Torrens System
March 7, 2016fundamentals of land title and
registration
What is land registration?
Land registration is a judicial or administrative
proceeding whereby a persons claim of
ownership over a particular land is determined
and confirmed or recognized so that such land
and the ownership thereof may be recorded in a
public registry.
What is Torrens title?
Torrens title is the certificate of ownership
issued by the land Register of Deeds, naming
and declaring the owner of the real property
described therein, free from all liens and
encumbrances except such as may be expressly
noted thereon or otherwise reserved by law. Its
effect is that it can be conclusive against the
whole world, it is guaranteed to be indefeasible,
unassailable, and imprescriptible. The title once
registered cannot be impugned, altered, changed,
modified, enlarged, or diminished except in
some direct proceeding permitted by law.
What are the kinds of registration?
1. Original registrationis the first registration of
the land whereby an Original Certificate of Title
is entered in the Registry of Property and a
duplicate owners copy is issued to the owner by
the Register of Deeds. It can be further classified
into:
a. Judicial registration which will be done
through the courts. It may either be voluntary
where it instituted by the applicant under the
provisions of Act 496 or PD 1529 or compulsory
at the instance of the State under provision of
Act 2259 (Cadastral Act)
1. Voluntary -instituted by the applicant
2. Compulsory- at the instance of the State
b. Administrative registration wherein
theacquisition of land patents to public
agricultural lands and registration thereof under
Section 107 of CA No. 141 (The Public Land
Act)
What is subsequent registration?
Subsequent registration is a process where the
Original Certificate of Title is cancelled and
subsequently registered under a Transfer
Certificate of Title in favor of the new owner in
cases of land conveyance such as sale, donation
or assignment.
Who may apply for original registration of title?
According to Presidential Decree 1529
Amending and Codifying the Laws Relative to
Registration of Property and for Other
Purposes, or also known as Property
registration Decree, it has laid down the
enumeration of who may apply for original
registration of Title.
Section 14. Who may apply. The following
persons may file in the proper Court of First
Instance an application for registration of title to
land, whether personally or through their duly
authorized representatives:
(1) Those who by themselves or through their
predecessors-in-interest have been in open,
continuous, exclusive and notorious possession
and occupation of alienable and disposable lands
of the public domain under a bona fide claim of
ownership since June 12, 1945, or earlier.
(2) Those who have acquired ownership of
private lands by prescription under the provision
of existing laws.
(3) Those who have acquired ownership of
private lands or abandoned river beds by right of
accession or accretion under the existing laws.
(4) Those who have acquired ownership of land
in any other manner provided for by law.
Where the land is owned in common, all the co-
owners shall file the application jointly.
Where the land has been sold under pacto de
retro, the vendor a retro may file an application
for the original registration of the land, provided,
however, that should the period for redemption
expire during the pendency of the registration
proceedings and ownership to the property
consolidated in the vendee a retro, the latter shall
be substituted for the applicant and may
continue the proceedings.
A trustee on behalf of his principal may apply
for original registration of any land held in trust
by him, unless prohibited by the instrument
creating the trust.
What are the attributes and limitations on
certificates of title and registered lands?
A. Free from liens and encumbrances
B. Incontrovertible and Indefeasible
C. Certificate of title not subject to Collateral
Attack
What are the parts and information on the title?
Title Form Information- where the type of
form, date of revision and serial number can be
found
 Survey Information- where the parcel identity
(lot, block, survey plan number), location,
adjoining parcels, tie point, tie line, bearings and
distances from corner to corner and the area and
date of survey can be found
Registration Information- where the name of
the Register of Deeds, title number, book
number, page number, place/time/date of
registration, name and signature of registrar and
historical information (date and place of original
registration, OCT No., Volume No., Page No.,
Decree No., record/name of original owner,
number of cancelled title for OCT) can be found
Ownership Information- where the name/s of
all persons whose interest make up the full
ownership, citizenship, civil status, postal
address
What is Homestead patent?
It is issued (by the Director Lands) over land not
of the public domain is a nullity, devoid of force
and effect against the owner whose title is
covered by an OCT or TCT.
What is the Registration of title under Act 3344?
Registration of untitled lands or lands with
imperfect titles is ineffective against third
persons. That in case of double sale, the title
registered under the Torrens System is superior
than title registered under Act 3344. Registration
under the Torrens System, at the Registry of
Deeds is needed so that title shall be binding
upon third parties.
What is a decree of registration?
certificate of title is conclusive evidence of
indefeasible title to the land.
What is the rule on conveyance of only a portion
of a land?
The Register of Deeds shall not enter any new
title in favor of the grantee until a plan
indicating the portions into which the land has
been subdivided shall first be presented, together
with the technical descriptions thereof.
Meantime, the deed of conveyance may be
annotated at the owners certificate.
References:
Cadastral Act, Act No. 2259
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988
Pea, N. Registration of Land Titles and Deeds.
Quezon City: Rex Printing Company, Inc.
Presidential Decree No. 27, Decreeing the
Emancipation of Tenants from the Bondage of
theOil, Transferring to Them the Ownership of
the Land They Till and Providing the
Instruments and Mechanism Therefor
Property Registration Decree 1529, Amending
and Codifying the Laws Relative to Registration
of Property and for Other Purposes
Public Land Act, Com. Act No. 141, Title and
Application of the Act, Lands to Which It
Refers, and Classification, Delimitation and
Survey Thereof for Concession

It is issued by the administrator of LRA upon

order of the court. It shall bind the land and quiet
title thereto the purpose of Torrens System.
Land becomes registered only upon transcription
of the decree in the original registration book by
the Register of Deeds and not on the date of
issuance of the decree. Certificate of title
becomes indefeasible after ONE YEAR from
issuance of the decree.

What is an assurance fund?

Sec 95 of Property Registration Decree provides

that a person who, without negligence on his
part sustain loss or damage or is deprived of land
or any estate or interest therein in consequence
of the bringing of the land under the operation of
Torrens System or arising after the original
registration of the land, through fraud or in
consequence of any error, may bring an action in
any court of competent jurisdiction for the
recovery of damages paid out of the Assurance
Fund within 6 years from the time the right to
bring such action accrues.
The assurance fund is intended to relive innocent
persons from the harshness of the doctrine that a