GR 71832; (September, 1991) (Digest)
G.R. No. 71832 September 24, 1991
LEON BERNARDEZ and ANICETA BERNARDEZ, petitioners, vs. ARSENIO REYES, respondent.
FACTS
Petitioner Leon Bernardez mortgaged land to the GSIS, which was later foreclosed and sold at public auction to respondent Arsenio Reyes on April 17, 1962. The certificate of foreclosure sale was registered on April 18, 1963. In a prior civil case, the Court of Appeals, in a 1977 decision, modified a trial court judgment and ordered the Bernardez spouses to pay Reyes a redemption price, allowing them to redeem the property within thirty days from the finality of that decision. On January 31, 1978, the spouses offered P18,000.00 to Reyes to redeem the property. Upon his refusal, they consigned the amount with the trial court.
The trial court, in an order dated June 23, 1978, declared that no valid tender of payment was made and that the petitioners had lost their right to redeem, while ordering Reyes to pay the spouses a separate sum of P6,140.00 in damages. The Intermediate Appellate Court affirmed this order. The Bernardez spouses elevated the case to the Supreme Court via petition for review.
ISSUE
Whether or not the petitioners validly exercised their right of redemption within the statutory period.
RULING
The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the appellate court’s decision, with modification. The Court held that the petitioners’ right of redemption had long expired. In extrajudicial foreclosure sales under Act 3135, the mortgagor’s right of redemption is one year from the registration of the sheriff’s certificate of foreclosure sale. Here, the certificate was registered on April 18, 1963, making the last day for redemption April 18, 1964.
The petitioners’ attempt to redeem in January 1978, nearly fourteen years later, was therefore invalid and could not revive the extinguished right. The Court clarified that the thirty-day period to redeem granted by the Court of Appeals in its 1977 decision had no legal basis, as the statutory one-year period is fixed and mandatory. Once this period lapses without redemption, the purchaser acquires an absolute right to the property. Consequently, the tender and consignation made in 1978 were ineffectual. The Court also ruled that Reyes could not claim back rentals from the petitioners for the period of redemption, as the debtors in possession are not liable for rent during that time.