Q. We are new comers here in Canada. Before we left home two (2) years ago, we purchased a house & lot in one of the subdivisions in our town of Angono, Rizal which is supposed to be built & turned-over this coming December 2010. However, the way things are going on, we don’t think this is possible as per information we have received from our representative, no construction activity is being made on our lot so far.
We are now having doubts and worried regarding the status of our house and the ability of the developer to keep its promised. We are now considering withdrawing and canceling our contract with the Developer.
We have informed our broker about our decision but we were told by her that canceling won’t be possible. However, we reviewed our contract and it is clearly indicated that the purchaser can cancel the contract.
In this regard, we’d like to ask your inputs on how to go about our situation and what rights do we have against the developer. We have not fully paid the house but put a down payment of P200, 000.00 thousand already.
We’ll appreciate hearing from you as soon as possible for our peace of mind. Thank you.
Ans: Hi There, under the so called Maceda Law, Republic Act 6552, a buyer of a house and lot in the subdivision have the followings rights:
1) Where the buyer has paid at least two years of installments, the buyer, is entitled to the following rights in case he defaults in the payments of succeeding installments:
(a) To pay, without additional interest, the unpaid installments due within the total grace period earned by him which is hereby fixed at the rate of one month grace period for every one year of installment payments made: Provided, That this right this right shall be exercised by the buyer only once in every five years of life of the contract and its extensions, if any.
(b) If the contract is cancelled, the seller shall refund to the buyer the cash surrender value of the payments on the property equivalent to fifty per cent of the total payments made and,after five years of installments , an additional five per cent every year but not to exceed ninety percent of the total payment made: Provided, That the actual cancellation of the contract shall take place after thirty days from receipt by the buyer ( the notice of cancellation or the demand for rescission of the contract by a notaries act and upon full payment of the cash surrender value to the buyer. Down payments, deposits or options on the contract shall be included in the computation of the total number of installment payments made.
In case where less than two years of the installment were paid, the seller shall give the buyer a grace period of not less than sixty days from the date the installment became due. If the buyer fails to pay the installments due at the expiration of the grace period, the seller may cancel the contract after thirty days from receipt by the buyer of the notice of cancellation – or the demand for rescission of the contract by a notaries act.
Under Sections 3 and 4 of the Maceda Law , the buyer shall have right to sell his rights or assign the same to another person or reinstate the contract by updating the account during the period and before actual cancellation of the contract. The Deed of sale or assignment shall be done by notaries act.
The buyer shall have the right to pay in advance any installment or the full unpaid balance of the purchase price any time without interest and to have such full payment of price annotated in the certificate of title covering the property. Any stipulation in any contract hereafter entered into contrary to the provisions of Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6, shall null and void.
If after demand is made by you for the developer to refund the payments you made in accordance with the above schedule and the developer still refuses to comply with you demand, then your recourse is to file the necessary complaints before the Housing Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) who has jurisdiction over your case.
You can file the necessary complaint even if you are in Canada, by executing a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) in favor of your agent(s) or representative(s) in the Philippines to act for and on your behalf. Just be sure that the SPA is duly notarized/acknowledged by our Philippine Consulate in Canada so that your SPA will be recognized in the Philippines.
Thank you for writing and looking forward you’ll find the above in order.
Looking forward you’ll the above in order. Thank you for writing.