20: prosecution is instituted before the criminal courts with jurisdiction |
Deadlines
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Appealing a Regional Adjudicator's decision | 15 calendar days | Section 18: from receipt; otherwise the decision becomes final and executory |
| When a Commission decision is final | 15 calendar days | Section 15: after the parties receive it |
| After the Commission | Court of Appeals | Section 18: under Rule 43 of the Rules of Court; the Act leaves that deadline to the Rules |
| Enforcing a final decision | writ within 5 years | Section 19: a writ of execution within five years of the decision becoming final, and an independent action for enforcement filed with the Regional Adjudication Branch that decided it |
What it means for a buyer, a homeowner and a developer
- Buying a house and lot. Most of the rights you would take to HSAC are in PD 957: the licence to sell, promised facilities, refunds and title. The PD 957 guide sets them out section by section.
- Living in a subdivision. What the association may and may not do is in RA 9904, covered in the homeowners association guide. Registration is DHSUD's; a dispute is HSAC's.
- Developing land. A subdivision is planned to DHSUD's standards and the local zoning, and its housing permits, clearances and licences can be processed together at DHSUD's regional one-stop centres (Section 23). Our subdivision and housing development planning service covers the lot layout, the road network and the open space, checked against the local zoning.
- Watch the deadlines. Fifteen calendar days is short. A Regional Adjudicator's decision becomes final unless it is appealed to the Commission within fifteen calendar days of receiving it (Section 18). A Commission decision becomes final fifteen calendar days after the parties receive it (Section 15); taking it further means a petition to the Court of Appeals under Rule 43 (Section 18), and the Act leaves that deadline to the Rules of Court.
What this page does not cover
- The implementing rules and procedure. How to file, the forms and the fees are set by the implementing rules and HSAC's own rules of procedure, which this page does not summarise.
- The Department's internal structure. Its bureaus, its board and the transition from the old agencies are in the Act and are left out here.
- Advice on a case. Which rule applies to a real dispute depends on its facts; this page names the office, not the outcome.
Source: Republic Act No. 11201, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Act, as published by the Lawphil Project.