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Lis Pendens Annotation
Lis Pendens Annotation
ANNOTATION
LIS PENDENS: PREVENTING REAL ESTATE
PROPERTIES FROM BEING PURLOINED
by
MAURICIO C. ULEP*
___________________
§ 1. Meaning of lis pendens, p. 619
§ 2. Purpose and essence of lis pendens, p. 620
§ 3. Nature of lis pendens, p. 621
§ 4. The essence of lis pendens, p. 622
§ 5. A notice of lis pendens is founded on public
policy,
p. 624
§ 6. Who may file a notice of lis pendens, p. 624
§ 7. When to file a notice of lis pendens, p. 624
§ 8. Two-fold effects of a notice of lis pendens, p. 624
§ 9. Effect if there is no notice of lis pendens, p. 625
§ 10. Elements to annotate a notice of lis pendens, p.
626
§ 11. Notice of lis pendens is not a lien on property,
p. 626
§ 12. Scope of lis pendens, p. 627
§ 13. Constructive notice operates from registration
date of notice of lis pendens, p. 627
§ 14. A notice of lis pendens may only be cancelled by
the court, p. 628
_______________
619
620
§ 3. Nature of lis pendens
The notice is but an incident in an action, an
extrajudicial one, to be sure. It does not affect the merits
thereof. It is intended merely to constructively advise, or
warn, all people who deal with the property that they so
deal with it at their own risk, and whatever rights they
may acquire in the property in any voluntary transaction
are subject to the results of the action, and may well be
inferior and subordinate to those which may be finally
determined and laid down therein. The cancellation of such
a precautionary notice is therefore also a mere incident in
the action, and may be ordered by the Court having
jurisdiction of it at any given time. And its continuance or
removal — like the continuance or removal of a
preliminary attachment or injunction — is not contingent
on the existence of a final judgment in the action, and
ordinarily has
622
Lastly:
§ 4. The essence of lis pendens
Sec. 76 of P.D. 1529 provides: Notice of lis pendens.—No
action to recover possession of real estate, or to quiet title
thereto, or to remove clouds upon the title thereof, or for
par-
623
§ 9. Effect if there is no notice of lis pendens
Without a notice of lis pendens, a third party who
acquires the property after relying only on the certificate of
title is a purchaser in good faith. Against such third party,
the supposed rights of a litigant cannot prevail, because the
former is not bound by the property owner’s undertakings
not anno-
626
628
§ 14. A notice of lis pendens may only be cancelled by
the court
In an action affecting the title or the right of possession
of real property, the plaintiff and the defendant, when
affirmative relief is claimed in his answer, may record in
the office of the registry of deeds of the province in which
the property is situated notice of the pendency of the
action. Said notice shall contain the names of the parties
and the object of the action
629
§ 25. Any decision in a land registration case binds
only the parties unless notice of lis pendens is
recorded in the title
Sec. 76 of the Property Registration Law, P.D. 1529
provides: “No action to recover possession of real estate, or
to quiet the title thereto, or to remove clouds upon the title
thereof, or for partition or other proceeding of any kind in
court affecting the title to real estate or the use and
occupation thereof or the buildings thereon, and no
judgment or decree, and no proceeding to vacate or reverse
any judgment
635
636
§ 33. There is no requirement that the right to a
property subject of lis pendens, be proven by the
applicant
There is no requirement that the right to or the interest
in the property subject of a lis pendens be proven by the
applicant. The Rule merely requires that an affirmative
relief be claimed. A notation of lis pendens neither affects
the merits of a case nor creates a right or a lien. It merely
protects the applicant’s rights, which will be determined
during the trial. (Alberto v. Court of Appeals, 334 SCRA
756 [2000]; Romero v. Court of Appeals, 458 SCRA 483
[2005])
§ 34. A notice of lis pendens does not suffice to
protect rights over the property
A notice of lis pendens serves as an announcement to the
whole world that a particular real property is in litigation
and as a warning that those who acquire an interest in the
property do so at their own risk — they gamble on the
result of the litigation over it. However, the cancellation of
such notice may be ordered by the court that has
jurisdiction over it at
640
641
642
land who takes the certificate of title for value and in good
faith and who is protected against any encumbrance except
those noted on said certificate. (Rivera, etc. v. Tirona, et al.,
109 Phil. 505 [1960])
§ 39. What constitutes constructive notice to any
purchaser of a property with lis pendens
The filing of the notice of lis pendens in the office of the
registrar of deeds and the notation thereof on the back of
the corresponding original certificate of title is what
constitutes a constructive notice to any purchaser or
vendee of a lien upon the real property in litigation as to
the parties-litigant. (Jamora v. Duran et al., 69 Phil. 3
[1939])
§ 40. Cancellation of lis pendens is discretionary
While ordinarily a notice of pendency which has been
filed in a proper case, cannot be cancelled while the action
is pending and undetermined, the proper court has the
discretionary power to cancel it under peculiar
circumstances, as for instance, where the evidence so far
presented by the plaintiff does not bear out the main
allegations of his complaint, and where the continuances of
the trial, for which the plaintiff is responsible, are
unnecessarily delaying the determination of the case to the
prejudice of the defendant. (Municipal of Parañaque v.
