Sample Counter Memorandum HLURB Case
Sample Counter Memorandum HLURB Case
Sample Counter Memorandum HLURB Case
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION,
Respondent-Appellant,
x-----------------------------------------x
COUNTER-MEMORANDUM
Complainants-Appellees, through the undersigned counsel and unto
this Honorable Board, in opposition to the Appeal interposed by the
Respondent-Appellant, most respectfully state that:
I. TIMELINESS
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an over-payment of P______________ as reflected in the
Complainants-Appellees' Statement of Account1.
1
Annex "B" - Complainants' Position Paper
2
Annex "C" - Complainants' Position Paper
3
Annex "D" - Complainants' Position Paper
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b. The aggregate payment of the complainant in the
amount of One Million Eight Hundred One Thousand Five
Hundred Sixteen and Twenty Centavos (_______________)
are not purely payment for the principal balance of One
Million Four Hundred Five Thousand Nine Hundred
Twenty Five Pesos (______________). It included the
imputed interest of sixteen percent (16%) based on
computed monthly amortization of balance in the amount
of Thirty Four Thousand One Hundred Eighty Nine Pesos & 37
centavos (PhP34,189.37) payable in sixty (60) months as
clearly stated in the Reservation Agreement.
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On 26 August 2014, at the scheduled preliminary mandatory
conference, only Complainants appeared while Respondent failed to
appear/attend despite due notice.
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A. THE HONORABLE ARBITER DID NOT
ERR IN HOLDING THAT THE
COMPLAINANTS-APPELLEES HAVE
OVERPAID THEIR ACCOUNT SINCE
BOTH THE RESERVATION
AGREEMENT AND THE UNSIGNED
CONTRACT TO SELL ARE SILENT
REGARDING THE 16% INTEREST
RATE
Granting for the sake of argument that a Contract to Sell was duly
executed, Complainants-Appellees cannot subscribe to Respondent-
Appellant's insistence that the payment of interest was deemed agreed
upon based on the provision in the Contract to Sell that the purchase price
of the condominium unit is "exclusive of interest".
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no forbearance of money or use of Respondent-Appellant's property to
speak of since the object of the sale was not yet in existence as of the time
payments were made by the Complainants-Appellees.
All the same, the interest under these two instances may be imposed
only as a penalty or damages for breach of contractual obligations. It
cannot be charged as a compensation for the use or forbearance of money.
In other words, the two instances apply only to compensatory interest and
5
Ibid.
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not to monetary interest6. The case at bar involves Respondent-Appellant’s
claim for monetary interest.
Under Article 1960 of the Civil Code, if the borrower of loan pays
interest when there has been no stipulation therefor, the provisions of the
Civil Code concerning solutio indebiti shall be applied. Article 2154 of the
Civil Code explains the principle of solutio indebiti. Said provision provides
that if something is received when there is no right to demand it, and it
was unduly delivered through mistake, the obligation to return it arises. In
such a case, a creditor-debtor relationship is created under a quasi-
contract whereby the payor becomes the creditor who then has the right to
demand the return of payment made by mistake, and the person who has
no right to receive such payment becomes obligated to return the same.
The quasi-contract of solutio indebiti harks back to the ancient principle
that no one shall enrich himself unjustly at the expense of another. The
principle of solutio indebiti applies where (1) a payment is made when
there exists no binding relation between the payor, who has no duty to
pay, and the person who received the payment; and (2) the payment is
6
Ibid.
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made through mistake, and not through liberality or some other cause.
We have held that the principle of solutio indebiti applies in case of
erroneous payment of undue interest7.
Thus, the Honorable Arbiter is correct when it ruled that all payments
made by the Complainants-Appellees should be applied to the balance of
the purchase price and order the refund when an overpayment of
P44,110.38 has resulted.
7
Ibid.
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Section 25. Registration of Conveyances. Sales or
conveyances of the subdivision lots and condominium units shall be
registered within 180 days from execution thereof by the seller with
the Register of Deeds of the province or city where the property is
situated pursuant to Section 17 of the Decree. Except as may
otherwise be provided for by law, the Board may in appropriate
cases cause the Register of Deeds to cancel registration, entries or
annotations on titles made on this regard."
SEC. 17. Registration – All contracts to sell, deeds of sale and other
similar instruments relative to the sale or conveyance of the
subdivision lots and condominium units, whether or not the
purchase price is paid in full, shall be registered by the seller in
the Office of the Register of Deeds of the province or city
where the property is situated."
xxx
The Contract to Sell must have been executed after the reservation
fee and down payment had been settled by the Complainants-Appellees. It
is incumbent upon the Respondent to immediately deliver the prescribed
Contract for the Complainants-Appellees to sign the same. Therefore,
Complainants-Appellees' failure to sign the Contract to Sell after the
payment of the reservation fee and the down payment cannot be
8
Luzon Development Bank Vs. Angeles Catherine Enriquez, G.R. No. 168646, January 12, 2011
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attributed to them, as such it should not be admitted in evidence to
prejudice the Complainants-Appellees.
Granting for the sake of argument that the Contract to Sell was duly
executed, Respondent-Appellant is nonetheless prohibited by law to impose
an onerous and oppressive provision that upon rescission of the contract,
"any and all of the sums of money paid under this Contract together
with all the rights and interest to all improvements made on the premises
shall be considered as liquidated damages, and forfeited for the
account of the SELLER" 9.
"This Court has been consistent in ruling that a valid and effective
cancellation under R.A. 6552 must comply with the mandatory twin
requirements of a notarized notice of cancellation and a refund of the
cash surrender value.
In Olympia Housing, Inc. v. Panasiatic Travel Corp., we ruled that
the notarial act of rescission must be accompanied by the refund of the
cash surrender value.
x x x The actual cancellation of the contract can only be deemed to
take place upon the expiry of a 30-day period following the receipt by the
buyer of the notice of cancellation or demand for rescission by a notarial
act and the full payment of the cash surrender value.
In Pagtalunan v. Dela Cruz Vda. De Manzano, we ruled that there
is no valid cancellation of the Contract to Sell in the absence of a refund
of the cash surrender value.
Sec. 3 (b) of R.A. No. 6552 requires refund of the cash surrender
value of the payments on the property to the buyer before cancellation of
the contract. xxx (Emphasis supplied)
With all the foregoing, it is clear that the Honorable Arbiter is correct
and in accord with prevailing jurisprudence when she declared that the
cancellation of the sale is invalid.
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Board that Complainants-Appellants should have exercised the right to
demand payment of the surrender value instead of filing a complaint, which
as Respondent-Appellant claims, deprived it of the opportunity to pay in full
the cash surrender value of what had been paid by the Complainants-
Appellees.
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selling price of P1,757,406.25, resulting to an overpayment of
P44,110.38.
11
page 12, Appeal Memorandum
Page 12 of 13
forbearance of money belonging to the creditor, such is not the case when
Complainants-Appellees entered into a contract with Respondent-Appellant.
PRAYER
WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is most respectfully prayed of
this Honorable Board that the appeal interposed by the Respondent-
Appellant be dismissed for utter lack of merit.
__________________
Counsel for the Complainants-Appellees
Copy furnished:
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