ISABEL FLORES, plaintiff-appellant, vs. TRINIDAD LIM, defendant-appellee.
FACTS
Isabel Flores’s land was sold at a sheriff’s execution sale to Trinidad Lim. Within the one-year redemption period, Flores demanded an accounting of the fruits and profits derived from the land by Lim, as allowed under the Code of Civil Procedure, to be credited against the redemption price. Lim refused to render an account. Flores filed an action to redeem, seeking an order for Lim to account for the fruits and profits and to deduct that amount from the redemption price. The trial court granted Flores the right to redeem but ordered her to pay, in addition to the purchase price and taxes, the sum of P15,000 as the value of improvements made by Lim on the land. The court also relieved Lim from rendering an accounting of fruits. Flores appealed, contesting the order to pay for improvements and the denial of an accounting for fruits.
ISSUES
1. Whether the defendant-purchaser (Lim) is entitled to reimbursement for the value of improvements she introduced on the property during the redemption period.
2. Whether the defendant-purchaser is obligated to account for the fruits and profits received from the property during the redemption period, to be credited against the redemption price.
RULING
1. On Reimbursement for Improvements: NO. The purchaser at an execution sale is not entitled to reimbursement for improvements made on the property during the redemption period. The right of redemption is statutory and must be exercised in accordance with the law. Section 465 of the Code of Civil Procedure specifies the exact amounts a redemptioner must pay: the purchase price, 1% per month interest, and taxes paid by the purchaser. The law does not include the value of improvements. To require such payment would add a condition not prescribed by law and could effectively nullify the right of redemption by making it financially impossible. The defendant, as a purchaser at a sheriff’s sale, acquired only the judgment debtor’s rights subject to redemption and was not a possessor in good faith entitled to reimbursement under the Civil Code. The trial court’s order for Flores to pay P15,000 for improvements was reversed.
2. On Accounting for Fruits and Profits: YES. The purchaser is obligated to account for the fruits and profits received from the property during the redemption period. Section 469 of the Code of Civil Procedure expressly grants the judgment debtor the right to require such an accounting. The fruits and profits received by the purchaser must be deducted from the amount the redemptioner is required to pay. The trial court erred in relieving Lim from this obligation. The case was remanded to the trial court to receive evidence and determine the amount of fruits and profits received by Lim, which amount should be credited to Flores.
DISPOSITIVE PORTION:
The judgment of the trial court was modified. The plaintiff-appellant, Isabel Flores, was granted the right to redeem the property upon payment to the defendant-appellee, Trinidad Lim, of the amounts specified in Section 465 of the Code of Civil Procedure (purchase price, interest, and taxes paid), less the value of the fruits and profits received by Lim during the redemption period. The case was remanded to the trial court to ascertain the amount of such fruits and profits. Costs were taxed against the appellee.
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