Land grants for Urban Poor

My wife's family have been working on a title for some land for 10 years

Yes most landownership dealings here are just a little too "shady" for my liking.

Honestly its bad enough with CTC titles or what ever they call them let alone broken or whole chains of custody held by land owners.

We purchased a clear title and my instructions to the attorney was to put an encumbrance on the title, being the 25 25 year lease. Yes sir we can do that, some 15/18 months later we received a copy of the title,,,,, original was held in a vault by the selling agent. Anyway the title never mentioned the lease...... back and forward with the agent and a new attorney (surprisingly covered by the agent) as the original attorney disappeared, told us we can't do that because we need to be a bank or lending institution to accomplish, lots of emails and arguing, a new attorney was appointed again paid for by the agent,,,,,, guilt perhaps because he recommended the original mouth piece. Four years of frustration with a very legal title and encumbrance.
I sold my 50 acre farm and house a year ago back in Oz while I was living here in PH, done and dusted on settlement.

4 years on we now hold the encumbered title in the safe, my insurance. My executor of my dealings and will also holds a copy in her safe back in Oz. Holiday house or what ever. As we all know things can be very difficult here unless you just want a bottle of Red Horse.

We have looked at a land grant property and walked away very quickly, we have looked at several squatter properties and walked away, (investments) too many difficulties not only with the chain and the broken links but the cost to turn the property into a legitimate asset.

OMO and good luck to the OP.

Cheers, Steve.

Okieboy wrote:

My wife's family have been working on a title for some land for 10 years

I knew a foreigner who bought property here that had 37 different "owners" at different times.

After investigating further, the original squatter was the father who is MIA.   The son swears his father told hm it was OK to sale the land.

The land is adjacent to a toxic mix of dump sludge and waste.   

And now the relatives have asked me to pay the cost of the house that they borrowed for -- more specifically to pay back the loans.   House construction already started.   I can't even begin to understand how people think this is all good.

Anontoo wrote:

After investigating further, the original squatter was the father who is MIA.   The son swears his father told hm it was OK to sale the land.

The land is adjacent to a toxic mix of dump sludge and waste.   

And now the relatives have asked me to pay the cost of the house that they borrowed for -- more specifically to pay back the loans.   House construction already started.   I can't even begin to understand how people think this is all good.

A late welcome to the forum Anontoo, thanks for sharing your story, common here.
While I/we know little of your circumstances here, your last paragraph for me set the alarm bells ringing. What is your partner saying?
I set boundaries with the better half 8 years ago and no one has asked for any handouts since, prior there were many and plenty of "no" from me.  I put my foot down. We do help mum and dad every year but none of the other 5,000 relatives. I am still accepted as part of the family and never ostracised and honestly I have no idea what my partner told them but it worked.

I lie, a cousin borrowed 6,000 pesos a couple of years ago to help pay for his father funeral, we donated 2K also and made it clear that it was a loan and not a borrow never to be seen again. Cousin re payed the better half over a 3 month period, all good.

Good luck and think carefully.

Cheers, Steve.

Anontoo wrote:

After investigating further, the original squatter was the father who is MIA.   The son swears his father told hm it was OK to sale the land.

The land is adjacent to a toxic mix of dump sludge and waste.   

And now the relatives have asked me to pay the cost of the house that they borrowed for -- more specifically to pay back the loans.   House construction already started.   I can't even begin to understand how people think this is all good.

Simply smile & say "NO" thanks.

Anontoo wrote:

Hi, I am scratching my head to figure out whether an in-law got scammed.  who i should call or how to verify info regarding a residential lot sale.

This concerns a small residential lot of land that was supposedly claimed by the "Seaside Homeowners Association, sitio seaside, white road inayawan, cebu city"  on behalf of the people living on government land.   My best guess is the land is near the inayawan dump.   One of the residents sold one small fenced residential lot to my in-law with a written receipt from the resident.   Everybody involved, including the in laws, says everybody knows the city is granting people land under the Urban poor program.   I am the only one asking questions.

I know that Cebu has promised to grant title to some properties in squatter areas, but I cannot find anything about the stated HOA, nothing on a government list.   Nobody has any letter from the city.   Nor did anyone get a copy of the application for land.   For me, I look at everything and say something smells wrong about the deal.   What I know of the urban poor program is that most of the grants have been made for homes burned down on Mother's day near St Nicolas.

