PROPERTY
- It is any object which is, or may be, appropriated
- It is an object or a right which is appropriated or
susceptible of appropriation by man, with capacity
to satisfy human wants and needs
** As a course:
- Classifies or defines the different kinds of
appropriable objects, provides for their acquisition,
and loss, and in general, treats of the nature and
consequence of such real rights.
PROPERTY THING
Property - any physical or real, juridical, and legal entity of
being capable of becoming the subject matter or objective
terminus of a juridical relation (Sanchez Roman)
- Object for a validity of a contract.
- Can be appropriated
- Involves not only material objects but also intangible
things like rights or credits
Thing - any object that exists and is capable of satisfying
human needs.
-includes both objects that are already possessed or
owned and those that are susceptible of appropriation
Classification of THINGS
1. Res nullius belonging to no one
- Because they have not be appropriated
o ex. fish swimming in ocean
OR abandoned (res derelictae) by the owner w/
intention of no longer owning them
o ex. wild animals, pebbles lying in seashore
2. Res communes (Common Things) - to everyone
- Use and enjoyment given to all mankind
o Ex. air we breathe, wind, sunlight
3. Res alicujus to someone
- Objects owned privately, either in collective or
individual capacity
o Book, parcel of land, shares of stock
*** NOT ALL KINDS OF THINGS ARE PROPERTY, ALL
KINDS OF PROPERTY ARE THINGS
Examples:
1) Kidney of a human being, thing or property?
- We must determine first W/N it can be
sold.
- If it is a property, no problem because it
can be appropriated.
- If it is a thing, the validity of the sale can
be attacked because the object of the sale
is outside the commerce of men.
2. Corpse (usually found in med school)
- Thing, not susceptible of appropriation
- In reality there might be illegal transactions, legally
speaking it is not subject to sale
Properties NOT susceptible of appropriation
1. COMMON THINGS (RES COMMUNES)
GR: Those properties belonging to everyone. While in
particular no one owns common property, still in
another sense, res communes are really owned by
everybody in that their use and enjoyment are given to
all of mankind. Ex. air, wind, sunlight.
XPN: Those that may be appropriated under
certain conditions in a limited way.
Ex. Electricity
2. NOT SUSCEPTIBLE DUE TO PHYSICAL
IMPOSSIBILITY
Ex. Sun
3. NOT SUSCEPTIBLE DUE TO LEGAL
IMPOSSIBILITY
Ex. Human body
** Human body NOT a property
- The human body, whether alive or dead, is neither
real nor personal property. It is not even property
at all, in that it generally cannot be appropriated.
- While a human being is ALIVE, he cannot, as
such, be the object of a contract, for he is
considered outside the commerce of man. He
may donate part of his blood, may even sell part of
his hair, but he cannot sell his body
NOTE: R.A. 7170 or the Organ Donation Act of 1991
- donation of all or a part of a human body may only
occur after a persons death
(i.e., the irreversible cessation of circulatory and
respiratory functions or the irreversible cessation
of all functions of the entire brain, including the
brain system)
REQUISITES FOR A THING TO BE CONSIDERED AS
PROPERTY (USA)
1. Utility
- Capacity to satisfy human wants
2. Substantivity/ Individuality
- It has a separate and autonomous
existence. It can exist by itself and not
merely as a part of a whole
Ex. human hair property only when
detached from hair
3. Appropriability
- Susceptibility to ownership/possession,
even if not yet actually appropriated
Art. 414. All things which are or may be the object of
appropriation are considered either:
1. Immovable or real property; or
2. Movable or personal property.
MOVABLE IMMOVABLE or PERSONAL REAL
Movable (Personal Property) - which can be
transferred from one place to another
 Immovable (Real Property) - which cannot be
transferred from place to place without destruction
to itself
Importance of classification to immovable and
movable
- the fact that different provisions of the law govern the
acquisition, possession, disposition, loss, and
registration of immovable and movables
** Human body neither personal nor real
- Because different provisions of law deals with different
kinds of property. You dont believe me? Examples:
a) Credit Transactions
o If you want to obtain loan and you give your
house to creditor as collateral, that is a real
estate mortgage. If you give your car as
collateral, that is chattel mortgage.
b) Criminal Law
o The RPC defines theft as the unlawful taking
of personal property with intent to gain. If its
real property, it can be unlawful detainer or
usurpation.
c) Taxation
o Tax on your land is real estate tax, amilyar.
