Updated Rules and Procedures for the Transfer of Titles between Registries of Deeds

September 25, 2017

LRA CIRCULAR NO. 30-2017

 

WHEREAS, the Land Registration Authority ("LRA") is a government agency under the Department of Justice ("DOJ") mandated by law to preserve the integrity of the land registration process, protect the sanctity of the Torrens System, and act as the central repository of records relative to original registration of lands titled under the Torrens System, including subdivision and consolidation plans of titled lands and, through its Registry of Deeds ("RD") Offices nationwide, be the repository of records of instruments affecting registered and unregistered lands and chattel mortgages in the province and the city wherein such office is situated;

WHEREAS, from time to time, and due to changes in the political jurisdiction and/or boundary of Local Government Units, a Registry of Deeds may transmit a Certificate of Land Title corresponding to an affected property to another Registry of Deeds;

WHEREAS, in light of the implementation of the Land Titling Computerization Project ("LTCP"), where manually-issued titles have been converted into electronic images and records, there is a need to revise existing issuances to ensure that a title and its corresponding electronic image and records are properly transferred from a transmitting RD to a receiving RD;

WHEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing premises, the rules and procedures for transferring of titles shall be as follows:

ARTICLE I

Rules

SECTION 1.1. All title transfers shall be implemented only upon the approval of the LRA Administrator.

SECTION 1.2. The Title Transfer Process may be initiated by either the LRA Central Office, the Registry of Deeds where the title is currently being kept (the "Source RD"), or the Registry of Deeds where the title shall be transferred (the "Receiving RD"). The Registered Owner or Party-in-interest may also request for the transfer of titles but such request shall be coursed through the LRA Central Office, the Source RD or the Receiving RD.

SECTION 1.3. The transfer of titles shall involve both the physical vault copy of the title and its corresponding title image and electronic data in the database of the Source RD. If the physical vault copy is no longer extant, the title image and electronic data shall be transferred to the database of the Receiving RD, and thereafter shall be put "on hold" until such time that its corresponding physical vault copy is available.

SECTION 1.4. If a title covers multiple land parcels situated in different jurisdictions, or covers a land parcel situated across multiple jurisdictions, then the title shall remain in the RD where it is presently kept. However, when a title is issued out of this title, which covers a land parcel belonging to another jurisdiction, then this newly-issued title shall be transferred to the RD having jurisdiction over said land parcel.

SECTION 1.5. Once a title is physically transferred to another Registry of Deeds, the Source RD shall in no case accept and/or process transactions on this title, based on its electronic record that may still be in the database.

SECTION 1.6. A memorandum providing the details of the transfer of titles shall be provided as follows:

1. In the case of a manually-issued title (i.e., title that was issued prior to the computerization of the LRA):

a. A Memorandum shall be physically-stamped on each page of the title, which shall be signed by the Registers of the Deeds of the Source and Receiving RDs, as follows:

"NOTICE:

This Certificate of Title originally on file in the Registry of Deeds for <Source RD> was transferred to the Registry of Deeds for <Receiving RD> on <Date>, pursuant to LRA Circular No. <this Circular>. The new title number for this Title is <Title Number following the series of the Receiving RD>.

By:

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

b. A Memorandum shall also be electronically-affixed to the electronic record of the subject title, and shall be available in the Certified True Copy issued for the subject title, as follows:

"NOTICE:

This Certificate of Title originally on file in the Registry of Deeds for <Source RD> was transferred to the Registry of Deeds for <Receiving RD> on <Date>, pursuant to LRA Circular No. <this Circular>. The new title number for this Title is <Title Number following the series of the Receiving RD>."

This note shall also be affixed on the Owner's Duplicate Certificate of Title and all Co-owner's Duplicate Copies, as the case may be, upon its presentation in the Registry of Deeds.

2. In the case of an eTitle (i.e., title that is issued through the computerized systems of LRA), the Memorandum below shall be electronically-affixed to the electronic record of the subject title and shall be available in the Certified True Copy issued for the subject title, and the same shall be affixed on the Owner's Duplicate Certificate of Title and all Co-owner's Duplicate Copies, as the case may be, upon its presentation in the Registry of Deeds:

"NOTICE:

This Certificate of Title originally on file in the Registry of Deeds for <Source RD> was transferred to the Registry of Deeds for <Receiving RD> on <Date>, pursuant to LRA Circular No. <this Circular>. The new title number for this Title is <Title Number following the series of the Receiving RD>."

Provided that the above Memoranda shall not be carried over on subsequent certificates of title that may be issued in lieu of the transferred titles upon their cancellation.

SECTION 1.7. Cancelled titles shall no longer be transferred to another RD, notwithstanding the fact that land covered thereby pertain to another jurisdiction. Except in cases of en masse transfers to newly created Registry of Deeds.

