SUBSEQUENT REGISTRATION: VOLUNTARY DEALINGS WITH REGISTERED LANDS

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 51. Conveyance and other dealings by registered owner. An owner of registered land may convey, mortgage, lease, charge or otherwise deal with the same in accordance with existing laws. He may use such forms of deeds, mortgages, leases or other voluntary instruments as are sufficient in law. But no deed, mortgage, lease, or other voluntary instrument, except a will purporting to convey or affect registered land shall take effect as a conveyance or bind the land, but shall operate only as a contract between the parties and as evidence of authority to the Register of Deeds to make
registration.

The act of registration shall be the operative act to convey or affect the land insofar as third persons are concerned, and in all cases under this Decree, the registration shall be made in the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or city where the land lies.

FORM IS IMPORTANT FOR VALIDITY, CONVENIENCE, AND ENFORCEABILITY

> General rule: form is not important for the validity of a contract provided there is consent, subject matter and cause. This applies only to consensual contracts.
> The sale of real estate, whether made as a result of private transaction or foreclosure of execution sale, becomes legally effective against third parties only from the date of registration.

DELIVERY AS A MODE OF TRANSMISSION, REAL OR CONSTRUCTIVE ACTUAL NOTICE EQUIVALENT OF REGISTRATION

> As between the parties to a contract of sale, registration is not necessary to make it valid and effective, for actual notice is equivalent to registration.
> Even without the act of registration, a deed purporting to convey or affect registered land shall operate as a contract between the parties

ACT OF REGISTRATION IS THE OPERATIVE ACT TO CONVEY OR AFFECT REGISTERED LAND

> It is the registration of contracts dealing with registered property in the corresponding Register of Deeds that binds or affects third persons
> Non-compliance with the formal requirements doesn’t adversely affect the validity of contract nor the contractual rights and obligations of parties
> Registration is a mere ministerial act by which a deed, contract or instrument is inscribed in the office of the Register of Deeds and annotated at the back of the certificate of the title covering the land subject of the deed, contract or instrument
> PD1529 only protects the holder in good faith, and cannot be used as a shield against frauds

IMPORTANCE OF REGISTRATION

> For a transaction as important as the sale of registered property of land, it may be necessary to keep a record thereof

REGISTRATION OF DOCUMENT MINISTERIAL ON THE PART OF THE REGISTER OF DEEDS

> The purpose of registering an instrument is to give notice thereof to all persons

> It is not intended by the proceedings for registration to seek to destroy or otherwise affect already registered rights over the land, subsisting or existing at the time of the registration
> The law on registration doesn’t require that only valid instruments shall be registered
> If the purpose of registration is merely to give notice, then questions regarding the effect or invalidity of the instruments are expected to be decided after registration
> An instrument which seeks the reformation of an extrajudicial settlement of an estate consisting of registered lands is a voluntary one, and since the duty of the RD to enter such instrument in his book is purely ministerial, his refusal to do so is tantamount to an unlawful neglect in the performance of a duty
resulting from an office, trust or station, and is a proper instance where mandamus will lie