Two buyers, one developer, two very different paper trails.

Maria has been paying amortization for nineteen months on a tower currently sitting at floor seven. She has four emails in a customer service inbox. Jerome filed a formal complaint three weeks ago. He has a demand letter, a registered mail registry card, and a position paper already drafted on a Saturday morning while his coffee was still hot.

This episode covers what the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission actually is — not DHSUD's customer service department, but a quasi-judicial body created by RA 11201 that can order refunds, rescind contracts, award damages, and recommend License to Sell suspension. It covers what the filing process looks like for an OFW in Dubai who cannot appear in person (nineteen days, a consular officer, and an apostille). And it covers what a favorable HSAC decision actually gives you — and why you still have to file separately for a writ of execution before any money moves.

Also: Jerome's eFOI request to foi.gov.ph returns three pages eleven working days later. Two prior active HSAC proceedings against the same developer at the same regional office. He cites it in his position paper. When Maria files hers, she will find three.

Topics covered: HSAC jurisdiction and enforcement powers · demand letter vs. email documentation · PD 957 rescission rights · Maceda Law two-year threshold · Special Power of Attorney for overseas filers · eFOI under EO No. 2 · mediation mechanics · writ of execution

Philippine Property — What the Law Gives You is produced by U-Property PH. New episodes at upropertyph.com.

RIGHT OF WAY — Episode 2
The Contract You Signed

Two buyers signed the same pre-selling contract on units in the same building, six weeks apart. One skimmed forty-three pages in the forty minutes before a flight back to Dubai. The other spent a Sunday afternoon flagging fourteen clauses for a follow-up call with the agent. Both are now paying identical monthly amortizations on a unit that doesn't exist yet.

This episode covers:

The reservation fee trap — A reservation fee isn't a down payment, and it's usually non-refundable if you walk away from the Contract to Sell — which means the real review window often closes before you've even seen the actual contract. We cover what the fee locks in and when it can be negotiated.

What a Contract to Sell actually is — Signing doesn't transfer ownership. Until full payment, you hold a contractual right to receive title, not a property right in the unit — and that changes what remedies are available if something goes wrong. We cover what PD 957 adds on top of the contract while payments are ongoing.

The turnover date clause and force majeure — "Endeavor to deliver" isn't the same commitment as "will deliver," and a broad force majeure clause can push the date without the developer owing you anything, subject to a statutory 24-month buffer. We cover how to read that clause before signing, not after a delay notice.

Forfeiture clauses vs. the Maceda Law — A contract can specify a developer keeps nearly everything you paid on default. Republic Act 6552 sets a floor no contract can undercut: at least 50% back after two years of installments, rising toward a 90% cap. We cover where the two disagree and which one wins.

What the agent said vs. what the contract says — Verbal assurances from a sales agent don't bind the developer once the contract is signed. We cover the parol evidence rule, and why documenting what you were told is worth more than most buyers realize until it's the only record they have.

Full transcript available at upropertyph.com.
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Three situations. Three buyers or owners. None of them did anything wrong. All of them would have been better positioned if they had known what the law already gave them — before they needed it.

The situations are different: a building fire that started in a common area and went unanswered because no one filed a written complaint with the board; a developer with no License to Sell collecting monthly payments on a pre-selling project; an installment buyer whose contract tried to preempt statutory refund rights she did not know existed. What they have in common is the gap — between what Philippine property law provides and what buyers and owners know to ask for, and when.

This episode is the first in the series.