G.R. No. 144499 - FIRST GLOBAL REALTY AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, VS. CHRISTOPHER SAN AGUSTIN.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, the order dated May 21, 1998 and June 26, 1998 of the court a quo are SET ASIDE and the petition is hereby GRANTED. FGRDC is hereby enjoined from taking possession of the subject property until Civil Case No. 97-2678, which is pending before the court a quo has been heard and finally resolved. [5] The Facts The undisputed facts of the case are summarized by the Court of Appeals in this wise: The subject matter of the instant controversy is a parcel of land, including the house built thereon, located at No. 3491 Honda St., Bo. Pinagkaisahan, Makati City (subject property). The subject property was previously covered by TCT No. 180235, dated January 27, 1967, which was issued in the name of [herein respondents] mother, Lilian Sales-San Agustin. [Respondent], together with his parents, brothers and sisters have been in possession of the subject property since 1967 up to the present. xxx xxx xxx The conflict leading to the instant petition began when the subject property was sold to spouses Enrique and Angelina Camacho (spouses Camacho) in 1994 for the amount of P2.5 million pesos, net of capital gains tax, documentary stamp tax, transfer taxes and the remaining balance of the petitioners loan with DBP. The records show that spouses Camacho succeeded in convincing petitioner to accept a partial payment of P100,000.00 pesos upon the execution of a deed of absolute sale in their favor over the subject property. The balance of P2.4 million pesos would be paid once the title over the same was transferred in the name of spouses Camacho. The latter agreement came about because spouses Camacho would use the subject property to raise the amount of P2.4 million pesos, that is to say, they would secure a loan from a bank or financial institution with the subject property as collateral. On May 24, 1994, DBP released the subject property to petitioner upon full payment of the latters outstanding loan. Thereafter, [respondent] executed a deed of sale in favor of spouses Camacho, who in turn paid respondent] the amount of P100,000.00 pesos. On May 26, 1994, TCT No. 194868 was issued in the name spouses Camacho. It appeared that First Global Realty Development Corporation (FGRDC), [herein petitioner], granted spouses Camachos loan application with the subject property as collateral, in the amount of P1.190 million. However, despite receipt of the loan and petitioners demand to pay the balance of the purchase price of the subject property, spouses Camacho did not pay the same. Sensing that [respondents] demand to pay fell on deaf ears, he filed a criminal complaint for estafa against spouses Camacho. Unfortunately, the case did not prosper because the spouses Camacho could not be located for the proper service of the warrant of arrest. In the ensuing period, [respondent] discovered that FGRDC filed a special civil action for the foreclosure of the subject property inasmuch as spouses Camacho defaulted in the payment of their loan obligati