CATEGORIES OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTY: (NIDA)
BY NATURE AND INCORPORATION
IMMOVABLE OR REAL
CHAPTER 1
IMMOVABLE PROPERTY
Art. 415. The following are immovable property:
1) Land, buildings, roads and constructions of all
kinds adhered to the soil;
2) Trees, plants, and growing fruits, while they are
attached to the land or form an integral part of an
immovable;
3) Everything attached to an immovable in a fixed
manner, in such a way that it cannot be separated
therefrom without breaking the material or
deterioration of the object;
4) Statues, reliefs, paintings or other objects for use
or ornamentation, placed in buildings or on lands
by the owner of the immovable in such a manner
that it reveals the intention to attach them
permanently to the tenements;
5) Machinery, receptacles, instruments or
implements intended by the owner of the tenement
for an industry or works which may be carried on
in a building or on a piece of land, and which tend
directly to meet the needs of the said industry or
works;
6) Animal houses, pigeon-houses, beehives, fish
ponds or breeding places of similar nature, in case
their owner has placed them or preserves them
with the intention to have them permanently
attached to the land, and forming a permanent part
of it; the animals in these places are included;
7) Fertilizer actually used on a piece of land;
8) Mines, quarries, and slag dumps, while the matter
thereof forms part of the bed, and waters either
running or stagnant;
9) Docks and structures which, though floating, are
intended by their nature and object to remain at a
fixed place on a river, lake, or coast;
10) Contracts for public works, and servitudes and
other real rights over immovable property. (334a)
1. Nature Those which cannot be carried from
place to place
2. Incorporation Those which are attached to an
immovable in a fixed manner and considered as
an integral part thereof, irrespective of its
ownership (ex. building)
3. Destination Things placed in buildings or on
lands by the owner of the immovable or his agent
in such a manner that it reveals the intention to
attach them permanently thereto (Ex. machine for
industrial purpose)
4. Analogy Classified by express provision of law.
(Ex. Right of usufruct, contract for public works,
easements)
Par. 1. Land, buildings, roads and constructions of
all kinds adhered to the soil.
 LAND
- Even if land is moved by earthquake, natural/
extraordinary happening still immovable
- Shovelful of land personal property since no
longer adheres to the soil
- If land is rented still immovable
BUILDING
- A building is always immovable UNLESS the
same is merely superimposed on the soil or is sold
for immediate demolition, in which case it may be
considered as movable or personal property;
thus, barong-barongs are not permanent
structures but mere superimpositions on land.
- Where buildings are sold to be demolished
immediately, the building is not an immovable
property. The sale involves movable property.
What are really sold are the materials.
*** Buildings - incorporated to the soil, by its nature it is a
personal property, but the moment the removal of the
building causes injury to the soil, it will be a real property
by incorporation
Effect of demolition of a house
- Once a house is demolished, its character as an
immovable ceases. This is because a house is
classified as an immovable property by reason of
its adherence to the soil on which it is built (Bicerra
v. Teneza)
Mortgage of a building erected on a land belonging to
another
- A building may be mortgaged apart from the land on
which it was built.
- While it is true that a mortgage of land necessarily
includes, in the absence of stipulation of the
improvements thereon, buildings, still a building by
itself may be mortgaged apart from the land on
which it has been built. Such a mortgage would still
be a real estate mortgage for the building would still
be considered immovable property even if dealt with
separately and apart from the land (Yee v. Strong
Machinery Company)
- A valid real estate mortgage can be constituted. Art.
