Case Brief: Duran vs. IAC

G.R. No. L-64159 September 10, 1985

CIRCE S. DURAN and ANTERO S. GASPAR, petitioners,
vs.
INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT, ERLINDA B. MARCELO TIANGCO and RESTITUTO TIANGCO, respondents.

 

Facts:

Duran owned parcels of land which she had purchased. When she left the country, a deed of sale over the two lots was made in favor of her mother, who mortgaged the same to Tiangco. When Duran found out, she notified the Register of Deeds.

She did not get any answer however, prompting her to return to the Philippines. Her mother failed to redeem the mortgaged properties, which were foreclosed and sold in an auction in favor of respondent Tiangco. She alleged that the sale made by her mother is invalid.

 

Issues:

Whether or not respondent Tiangco is a buyer in good faith even without Duran’s consent.

 

Held:

Yes. Tiangco is a buyer in good faith. Good faith requires a well-founded belief that the person from whom title was received was himself the owner of the land, with the right to convey it. In the case at bar, private respondents, in good faith relied on the certificate of title in the name of Duran’s mother. A fraudulent or forged document of sale may become the root of a valid title if the certificate of title has already been transferred from the name of the true owner to the name of the forger or the name indicated by the forger.

An innocent purchaser for value relying on a Torrens title issued is protected. A mortgagee has the right to rely on what appears in the certificate of title and, in the absence of anything to excite suspicion, he is under no obligation to look beyond the certificate and investigate.