Realty Installment Buyer Protection Act (RA 6552)

All transactions or contracts involving the sale or financing of real estate on installment payments,
including residential condominium apartments but excluding industrial lots, commercial buildings and sales to
tenants where the buyer has paid at least two years of installments, the buyer is entitled to the following
rights in case he defaults in the payment of succeeding installments:
To pay, without additional interest, the unpaid installments due within the total grace period
earned by him which is hereby fixed at the rate of one month grace period for every one year of installment
payments made: Provided, That this right shall be exercised by the buyer only once in every five years of the
life of the contract and its extensions, if any.
If the contract is canceled, the seller shall refund to the buyer the cash surrender value of
the payments on the property equivalent to fifty per cent of the total payments made, and, after five years of
installments, an additional five per cent every year but not to exceed ninety per cent of the total payments
made: Provided, That the actual cancellation of the contract shall take place after thirty days from receipt by
the buyer of the notice of cancellation or the demand for rescission of the contract by a notarial act and upon
full payment of the cash surrender value to the buyer.
Down payments, deposits or options on the contract shall be included in the computation of the total number
of installment payments made. (Section 3)
In case where less than two years of installments were paid, the seller shall give the buyer a grace
period of not less than sixty days from the date the installment became due. If the buyer fails to pay the
installments due at the expiration of the grace period, the seller may cancel the contract after thirty days from
receipt by the buyer of the notice of cancellation or the demand for rescission of the contract by a notarial act.
(Section 4).
Under Section 3 and 4, the buyer shall have the right to sell his rights or assign the same to another
person or to reinstate the contract by updating the account during the grace period and before actual
cancellation of the contract. The deed of sale or assignment shall be done by notarial act. (Section 5)
The buyer shall have the right to pay in advance any installment or the full unpaid balance of the
purchase price any time without interest and to have such full payment of the purchase price annotated in the
certificate of title covering the property. (Section 6)
Real Real Estate Service Act (RA 9646)
Real estate broker definition
A duly registered and licensed natural person who, for a professional fee, commission or other valuable
consideration, acts as an agent of a party in a real estate transaction to offer, advertise, solicit, list, promote,
mediate, negotiate or effect the meeting of the minds on the sale, purchase, exchange, mortgage, lease or
joint venture, or other similar transactions on real estate or any interest therein. (Section 3.g.5)
Prohibition Against the Unauthorized Practice of Real Estate Service
No person shall practice or offer to practice real estate service in the Philippines or offer himself/herself as real
estate service practitioner, or use the title, word, letter, figure or any sign tending to convey the impression
that one is a real estate service practitioner, or advertise or indicate in any manner whatsoever that one is
qualified to practice the profession, or be appointed as real property appraiser or assessor in any national
government entity or local government unit, unless he/she has satisfactorily passed the licensure
examination. (Section 29)

Selected Supreme Court Decisions

Borromeo vs. Descallar, G.R. No. 159310 (February 2009)
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2009/feb2009/159310.htm
Aliens are prohibited from acquiring private land. This is embodied in Section 7, Article XII
of the 1987 Constitution. The capacity to acquire private land is dependent on the capacity "to acquire or hold
lands of the public domain." Private land may be transferred only to individuals or entities "qualified to acquire
or hold lands of the public domain."
Only Filipino citizens or corporations at least 60% of the capital of which is owned by
Filipinos are qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain. Thus, as the rule now stands, the
fundamental law explicitly prohibits non-Filipinos from acquiring or holding title to private lands, except only
by way of legal succession or if the acquisition was made by a former natural-born citizen.
In this case, the transfer of land to a foreigner would have been declared invalid if
challenged, had not the foreigner conveyed the properties to a Filipino citizen.
Since the ban on aliens is intended to preserve the nations land for future generations of
Filipinos, that aim is achieved by making lawful the acquisition of real estate by aliens who became Filipino
citizens by naturalization or those transfers made by aliens to Filipino citizens. As the property in dispute is
already in the hands of a qualified person, a Filipino citizen, there would be no more public policy to be
protected. fsdfsdfsdf
Cantemprate, et. Al vs. CRS Realty Development Corporation, G.R. No. 171399 (May 2009)
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2009/may2009/171399.htm
The HLURB has exclusive jurisdiction over the complaint for specific performance to
compel the subdivision owner and the developer to deliver to the buyers the certificates of title (CTC) after full
payment of the subdivision lots.
If the CTCs could not be delivered to the buyers, the developer must reimburse not only
the purchase price of the subdivision lots sold to them but also the incremental value arising from the
appreciation of the lots.