415 of the New Civil Code mentions buildings
separate from land. This means that the building by
itself is an immovable and may be subject of a REM
(Prudential Bank v. Panis)
- The annotation or inscription of a deed of sale of real
property in a chattel mortgage registry is NOT
considered an inscription in the registry of real
property. By its express terms, the Chattel
Mortgage Law contemplates and makes provisions
for mortgages of personal property; and the sole
purpose and object of the chattel mortgage registry
is to provide for the registry of Chattel mortgages,
that is to say, mortgages of personal property
executed in the manner and form prescribed in the
statute (Yee v. Strong Machinery Co)
Building can be subject of a chattel mortgage
- As may be gleaned from a perusal of the deed
signed by the parties, the undertaking executed by
them is a chattel mortgage, as the parties have so
expressly designated, and not a real estate
mortgage, especially when it is considered that the
property given as a security is a house of mixed
materials which by its very nature is considered as
personal property. (Luna v. Encarnacion)
(PARAS)
Buildings there should be intent of permanent
annexation (immovable property)
No distinction whether built on own land or not
Materials and/or dismantled house personal property
House built on rented land may be mortgaged:
o Chattel provided parties agree and no
innocent third party is prejudiced
o Real Estate Mortgage should be preferred if
made subsequent to chattel mortgage
Buildings subject to chattel mortgage cannot be sold
extra judicially (under 3135, refers to real mortgage
only)
No legal compulsion to register buildings that do not
belong to owners land NO registry in this jurisdiction
of building apart from land.
Buildings sold or mortgaged to be immediately
demolished personal property, true object of the
contract is the materials
REGISTRY OF PROPERTY ministerial duty, should
register as long as proper fee has been paid. He has
no judicial or quasi-judicial power to determine the
nature of the document.
Constructions of all kinds attachment must be more
or less permanent
Wooden scaffoldings of painters personal property
Detached or uprooted trees personal property,
except timer in timberland
Real property (incorporeal thing) injury or breakage
or deterioration in case of separation must be
SUBSTANTIAL
(ATTY LR)
According to Mam LR, land is the only real property by
nature. Literal meaning of nature.
Buildings - incorporated to the soil, by its nature it is a
personal property, but the moment the removal of the
building causes injury to the soil, it will be a real
property by incorporation
Par. 2. Trees, plants and growing fruits, while they
are attached to the land or form an
integral part of an immovable.
TREES AND PLANTS
Trees may be either be:
1) A real property
 a) By nature - if they are spontaneous products of the
soil
b) By incorporation - If they have been planted thru
cultivation or labor.
2) A personal property
- The moment trees are detached or uprooted from
the land it is considered as personal property.
NOTE: However, in case of uprooted timber, they are still
not considered as personal property because timber is an
integral part of the timber land.
GROWING FRUITS
GR: Growing fruits are considered as real property so long
as they are still attached to the soil.
XPN: Growing fruits may be exceptionally treated
as personal property pursuant to the provisions of
Art. 416(2) of the New Civil Code (Rabuya, 2008).
Example:
1. Ungathered fruits are considered personal
property for the purpose of sale of the whole or part
of the crops.
2. Ungathered fruits have the nature of personal
property for purposes of attachment and execution
and in applying the provisions of the Chattel
Mortgage Law.
Growing Crops on Ones Own Land
- Real property by incorporation
- Revised Rules of Court: growing crops are
attached in the same way as real property
- Chattel Mortgage Law: growing crops may be
considered as personal property thus subject to
chattel mortgage
- Sale of growing crops sale of personal property
bec. when crops are sold, it is understood to be
gathered.
manner and they can be separated w/o substantial
damage or deterioration, and they are not
machineries intended for works on the land
REMEMBER:
WON it will cause damage when removed?
The person who introduced damage?
- NOT IMPORTANT
- What is important is the moment it is detached = it
will cause damage or injury.
