The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday said land buyers must check the certificate of title and review the records in the Registry of Deeds (RD) to verify ownership and avoid fraudulent transactions.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, the SC’s Third Division said buyers must check both the certificate of title and the RD records before purchasing land.
It is insufficient to rely solely on a certificate of title especially if there are signs of fraud or irregularity, according to the High Tribunal.
It added that buyers who ignore suspicious facts cannot claim to be in good faith.
A reissued title is only a duplicate and does not have the same legal weight as the original title citing Presidential Decree 1529, or the Property Registration Decree.
The High Court noted that buyers dealing with such titles must be careful, as any subsequent registration based on a forged duplicate title is invalid.
