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G.R. No. 176841 June 29, 2010

This case involves a dispute over ownership of a residential lot. Antonio Orduña purchased the lot from Gabriel Sr. in installments, but no deed of sale was executed. Orduña paid installments to Gabriel Sr. and later to Gabriel Jr. after Gabriel Sr.'s death. Unknown to Orduña, the property was subject to further alienations until it was ceded to respondent Fuentebella Jr. The trial court and appellate court dismissed Orduña's petition, finding the verbal sale unenforceable under the Statute of Frauds. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the Statute of Frauds does not apply to contracts that have been partially executed, such as through partial payments, as was

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47 views1 page

G.R. No. 176841 June 29, 2010

This case involves a dispute over ownership of a residential lot. Antonio Orduña purchased the lot from Gabriel Sr. in installments, but no deed of sale was executed. Orduña paid installments to Gabriel Sr. and later to Gabriel Jr. after Gabriel Sr.'s death. Unknown to Orduña, the property was subject to further alienations until it was ceded to respondent Fuentebella Jr. The trial court and appellate court dismissed Orduña's petition, finding the verbal sale unenforceable under the Statute of Frauds. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the Statute of Frauds does not apply to contracts that have been partially executed, such as through partial payments, as was

Uploaded by

Nikko Sterling
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

ORDUA, ET AL. v. FUENTEBELLA, ET AL.

G.R. No. 176841 June 29, 2010


Velasco, Jr., J.:
FACTS:Ant oni t a Or dua pur c has ed a r es i dent i al l ot f r om Gabr i el Sr . payabl e i n
i ns t al l ment s but no deed of s al e was ex ec ut ed. Theinstallments were paid t o
Gabri el Sr. and l ater to Gabri el Jr. after


t h e d e a t h o f t h e f o r m e r . I m p r o v e m e n t s w e r e t h e r e a f t
e r introduced by petitioner and the latter even paid its real
propertyt a x s i n c e 1 9 7 9 . U n k n o w n t o O r d u a , t h e p r o p e r t y h a s b e e n
s u b j e c t t o f u r t h e r a l i e n a t i o n s u n t i l t h e s a m e w a s c e d e d t o r es pon
dent , Fuent ebi l l a, Jr . Or dua, af t er bei ng demanded byFuentebilla to vacate the
disputed land, then filed a Complaint
forAnnul ment of Sal e, Ti t l e, Rec onv eyanc e wi t h Damages wi t h aprayer to acquire
ownership over the subject lot upon payment of their remaini ng balance. The Regi onal Tri al Court
dismissed thepetition because the verbal sale between Gabriel Sr. and Orduawas unenf or c eabl e
under t he St at ut e of Fr auds . Thi s was l at er affirmed by the Court of
[Link]:Wh e t h e r o r n o t t h e s a l e o f t h e s u b j e c t l o t b y Ga b r i e l S r .
t o Antonita is unenforceable under the Statute of FraudsHELD:N o . I t i s a w e l l -
s e t t l e d r u l e t h a t t h e S t a t u t e o f F r a u d s a s expressed i n Article 1403, par.
(2), of the Ci vil Code i s appl icableonl y t o pur el y ex ec ut or y c ont r ac t s and not t o
c ont r ac t s whi c hhave already been executed ei ther total l y or partial l y. Here, theverbal
contract of sale has been parti al l y executed through thepartial payments made by Ordua
dul y recei ved by both
Gabri el J r . a n d h i s f a t h e r . T h e p u r p o s e o f t h e S t a t u t e o
f F r a u d i s pr event i on f r aud and per j ur y i n t he enf or c ement of
obl i gat i ons d e p e n d i n g f o r t h e i r e v i d e n c e o n t h e u n a s s i s t e d m e m o r
y o f wi t nes s es , by r equi r i ng s ome c ont r ac t s and t r ans ac t i ons t o beevi denced by
a wri ti ng signed by the part y t o be charged. Si ncet her e i s al r eady r at i f i c at i on of t he
v er bal c ont r ac t t hr ough t heacc ept anc e of benef i t s t hr ough t he par t i al
payment s , i t i s t hus withdrawn from the purview of the Statute of Frauds.

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