Examples:
a) Fertilizer - already applied to the soil, difficult to
remove it without damage or injury to the soil,
hence it is a real property by incorporation. If still
in bags, personal property
b) Plants - still in plastic bag = personal property, if it
is planted, you cannot remove it without causing
damage to soil, regardless of who planted the
damned plant!
c) Tiles - it depends, real by incorporation those fixed
in the bathroom or flooring, if still in hardware or
those removed by Mayor Lim in Avenida =
personal property.
d) In a contract of lease
GR: properties placed by the tenant/lessee are
personal property
XPN: if the tenant is the agent of the owner.
** If informal settler, does not have the authority. Properties
will never be personal, it will remain real properties.
BY INCORPORATION AND DESTINATION
Par. 4. Statues, reliefs, paintings or other objects
for use or ornamentation, placed in buildings or on
lands by the owner of the immovable in such a
manner that it reveals the intention to attach them
permanently to the tenements

Growing Crops on Anothers Land Placed by the owner

- Considered real property; Important: still attached This means that the objects must be placed by the owner
to land of the immovable and not necessarily the owner of the
object.
BY INCORPORATION
PAR. 3 PAR. 4
Par. 3. Everything attached to an immovable in a Cannot be separated from Can be separated from the
fixed manner, in such a way that it cannot be the immovable without immovable without
separated therefrom without breaking the material breaking or deterioration breaking or deterioration
or deterioration of the object.
Need not be placed by the Must be placed by the
Res vinta owner owner of the immovable,
These are immovables by incorporation, which when or by his agent whether
separated from the immovable, regain their condition as express or implied
movable. Real property by Real property by
incorporation incorporation and
Q: The City Assessor sought to impose realty tax on destination
steel towers of MERALCO. The taxes were paid under
protest, MERALCO contending that the towers were Requisites for machinery to be considered real
exempt from taxation and that they were personal and property (COTE)
not real properties. Decide. 1. The industry or work must be Carried on in a building
- The towers are personal properties. They are or on a piece of land;
not buildings adhered to the soil (Art. 415 par. 1); 2. The machinery must:
they are not attached to an immovable in a fixed
 Par. 5. Machinery, receptacles, instruments or
implements intended by the owner of the tenement
for an industry or works which may be carried on
in a building or on a piece of land & which tend
directly to meet the needs of the said industry or
works.
a) Be placed by the Owner of the tenement or his
agent;
b) Tend directly to meet the needs of the said
industry or work; and
c) Be Essential and principal to the industry or work,
and not merely incidental thereto.
Machinery placed by a tenant or by a usufructuary
- It is NOT considered real property.
- Since it is placed by a person having only a
temporary right, it does not become immobilized.
Where a tenant places the machinery under the
express provision of lease that it shall become a
part of the land belonging to the owner upon the
termination of the lease without compensation to
the lessee, the tenant acts as an agent of the
owner and the immobilization of the machineries
arises from the act of the owner in giving by
contract a permanent destination to the machinery
Equipment of a transportation business classified as
personal property
- A transportation business is not carried on in a
building or on a specified land. Hence, equipment
destined only to repair or service a transportation
business may not be deemed real property, but
personal property
- Machines must be essential and principal
elements in the industry and must directly meet the
needs of said industry. It does not include
movables which are merely incidentals, without
which the business can still continue or carry on
their functions.
Machineries bolted or cemented on real property
mortgaged
- It is NOT considered an immovable property. The
fact that machineries were bolted or cemented on
real property mortgaged does not make them ipso
facto immovable under Art. 415 (3) and (5) as the
parties intent has to be looked into.
When immovable property by nature may be treated as
a chattel
- Even if the properties appear to be immovable by
nature, nothing detracts the parties from treating
them as chattels to secure an obligation under the
principle of estoppel
Effect of temporary separation of movables from the
immovables to which they are attached
There are 2 views regarding the issue; namely:
1. They continue to be regarded as immovables.
2. Fact of separation determines the condition of the
objects thus recovering their condition as
movables.