How would I verify there is something in the works by the city government for a specific piece of land for a specific individual under the Urban poor program?   Giving my in-laws the benefit of the doubt that maybe things work different with land than the US with regard to deeds, titles, receipts.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.....

"This concerns a small residential lot of land that was supposedly claimed by the "Seaside Homeowners Association, sitio seaside, white road inayawan, cebu city"  on behalf of the people living on government land. "  The key word here is "supposedly". The problem sometimes with some Filipinos, especially those who are not well-educated (no offense), is that they would believe someone's word without due diligence. Someone says this . . . someone says that . . . They would believe that person, especially when they name drop a politician or an organization.  One can't transfer ownership of a piece of land with just a "written receipt" from the "resident." There are so many things to be done to own property legally. Member expert Calif-Native has several extensive and very informative posts on this topic.

Anontoo wrote:

After investigating further, the original squatter was the father who is MIA.   The son swears his father told hm it was OK to sale the land.

Does the father even have a land title? If he does, the son should at least have a special power of attorney to be able to sell the land in behalf of his father.

Anontoo wrote:

And now the relatives have asked me to pay the cost of the house that they borrowed for -- more specifically to pay back the loans.   House construction already started.   I can't even begin to understand how people think this is all good.

Don't pay for their loan. Don't give your in-laws any more money. It's their loan. It's their problem. Not yours. Unless . . . you are married to your significant other, and either she or you are a co-signer / guarantor to the loan, then, that might be a problem for you too. By the way, how did they acquire the loan? Did they use something as a collateral? 5/6?

I think it would be better if they just discontinue construction. Sure they already put some money into house construction. But why continue further and lose even more money when no one really knows if the land is legit and that it's near a toxic dump?

Your wife should try to dissuade her family from living near that toxic dump. If they get sick from the chemicals in that area, who will pay for their medical bills? . . . Most likely you.

Just my two cents.

Thanks for all the replies.   several weeks later and things are a little clearer.  Yep, once again my wife's family got scammed again.  And yet again, they were planning on me to cover the cost of their brilliant get rich plan.   I have already said no to any money.   

The only thing I was surprised about was that I could not get anybody in the city to answer any questions about what they have planned for the urban land grant program.   The only info I found are from the internet -- the quotes from the mayor in the newspaper about an ambiguous programs.  I even found Freedom of Information requests that are years old with simple questions but never any replies.   I am guessing the land grant program has more politicians feeding off of it than the actual people it purports to help.

Anontoo, it would be best to stay away from your in-laws loans unless you are a co-signer to the loan. Having a residence far enough from them will do you a lot of good. Keep your address and phone secret. It is not your problem unless unless you make it so.

Jackson4 wrote:

Anontoo, it would be best to stay away from your in-laws loans unless you are a co-signer to the loan. Having a residence far enough from them will do you a lot of good. Keep your address and phone secret. It is not your problem unless unless you make it so.

Roger that ...  sound advice.

Another supreme example fellow forum readers of Filipinos using foreigners as 'lender of last resort'.
There is a term for this in banking circles: 'Moral Hazard' i.e if the banks f**k up they will always be bailed out by the taxpayer.
Plus ca change
Welcome to the Philippines (It's more fun)

"Claim"
That DONT mean same as approved...

Some LOCAL governments decide to give land to squatters where they live OR elsewhere to m,ake them mobe.  (As done e g in CDO and Sogod.)    After such decicions people can claim  = APPLY. Then its hamdled and they get DOCUMENT IF approved.

Did the in-laws buy it without geting such document proof??
If they ot such, it has a number, which can be checked  they are approved at the barangay office or some can have it at the municipaöy office.  IF it isnt only using rights, then there are OCT/TCT. Such can be checked at Register of Deeds.

And why did they buy and build beside a TOXIC dump???!!!

No way I would pay to save them from such STUPID action.
(Except if I would have been consulted BEFORE the buying and I wpould have approved   - which I wouldnt   
But I would probably try to asist them how to try to solve it legaly with seller. and builders to minimice the damage.  I guess the seller dont have asss too cover the mess, but if he has and IF he dont agree to pay volontarigly, then
1. Barangay captain where he lives or neihbpour baranggay to that.
2.  (Small) claims court.  I believe thats max 200 000pesos.   If thats enough.  Other courts than such can take decades...