Unpaid Loan of a dead person with Property as collateral

Hi,

This is my first time to post here. I just need some advice on this matter. We recently found out that our grandparents had a loan back in 1982 and they used our land in the province as collateral. No one else in our family knew even his children (our parents and my aunties). The bank where my grandparents had a loan is now closed. They closed in 1988. My cousin recently found out that there is an existing loan connected to that ancestral land when she was applying for a pag-ibig loan. The bill for our ancestral land is now 1 million. Nobody in our clan knew that there's an existing loan anywhere. We don't have any document showing that there is one. Our grandparents did not tell our aunties and uncle as well. No one also sent us anything to tell us that something is unpaid (something like a bill or letter).

It has been more than 30 years above. I just wanted to know if it is rightful for us to pay that 1 Million bill, a loan that was done by my dead grandparents back in 1982. My grandparents died some time in the 90s. What will be the best action for our family since we are not well off and it is like impossible for us to have 1 Million?

collateral is something pledged as security for repayment of a loan, to be forfeited in the event of a default. in your case, it seems you are lucky since the land was not defaulted and sold. however, it's weird since if there is an existing loan, whose name is it under?

anyway, as i see it, the land should have been defaulted and sold off long time ago.

Wait.

There are two loans? The bank loan is different from the P1 million loan? Is this titled property?

As to the creditor bank, usually when a bank closes there is a liquidation process that it undergoes for the benefit of its creditors and depositors. You may want to inquire with the PDIC regarding this, if any action/s were taken to collect the outstanding credits of the closed bank and if any action was filed to foreclose the property.

You might also want to consult a lawyer regarding the collection of the overdue loan, if you could raise the issue of prescription.