Effects of Certificate of Title

Some advantages of having a registered title are:

1. A Registered Title gives a quick up-to-date official record of who owns the land and individuals do not
have to do any research as to the history of the title to the land i.e. what in layman terms is ownership.

2. A Registered Title is state guaranteed. If you have suffered a loss of an estate of interest in land
because of a mistake or omission in the register by the Registrar you may be able to get compensation.

3. Disputes regarding the ownership or rights over the land might be resolved more easily.

4. Once registered by plan each title is given an official plan of the land, and this can be used to prevent
any encroachment by trespass on the boundaries.

5. The Register Book is public record of ownership. A registered Title has several parts. It gives:

(a) the name of the current owner,

(b) the location and description of the property,

(c) restrictive covenants that restrict how owners can use the land,

(d) easements (for example a right of way) that affects the property,

(e) outstanding mortgages, charges or

(f) caveats or warnings that affect the property.

6. The Registered Title is simple and easy to understand; a Conveyance or a Deed at common law is
more complex and subject to technicalities such as entry at the Island Records Office for its full effect.

7. All financial institutions or individual will want any loan secured by a Registered Title.

8. If a registered owner wants to sells his property then he only need to show the prospective buyer the
Registered Title and does not have to produce other proof of ownership and the buyer does not have to
peruse a host of complex legal documents proving ownership.

9. Dealings with land can take place with confidence for example, buyers and lending institutions can
safely accept the Certificate of Title without looking beyond the face of the Title and can protect
themselves by making an official search of the register and requesting a Search Certificate which binds
the Titles Office. If you suffer a loss as a result of a mistake made by the Titles Office you may be able to
claim compensation.

10. Registering your land reduces the cost of dealing with land. It makes land records simpler and
protects a bona fide purchaser for value in a case of fraudulent dealing.
 a. That certificate of title cannot be used to protect a usurper from
the true owner, neither can it be used to perpetrate fraud.
In the Case of Pagduan v. Ocuma, An action for reconveyance respects the decree of registration as
incontrovertible but seeks the transfer of property, which has been wrongfully or erroneously registered
in other persons' names, to its rightful and legal owners, or to those who claim to have a better right.
However, contrary to the positions of both the appellate and trial courts, no trust was created under
Article 1456 of the new Civil Code which provides:

Art. 1456. If property is acquired through mistake or fraud, the person obtaining it is, by force of law,
considered a trustee of an implied trust for the benefit of the person from whom the property comes.
(Emphasis supplied)

As stated in Berico v. Court of Appeals, Article 1456 refers to actual or constructive fraud. Actual fraud
consists in deception, intentionally practiced to induce another to part with property or to surrender some
legal right, and which accomplishes the end designed. Constructive fraud, on the other hand, is a breach
of legal or equitable duty which the law declares fraudulent irrespective of the moral guilt of the actor
due to the tendency to deceive others, to violate public or private confidence, or to injure public interests.
The latter proceeds from a breach of duty arising out of a fiduciary or confidential relationship. In the
instant case, none of the elements of actual or constructive fraud exists. The respondents did not deceive
petitioner to induce the latter to part with the ownership or deliver the possession of the property to
them. Moreover, no fiduciary relations existed between the two parties.

This lack of a trust relationship does not inure to the benefit of the respondents. Despite a host of
jurisprudence that states a certificate of title is indefeasible, unassailable and binding against the whole
world, it merely confirms or records title already existing and vested, and it cannot be used to protect
a usurper from the true owner, nor can it be used for the perpetration of fraud; neither does it permit
one to enrich himself at the expense of others.

Registration as an operative act binding the land