G.R. No. 149465 - DARIA GONZALES VDA. DE TOLEDO, VS. ANTONIO TOLEDO, LELITA TOLEDO, MAURO SUMULONG, OLIVA SUMULONG, PILAR TEVES, AS PRESIDENT AND MANAGER, RURAL BANK OF CARMEN (CEBU), INC.. DECISION - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, the property was sold at public auction, with the Bank as the sole and highest bidder. Correspondingly, the Bank was issued a Certificate of Sale [5] upon satisfaction of the obligations of spouses Toledo in the amount of P5,014.00, including interests, penalty, attorney's fees and miscellaneous expenses. [6] The sale was registered with the Register of Deeds of Danao City on September 23, 1981. Spouses Toledo failed to redeem the subject property, thus the Bank caused the consolidation of ownership and the execution of the final deed of sale in its favor on November 16, 1983. [7] On August 23, 1985, the Bank sold the said parcel of land to Spouses Mauro and Oliva Sumulong. [8] However, petitioner remained on the property together with spouses Toledo. On February 18, 1986, petitioner filed a complaint against the Spouses Toledo and the Rural Bank of Carmen (Cebu), Inc., and the Spouses Sumulong, for Declaration of Nullity of Extrajudicial Foreclosure of Mortgage and Sales, Reconveyance with Damages before the Regional Trial Court of Cebu, Branch XXV, docketed as Civil Case No. DNA-48. [9] She alleged that the Toledo spouses preconceived a malicious, sinister and scheming idea to induce her to execute a Special Power of Attorney to mortgage her property to the Bank and, thereafter, connived with the Sumulongs in foreclosing the mortgage. It appears that previously, or on November 18, 1985, petitioner deposited P5,200.00 with the Bank in order to redeem the subject property. [10] On June 11, 1993, the trial court rendered a decision [11] declaring the extra-judicial foreclosure proceedings of the subject property a total nullity. Consequently, the Certificate of Sale, Consolidation of Ownership and Final Deed of Sale and the Deed of Absolute Sale executed by the Bank in favor of the Sumulong spouses were declared null and void, thus: [12] WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered declaring the Extra-Judicial Foreclosure proceedings of plaintiff's property a total nullity, consequently, the Certificate of Sale (Exh. "7-Bank"), Consolidation of Ownership and Final Deed of Sale (Exh. "8"-Bank), and the Deed of Sale executed by defendant Rural Bank of Carmen in favor of defendants spouses Mauro Sumulong and Oliva Sumulong (Exh. "9"-Bank) are hereby declared null and void, and for which reason, the defendants spouses Mauro and Oliva Sumulong are hereby directed to reconvey the property subject of the foreclosure sale and the Deed of Absolute Sale (Exh. "9"-Bank) in favor of the plaintiff by directing the defendant Rural Bank of Carmen to return to said defendants-spouses the amount of P5,000.00 as consideration thereof and, in turn, accepting the deposit of P5,200.00 made by plaintiff with said defendant Bank (Exh. "A") and returning the balance of P200.00 to the plaintiff; ordering the City Assessor of Danao City to cancel Tax Declaration No. 02391 (Exh. "2"-Sumulong) in the name of Spouses Oliva Sumulong and Mauro Sumulo