1.3Million Payment forfeitures for the House and Lot Purchase

I have this problem with my house and lot purchase from one of the developer in Davao city. I hope I could get some legal insights and advises.

There were communications given thru my sister informing that the purchase contract has been cancelled. All my payments amounted to 1.3Million Pesos has been forfeited because I could not anymore pay the balance of more or less 400,000PHP. I wrote a letter to their office to protest regarding the proper turnover and so that we can occupy the unit after negotiation of the balance. And I requested that I WILL BE ALLOWED TO OCCUPY THE UNIT, then I shall pay the balance religiously for I’m apprehensive that if I pay the balance, still I could not occupy the unit.

It was my understanding since the start of the contract that the unit shall be finished for occupation if I can pay certain amount, NOT THE WHOLE AMOUNT. Now there is a change of terms not explained to me… THE SUMMARY FORFEITURES OF MY MONEY. The worst of all was, my unit was sold to another buyer without proper notice to me… I realized that the developer ENRICHED ITSELF AT MY OWN EXPENSE. The money used in the construction of said unit was mine, the 1.3M Pesos paid to the developer. When they sold the unit summarily, their money was not at stake but mine.

I would now strongly demand my money invested in that unit. It was useless investments in my part as an OFW. Even a single minute, I was not able to stay in the said unit and enjoy my home… They deprived my rights as the real owner of the unit and even deprived me of my money, which if had been deposited at the bank, could earned interest. The only person benefited in this transaction is their office by using my hard earned money in the construction of the unit.

Now, I need your legal advise and option.

Thanks.

your facts are not clear sir/madam dvoboie.

dates are essential in the proper resolution of your case. and you have to confer your case to a real estate lawyer based in davao city . for a start, you should present your contract to sell to your lawyer for his better understanding of the case. or if hindi contract to sell, anong contrata iyang hawak mo. Second, bring with you all the letters sent by the developer that you (or your representative or next of kin who has been residing in your last known address) had previously received.

initially kasi mam, baka ang proper law applicable sau is the Maceda Law or RA 6552. pero di ko alam kung installment payment ba iyang sau or hindi (me iba kasi na contract na hindi installment payment. downpayment ka and after 2 months, full payment na. parang cash sale din kasi iyong iba). tapos sabi mo sa facts ng case mo, house and lot purchase (di mo sinabi on installment ).

So need mo magpresent ng documents sa lawyer mo. para basahin niya.
If kasi installment payments iyan, pasok ang maceda law diyan if nakabayad ka na ng at least 2 years of installment payments. me grace period ka pa niyan para habulin mo ang payment pero di ko alam if sa iyong case, maka avail ka pa ba. di mo kasi sinabi ang date at kung naka ilang payment ka na b or ilan years ka na sige bayad. more on this later.




puwede ring pasok ang PD 957 or an act regulating the sale of subdivision lots and condominiums thereof. ang Title ng Law is "The Subdivision and Condominium Buyer's Protective Decree". andun iyong section 23 (Non-forfeiture of Payments). Nakasulat doon s Section 23 na---
" NO installment payments made by a buyer in a subdivision or condominium project for the lot or unit he contracted to buy shall be forfeited in favor of the owner or developer
WHEN THE BUYER , after due notice to the owner or developer, DESIST FROM FURTHER PAYMENT due to the FAILURE OF THE OF THE OWNER OR DEVELOPER TO DEVELOP the subdivision or condominium according to the approved plans and within the time limit for complying with the same.

Such buyer, may at his option be reimbused the total amount paid including amortization interest but excluding deliquency interest, with interest thereon at the legal rate.


Iyong Section 24 ng PD 957, nakasulat din doon na if iba ang reason mo bakit di ka nagbayad, Maceda Law mag apply niyan. Meaning, if ang reason mo na hindi ka nagbayad is other than the failure of the owner or developer to DEVELOP the subdivision according to the 1. approved plans or 2. within the time limit, Maceda law iyan. ibang reason other than failure to develop is maceda law ang mag apply at hindi PD 957.

kaya ang tanong ko sa iyo mam is ano ang reason bakit hindi ka nagbayad s balance? dahil ba wala ka nang pera or dahil hindi nila natapos ang house and lot unit mo within the time limit or hindi according s approved plans?

Importante ang distinction na iyan kasi ganito ang mangyayari:

1. PD 957- reason: failure to develop according to:
1. time limit allowed by law
2. or according to approved plans

effect if PD 957 is applicable:
a. buyer can stop payment because he now has the valid reason to desist payment
b. buyer may, at his own option, be reimbursed of the total amount paid (including the amortization interest) ( but excluding deliquency interest or iyong penalties at interest dahil sa late ka nagbayad). in addition, s total amount nakuha mo, me legal interest rate ka pa na 12% s nakuha mo. kumbaga, ang developer ang magbayad niyang interest na iyan kasi nagamit niya ang pera mo e.
pero if sakaling hindi magpa reimburse si buyer at magdecide sya na ipatuloy ang contrata, walang reimbursement. puwede na magbayad si buyer at dapat hindi sya mapenalize for all the years na hindi sya nagbayad. kasi nga, kasalanan ni developer e.