SECTION 1.8. Transferred titles shall be assigned a new title number at the Receiving RD based on the latter's existing title number series, as follows:

1. If the transferred title is a manually-issued title, its new title number shall follow the Receiving RD's existing manual title number series. If the receiving RD is new and does not have an existing manual title number series, then a new series shall be used, which shall follow a 6-digit numbering convention starting at "ØØØØØ1";

2. If the transferred title is a System-generated title or "eTitle," its new title number shall follow the Receiving RD's existing eTitle number series.

SECTION 1.9. The electronic image of the manually-issued title shall no longer be updated, despite the addition of the new title number on the pages of the transferred title.

SECTION 1.10. If a title has been transferred to another RD, under any of the circumstances or situations contemplated in this circular, the same cannot be transferred back by the Receiving RD to the Source RD, except by order of the court.

SECTION 1.11. Only validly-issued titles shall be converted into electronic machine-readable format and uploaded into the databases of LRA. To this end, titles which are subject of an order for transfer to the Receiving RD, but still subject of the conversion process shall be converted first in the Source RD before the same are physically transferred to the Receiving RD.

ARTICLE II

Procedures

SECTION 2.1. The procedure to be followed for initiating the transfer of titles, shall be as follows:

1. For Title Transfers initiated by the LRA Central Office (for en masse transfers)

a. The LRA Administrator shall instruct the Director on Land Registration Operations Service ("LROS") to make a technical evaluation as to the location of the properties described in the titles to be transferred.

b. On the basis of the evaluation of the LROS Director, the LRA Administrator shall issue a Memorandum to the Source RD and Receiving RD instructing the Source RD to transfer the covered titles and for the Receiving RD to receive the titles.

c. In the same Memorandum, the LRA Administrator shall instruct the LRA Information and Communications Technology Division (the "ICTD") to lock the corresponding title images and records from the Source RD's Database and immediately electronically transfer the same to the Receiving RD's Database.

2. For Title Transfers initiated by the Source RD

a. The Records Officer of the Source RD shall segregate and make an inventory of the titles to be transmitted to the Receiving RD, and thereafter fill-out the Title Transfer Request ("TTR") Form, the format of which shall be provided by the LRA Central Office.

b. The Records Officer of the Source RD shall sign-off on the TTR, which shall be attested by the Register of Deeds, and send the same, in duplicate copy, to the LRA Central Office for approval. Copies of the titles to be transferred shall be attached to the copy of the TTR for the LRA Central Office.

c. The LRA Administrator shall instruct the LROS Director to make a technical evaluation as to the location of the properties described in the titles to be transferred.

d. On the basis of the evaluation of the LROS Director, the LRA Administrator shall issue a Memorandum instructing the LRA ICTD to lock the corresponding title images and records from the Source RD's Database and immediately electronically transfer the same to the Receiving RD's Database.

e. The copies of the TTR shall be returned to the Source RD after sign-off by the LRA Administrator.

f. The Source RD shall formally transmit the inventoried titles using the LRA Central Office-approved TTR to the Receiving RD, as provided in Section 2.2 herein.

g. The Records Officer of the Receiving RD shall sign-off on the TTR to confirm receipt of the transmitted titles, which shall be attested by the Register of Deeds. One copy of the fully signed-off TTR shall be given back to the Source RD, and the other copy shall be kept in the Receiving RD. The Register of Deeds of the Receiving RD shall also ensure that the LRA Central Office is given a copy of such fully signed-off TRR.

3. For Title Transfers initiated by the Receiving RD

a. The Records Officer of the Receiving RD shall fill-out and the Register of Deeds shall attest and sign the TTR, and provide the title details and the necessary justification as to the need to transfer the title. The TTR shall be made in duplicate copy, and shall be sent to the LRA Central Office for approval by the Administrator.

b. The LRA Central Office shall review the request and may consult the RD having custody of the title subject of the transfer request. Additional justification may be required from the Receiving RD, as needed.

c. The LRA Administrator shall instruct the LROS Director to make a technical evaluation as to the location of the properties described in the titles to be transferred.

d. On the basis of the evaluation of the LROS Director, the LRA Administrator shall issue a Memorandum instructing the LRA ICTD to lock the corresponding title images and records from the Source RD's Database and immediately transfer the same to the Receiving RD's Database.

e. The copies of the TTR shall be forwarded to the Source RD after approval by the LRA Administrator.

f. The Source RD shall formally transmit the inventoried titles using the LRA Central Office-approved TTR to the Receiving RD, as provided in Section 2.2 herein.

g. The Records Officer of the Receiving RD shall sign-off on the TTR to confirm receipt of the transmitted titles, which shall be attested by the Register of Deeds. One copy of the fully signed-off TTR shall be given back to the Source RD, and the other copy shall be kept in the Receiving RD. The Register of Deeds of the Receiving RD shall also ensure that the LRA Central Office is given a copy of such fully signed-off TTR.

