Unconvincing evidence

Debts contracted by the husband which redound to the benefit of the family are chargeable against the conjugal partnership. So even if the husband mortgages a conjugal property without the wife’s consent, said mortgage cannot be annulled. This is illustrated in this case of the spouses Lito and Lina.

- JOSE C. SISON

Lito was a businessman engaged in the buy and sell of garlic and tobacco in his home province. On Jan. 16, 1954, Lito married Lina. During their marriage, they begot 10 children, and sometime in 1964, they acquired a parcel of residential land with a house erected thereon covered by TCT No. T-9646.

On Oct. 23, 1974, Lito obtained a loan of P115,000 from the bank supposedly for additional working capital of his buy and sell business. As security for the loan, Lito executed a real estate mortgage of the above-mentioned property. The said mortgage bore the signature of his wife and was duly notarized.

The loan, however, was not paid upon its maturity. So, the bank extra-judicially foreclosed the property where it emerged as the highest bidder in the foreclosure sale. After the lapse of one year from the issuance of the  certificate of sale in its favor and without the property being redeemed, title on the property was consolidated and registered in bank’s name on Aug. 10, 1978. On Aug. 14, 1978, bank notified the spouses and their family to vacate the property and took over possession of the same.