Single Filipina - land ownership query

[Rakiya Lawler]

I am interested in learning about land ownership legislation, regulations and customs in the Philippines. For instance, are Filipinas allowed to own and buy land in their names as single women?

[Old55]

Filipino citizens may own real estate, non citizens may lease property or under certain conditions own a condominium.

[Rakiya Lawler]

Is a British citizen allowed to purchase land in the Philippines by putting it in the name of his partner, girlfriend or wife? (I understand foreigners aren't allowed to own land in their own name)

[robert k]

3 hours ago, Rakiya Lawler said:

Is a British citizen allowed to purchase land in the Philippines by putting it in the name of his partner, girlfriend or wife? (I understand foreigners aren't allowed to own land in their own name)

Filipinas are fully citizens and can own land and property.

Who pays for the land rarely matters. You put it in a GF or wife's name you can lose it. Worst case, if you put up too much trouble, you can be killed. In such cases, I think it fair to say the killers get away with it most of the time.

I just wanted to get the above out of the way.  

A foreigner can own a condo in their own name because they don't own the dirt under it. A foreigner can build a structure on land they leased...but you Can Not! lease from your own wife, the lease would be void (1) because there is no reason your wife would refuse you to make valuable improvements on her property.  (2) The lease money would be returning as marital income, essentially taking money from one pocket of your pants and putting it in the other.  I think this would put you in jeopardy with the Anti-dummy Law. 

[Rakiya Lawler]

Interesting. Thanks Robert for the info

[bigpearl]

1 hour ago, Rakiya Lawler said:

Interesting. Thanks Robert for the info

Hi Rakiya,

Firstly welcome to this forum, hope you enjoy. There are plenty of submissions and input regarding your questions within this forum, many answers if you are prepared to look. Related or not, My partner, we are a gay couple and as such not recognised in PH.  purchased property earlier  this year in his name and I purchased the buildings and improvements, leased the land for 25 + 25 years.

Take heed with what robert k said in a previous post, married couples cannot lease as they are considered a single entity and it is illegal. Setting up a corporation while legal and relatively inexpensive, if not accomplished correctly could bring the perpetrators undone landing in very hot water.

Good luck with your research and this forums information.

Cheers, Steve.

[Snowy79]

Welcome Rayika

As has been pointed out there's nothing to stop you purchasing land as a Filipino citizen.

Once you find the land you want to buy the first thing to do before even thinking of buying is to get a certified true copy of the title to ensure the land isn't already leased or held as collateral  by the bank.

Once you're satisfied with that get a surveyor to double check the land is the actual piece on the title. You don't want to be shown a stunning lot with a great view and once you hand over the money find you've bought somewhere 500m away overlooking a waste site. 

[scott h]

11 hours ago, Rakiya Lawler said:

are Filipinas allowed to own and buy land in their names as single women?

Welcome Rakiya, Ill keep it short and simple  you supply the money, she buys and OWNS the land

[robert k]

46 minutes ago, Snowy79 said:

Welcome Rayika

As has been pointed out there's nothing to stop you purchasing land as a Filipino citizen.

Once you find the land you want to buy the first thing to do before even thinking of buying is to get a certified true copy of the title to ensure the land isn't already leased or held as collateral  by the bank.

Once you're satisfied with that get a surveyor to double check the land is the actual piece on the title. You don't want to be shown a stunning lot with a great view and once you hand over the money find you've bought somewhere 500m away overlooking a waste site. 

Or worse yet, that you own the waste site and are responsible for the 10 million peso cleanup.

[Dave Hounddriver]

11 hours ago, Rakiya Lawler said:

Is a British citizen allowed to purchase land in the Philippines by putting it in the name of his partner, girlfriend or wife? (I understand foreigners aren't allowed to own land in their own name)

Question:  Your profile states 

• Gender:Female
• Location:UK

So  I am wondering if you are speaking of a same sex partner?  Its important because The Philippines does not offer any legal recognition to same-sex marriage, civil unions or other such things.  It means you could could have a same sex friend buy the land with your money.  You could even arrange a legal, private mortgage between the two of you so that you may register it against the title and get some assurance that you would get your money back in the event of future problems.  Or you could arrange to give the purchase price to your same friend in exchange for a 25 year lease so the lease would be in your name.  There are other options and some work better than others but the two things you can NEVER do as a non-citizen of Philippines are (1) You can never own the land and (2) You cannot use any legal trickery designed to circumvent that law.

Thus your control/ownership of the land is limited to your degree of trust in the filipino who's name it is in.  In my case, my house is owned by a filipino ex-girlfriend who gave me full power of attorney to do as I wish with HER property (it will never be mine) and then she left the country.  For me, it is as close as I can get to ever owning property here.  I count myself in the list of fortunate ones as many filipina ex-girlfriends find ways to screw the foreigner out of his investment in the property.