Court of First Instance, 70 Phil. 363 [1940])
Moreover:
643
By such allegations the defendant endeavored to weaken
plaintiff’s cause of action and prayed for a dismissal of the
complaint; but the court held that neither the answer nor
the evidence appeared to be sufficient to establish this
defense and that, after all, it was not claimed that the suit
was prosecuted to final judgment and, consequently, it
could not serve as a basis for the defense of res adjudicata.
(Kelly Springfield Road Roller Co. v. Sideco, 16 Phil. 345
[1910]. See also Cabillas v. Apduhan, 14 Phil. 213 [1909])
§ 43. The wife has the right to annotate a notice of
lis pendens on properties alienated by the
husband
Although, under the second paragraph of Article 1419 of
the Civil Code, a widow is entitled to charge against the
husband, in the liquidation of the conjugal estate, the value
of property alienated by the husband in fraud of her rights,
the failure to exercise this right is no obstacle to the
maintenance by the wife of an action to annul a conveyance
made by the husband without consideration and in fraud of
the rights of the wife, with respect to property which is
assigned to the wife in the judicial liquidation of the estate,
notice of the lis pendens created by the liquidation
proceedings having been noted on the transfer certificate
issued to the grantee. (Gallion v. Gayares, 53 Phil. 43
[1929])
645
646
and show to the court that the notice is not for the purpose
of molesting the adverse party and that it is necessary to
protect his rights. (Punongbayan v. Pineda, 131 SCRA 496
[1984])
7. The refusal of a party to lift the notice of lis pendens
does not affect the validity of a compromise agreement. (
Mayuga v. Court of Appeals, 154 SCRA 310 [1987])
8. The dismissal of a civil case made upon petition of
the defendant by reason of the plaintiff’s failure to appear,
operates as a cancellation of the notation of lis pendens. (
Lazaro v. Mariano, 59 Phil. 627 [1934])
9. For lis pendens to be a valid ground for the dismissal
of a case, the other case pending between the same parties
and having the same cause must be a court action. (Puma
Sportschuhfabriken Rudolf Dassler, K.G. v. Intermediate
Appellate Court, 158 SCRA 233 [1988])
10. It is not required that the annotation of lis pendens
be also inscribed upon the owner’s copy because such copy
is usually unavailable to the registrant. It is normally in
the hands of the adverse party. (Yu v. Court of Appeals, 251
SCRA 509 [1995])
11. The annotation of a notice lis pendens does not in
any case amount nor can it be considered as equivalent to a
collateral attack of the certificate of title for a parcel of
land. (Lee Tek Sheng v. Court of Appeals, 292 SCRA 544
[1998])
12. Denial of a lis pendens by the Register of Deeds can
be appealed en consulta to the Commissioner of Land
Registration. From there, it may further be appealed to the
Court of Appeals. (AFP Mutual Benefit Association, Inc. v.
Court of Appeals, 327 SCRA 203 [2000])
13. The order of a judge for the cancellation of a notice
of lis pendens is an interference with the business of the
Court of Appeals if the case is already pending before the
latter. (Brizuela v. Mendiola, 335 SCRA 23 [2000])
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