2. MACEDA LAW (RA 6552)- applicable if the reason is
OTHER THAN THE FAILURE OF THE DEVELOPER TO DEVELOP ETC ETC. IN SHORT, KAHIT ANONG REASON BAKIT KA NATIGIL S PAGBAYAD


Ganito ang requirements para maka avail ng maceda law.
1. the transaction or contract must involve a sale or financing of real estate on installment payments .
2. must involve only residential, condominium, apartments, but excluding industrial lots, commercial buildings, sale to tenants under RA 3844 as amended by RA 6389.
3. the buyer must have paid at least 2 years of installments


so if naka comply ka ng 3 requirements na iyan. ito ang rights mo under the maceda law.
1st right: to pay (without additional interest) the installment payments within the total grace period earned by him.

so me chance ka pa maghabol s installment payment mo kahit namiss mo na iyan. di ka pababayarin ng deliquency interest niyan. pero ang bayad mo dapat within the total grace period given to you by maceda law.

paano mo malaman kung maka avail ka pa nito? compute mo ang total grace period na binigay sa iyo ng maceda law.

ganito ang computation=
one month grace period for every year of
installment payment

so if 3 years ka na nagbayad (full 36 months tlaga), me 3 months grace period ka.
3 years =kaya me three months ka na grace period.

itong right na ito na puwede mo habulin ang installment payments na walang interest at kahit late ka na within the grace period , can be availed only once every 5 years.

RULE 1: IF AT LEAST 2 YEARS OF INSTALLMENT PAYMENT=
1 MONTH GRACE PERIOD FOR EVERY YEAR OF INSTALLMENT.

RULE 2: IF LESS THAN 2 YEARS OF INSTALLMENT PAYMENT, THE BUYER IS GIVEN:
A. 60 days grace period from the date the installment became due.
B. if the buyer was not able to pay within the 60 days grace period, the selle rmay cancel the contract after 30 days from receipt by the buyer of the notice of cancellation or the demand for rescission of the contract by a notarial act



pero how about kung na cancel na talaga kasi di mo nahabol ang grace period, ano ang option mo:

ito iyong nakasulat si law.
" if the contract is cancelled , the seller shall refund to the buyer the cash surrender value of the payments on the property EQUIVALENT TO 50% OF THE TOTAL PAYMENTS MADE , AND after five years of installments, an additional 5% every year but not to exceed 90% of the total payments made. Provided that the actual cancellation of the demand for rescission of contract is by notarial act and upon full payment of the cash surrender value to the buyer."

[u]


more on this topic later.



ang maganda mam is maglapit ka talaga ng lawyer s personal diyan s davao city. kasi hindi masolve ang problem mo if hindi mo iyan idaan s lawyer.

tapos ipakita mo itong mga sinasabi ko dito (if di niya alam).

salamat sa information na ibinigay mo dito. am now considering of looking for a real estate lawyer. to be honest, i made some defaulted payments for some reasons and it's an installment scheme. but anyway, do you think i still have the chance to claim my money back?

well, to give you some information. the contract is 3yrs to pay. 6 months to pay for the 30% downpayment of the said price. and they promised after i will fully paid my downpayment they will provide me the unit. but then after that, i made some minor changes on the house floor plan and they gave me some additional costs which will be paid along with my remaining 70% contract price. nevertheless, the construction of the house was not 100% built or let say not ready for occupancy after 6months in which the reasons from them that i made some amendments on the floor plan. well, to my mutual understanding it's fine from my side. as i have said, i made some default payments with my promissory note. this was happened during the last payment year until there were two months has been delayed and they sent a cancelation letter to my sister's address for she's my attorney in fact. due to some negligence the letter has been overlooked with my sister (busy as she said and i was busy traveling too for my project and forget to follow up the status) and they sent another cancelation letter to my sister and that was the time my sister were alarmed and panicked and told me the story. so i came to davao to negotiate the contract but to my surprise i don't have the claim already for it's been sold to other buyer and the whole 1.3M payment made has been forfeited. wow! that was easy money for them na panaghirapan ko natrabahoin dito sa ibang bansa.

Ganun na lang kadali na sasabihin sa harapan ko na wala na akong habol? ano yun donation para sa kanila?

ano po sa palagay nyo na may habol po ba ako sa perang binabayad ko sa kanila ne isang minute di naman ako nakatira dun sa bahay.

maraming salamat po sa inyong mga payo at information.

You may want to read this post also.

http://www.pinoylawyer.org/t8086-do-maceda-law-applicable-on-my-case-50-refund

Mam. advice ko sa iyo is lapit ka ng lawyer s davao. maraming magaling jan. Mahirap isolve ang problem mo if wala ka lawyer. kasi mas maganda, s personal mo idulog ang problema mo kasi sya ang mas better person na magexamine ng mga papeles mo at letters na natanggap mo. mahirap dito. ang masama pa jan is iyong mga kwento mo is based on your appreciation of facts. Kahirap niyan mam kasi ang nagkwento sa akin is a non-lawyer na katulad mo. iba ho ang pagka intindi ng non-lawyer s lawyer. so ang na transmit mo na kwento is from your point of view. hindi ho comprehensive iyan. kaya mas maganda, idala mo lahat papers mo s lawyer mo, at pag aralan niya yan. ang kwento mo is maverify niya s records or documents mo. kasi andiyan na sa records iyan ang facts. the records of your case will speak for itself.

hello taxconsultantdavao, can you help us recommend some good lawyer in davao to take my case? thanks a lot. until now still pending. btw, how long this kind of thing may still valid to file a case in the court or to fight my rights. sayang naman yung perang pinaghihirapan tapos iba lang ang nakikinabang. please help. thanks.