Legal Redemption: Meaning
Quick answer
Legal redemption is a right given by law to certain persons to step into the place of the buyer of a property, on the same terms and conditions as the sale. A common case is between co-owners: when one co-owner sells his share to an outsider, the others may buy it from the outsider at the same price. The period is thirty days from written notice of the sale.
Also called: Right of redemption, Right of legal redemption
What does the Civil Code say?
Article 1619 defines the right:
Legal redemption is the right to be subrogated, upon the same terms and conditions stipulated in the contract, in the place of one who acquires a thing by purchase or dation in payment, or by any other transaction whereby ownership is transmitted by onerous title.
"Subrogated" means taking the buyer's place. Article 1620 gives the right to co-owners:
A co-owner of a thing may exercise the right of redemption in case the shares of all the other co-owners or of any of them, are sold to a third person. If the price of the alienation is grossly excessive, the redemptioner shall pay only a reasonable one.
If two or more co-owners want to redeem, they do so in proportion to their shares. Articles 1621 and 1622 also give the right, in some cases, to owners of adjoining rural or urban land.
How long is there to redeem?
The right of legal pre-emption or redemption shall not be exercised except within thirty days from the notice in writing by the prospective vendor, or by the vendor, as the case may be.
The same article says the deed of sale cannot be recorded in the Registry of Property without the seller's affidavit that he gave written notice to all possible redemptioners, and that the right of co-owners excludes that of adjoining owners.
In Rama v. Spouses Nogra (2021), the Supreme Court said that "the required written notice by the seller is mandatory and indispensable for the 30-day redemption period to commence." Learning of the sale in another way is, as a rule, not enough. The Court said written notice may be dispensed with only if the co-owners already had sufficient knowledge of the sale and were guilty of laches, meaning they waited too long to act.
How is it different from conventional redemption?
Legal redemption comes from the law. Conventional redemption comes from a contract: the seller keeps the right to buy back the thing sold (Article 1601), as in a sale with right to repurchase. A deal written as a sale with right to repurchase may also turn out to be an equitable mortgage.
Example
Made-up illustration: Three siblings co-own a lot they inherited. Rey sells his one-third share to a stranger, Mila. Rey must notify his siblings in writing. They then have thirty days from that written notice to buy the share from Mila at the same price. If the siblings had known of the sale for years and did nothing, a court may find laches.
For more, see Co-owner's right of redemption and Can a co-owner sell his share?.
Frequently asked questions
What is legal redemption in simple words?
It is a right given by law to certain persons, such as co-owners, to take the place of a buyer of property on the same terms and conditions as the sale. It is defined in Article 1619 of the Civil Code.
When can a co-owner redeem?
When the share of any other co-owner is sold to a third person, a stranger to the co-ownership (Article 1620). If the price is grossly excessive, the redeeming co-owner pays only a reasonable one.
How long is the period to redeem?
Thirty days from the notice in writing given by the prospective seller or the seller (Article 1623). In Rama v. Spouses Nogra (2021), the Supreme Court said this written notice is mandatory for the 30-day period to start.
Is it the same as repurchase in a pacto de retro sale?
No. Legal redemption is given by law to third persons such as co-owners. The right to repurchase in a sale with right to repurchase is agreed by the seller and buyer in the contract (conventional redemption, Article 1601).
Who else has a right of legal redemption?
Articles 1621 and 1622 give it in some cases to owners of adjoining land. Under Article 1623, the right of co-owners comes first and excludes that of adjoining owners.
General information, not legal advice. For your case, ask a lawyer, the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) or the agency.
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