BY DESTINATION
Par. 6. Animal houses, pigeon-houses, beehives,
fish ponds or breeding places of similar nature, in
case their owner has placed them or preserves
them with the intention to have them permanently
attached to the land, and forming a permanent part
of it; the animals in these places are included.
Cages are not included
It will be considered as personal property since they can
be moved from one place to another.
Par. 7. Fertilizer actually used on a piece of land.
Fertilizers in sacks are not included
Only fertilizers used on a piece of land are deemed
immovable since it is already placed in the land and can
never be separated from it. Fertilizers which are still on the
sacks, although there is intention to place them or use
them on land, it is still immovable.
Par. 8, Art. 415. Mines, quarries and slag dumps,
while the matter thereof forms part of the bed, and
waters
Par. either
9, Art. running
415. Docks or
andstagnant.
structure which, though
floating, are intended by their nature and object to
remain at a fixed place on a river, lake or coast.
Q: The Provincial Assessor sought to impose realty
tax on power barges of Fels Energy, Inc. The taxes
were paid under protest, Fels Energy, Inc. contending
that the power barges which are floating were exempt
from taxation and that they were personal and not real
properties. Decide.
A: The power barges are real properties. Power barges
are categorized as immovable property by destination,
being in the nature of machinery and other implements
intended by the owner for an industry or work which may
be carried on in a building or on a piece of land and which
tend directly to meet the needs of said industry or work.
(Fels Energy, Inc. v. Province of Batangas)
Q: Manila Petroleum Co. (MPC) owned and operated a
petroleum operation facility off the coast of Manila.
The facility was located on a floating platform made of
wood and metal, upon which was permanently
attached the heavy equipment for the petroleum
operations and living quarters of the crew. The floating
platform likewise contained a garden area, where
trees, plants and flowers were planted. The platform
was tethered to a ship, the MV101, which was
anchored to a seabed.
1. Is the platform movable or immovable property?
2. Are the equipment and living quarters movable or
immovable property?
3. Are the trees, plants and flowers immovable or
movable property? (2007 Bar Question)
A:
1. The platform is an immovable property by destination. It Example:
was intended by the owner to remain at a fixed place on a a. Statue of St. Raymond and Mother Perpetual - Is it
river or coast. Art. 415 (9) of the important? OPKORS! It is an ornament, UST is a catholic
NCC considers as real property docks and structures school, intention of attaching it permanently without being
which, though floating are intended by their nature and transferred.
object to remain at a fixed place on a river, lake, or coasts
(2007 Bar Question; Fels Energy, Inc. v. The Elements of Real Property by Destination
Province of Batangas) 1. owner introduced it
2. With respect to the equipment, the same is real property 2. necessary to the trade or industry, or even if not
under paragraph 5 of Art. 415, NCC. It is intended to meet necessary there is the intention of attaching the property
the needs of the industry being undertaken by MPC. The permanently
equipment partakes of the nature of the immovable upon
which it has been placed.
The living quarters, if attached to the immovable platform
with permanence, becomes an immovable as well.
Permanence means they cannot be separated without
destroying the platform or the quarters. On the other hand,
if the attachment is not permanent, or not merely
superimposed on the platform, then the living quarters are
movable property.
3. The trees, plants and flowers are also immovable,
having been planted in the garden area, under Art.
415 (2) which provides that Trees, plants and growing
fruits, while they are attached to the land or form an integral
part of the immovable are likewise immovable property.

BY ANALOGY

Par. 10, Art. 415. Contracts for public works and

servitudes and other real rights over immovable
property.

Contract over a construction of a bridge

KINDS:
1. machineries/ equipments - important who placed the
property, if it is necessary
Example:
a. chair in classroom - Is it the owner who placed it there?
How relevant is a chair to the industry (education)? Have
you been to a classroom without a chair?
b. trash can - Can we still conduct classes eve if we do not
have trash can?
c. Vendo Machine - Is it relevant to our education?
2. ornaments - the person who introduced it is important,
must be the owner. The intention to attach the property
permanently is also important.