SECTION 2.2. The procedure to be followed for implementing the transfer of titles, which are still stored physically in the Source RD, shall be as follows:

1. Upon receipt of an order/instructions to transfer a title to the Receiving RD, the Records Officer and the Register of Deeds of the Source RD shall jointly validate if the subject title is already in the Database of the Source RD, and that the electronic image of the title is updated and equivalent with the physical original title.

2. If the subject title is in the Database of the Source RD, the procedure shall be as follows:

a. If the electronic image of the title is updated and equivalent to the physical original title, the procedure below shall apply:

1) Using the LRA Central Office-approved TTR, the Records Officer and the Register of Deeds of the Source RD shall formally transmit the inventoried title, which shall be officially received by the Register of Deeds of the Receiving RD. For manually-issued titles, the stamp described in Section 1.6 (1) (a) shall be affixed and signed by the Register of Deeds of the Source RD prior to the transmittal of the title. The Source RD and the Receiving RD shall both keep a copy each of the TTR, for future reference.

2) Upon receipt, the Receiving RD shall sign on the TTR and indicate the new title number on each page of the transferred title, and, for manually-issued titles, sign on the stamp described in Section 1.6 (1) (a).

3) The Receiving RD shall file a Service Request through the LTCP Service Desk for the update of the electronic records of the transferred title to the new title number and the unlocking of the electronic records of the transferred title so that this shall be available for processing. A copy of the signed-off TTR shall be attached to the Service Request, along with relevant documents to evidence the title transfer.

4) The LRA ICTD shall be tasked to process the Service Request, through the implementation of a Special Instruction ("SI"), as provided in LRA Circular No. 52-2013, with subject: "Policy and Standards — Special Instruction." The stamp indicated in Section 1.6 (1) (b) shall be electronically-affixed during the implementation of the SI.

5) The LRA ICTD, through the LTCP Service Desk, shall advise the Receiving RD once the Service Request has been fulfilled, and the Receiving RD shall confirm its access to the electronic records of the transferred title.

b. If the electronic image of the title is not updated nor equivalent to the physical original title, the procedure shall be as follows:

1) The Source RD shall raise an incident with the LTCP Service Desk and request for the updating of the electronic records of the title to be transferred to the Receiving RD. The procedure set forth in Section V of LRA Circular No. 51-2013 with subject: "Policy and Standards — Request for System Update" shall be followed for this purpose.

2) Once the electronic records of the title have been updated, the procedure set forth on Section 2.2, Item 2 (a) above shall be followed.

3) If the subject title is NOT in the Database of the Source RD, the procedure shall be as follows:

a. The Records Officer of the Source RD shall make an inventory, which shall be attested by the Register of Deeds, and groom the title to be transmitted, and cause its scanning and encoding, consistent with the LTCP Data Conversion Procedures.

b. After the converted title has been uploaded into the Database of be Source RD, the procedure set forth on Section 2.2, Item 2 (a) above shall be followed.

4) In any of the above cases, if the physical vault copy of the subject title cannot be found, the Records Officer and the Register of Deeds of the Source RD shall immediately file a report with the Office of the Administrator to report this matter.

SECTION 2.3. The procedure to be followed for implementing the transfer of titles, which are already transmitted physically to the Receiving RD, prior to the effectivity of this Circular, but where the corresponding electronic records are yet to be transferred, shall be as follows:

1. The Receiving RD shall file a Service Request through the LTCP Service Desk for the transfer of the title's corresponding electronic records. A copy of the signed-off transmittal letter shall be attached to the Service Request, along with relevant documents to evidence the title transfer.

2. The Source RD and Receiving RD shall be advised once the Service Request has been fulfilled, and the Receiving RD shall confirm its access to the electronic records of the transferred title.

SECTION 2.4. Titles which are already transmitted physically to the Receiving RD but are still to be converted, shall be converted in the Receiving RD, after the corresponding new title numbers have been provided on each page of such transferred titles, which shall follow the title sequence used by the Receiving RD with respect to the manually-issued titles. Conversion of these titles shall be in line with the procedures provided in the Data Conversion Specifications of the LTCP.

ARTICLE III

Miscellaneous

SECTION 3.1. If any provision of this Circular, or any application thereof, is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid and subsisting.

SECTION 3.2. All orders, guidelines, circulars, rules and regulations inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

SECTION 3.3. This Circular shall take effect immediately after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation, and the filing of three (3) copies hereof with the University of the Philippines Law Center.

Issued September 25, 2017, Quezon City, Philippines.

(SGD.) RENATO D. BERMEJOAdministrator