Amendment on Land Registration Cost Payments

Act No. 3465 amends Subsection (a) of Section 18 of Act No. 2259 (the land-titles special proceedings law).
The amended provision in Act No. 2259 had already been amended by Acts Nos. 2338, 2558, 3081, and 3337.
The Act recognizes the Land Registration Act under Act No. 496 as a basis for excluding certain lots from lien and collection under the cadastral costs provision.
The Act references land that was surveyed, patented, or leased under the Public Land and Mining Laws prior to the cadastral proceeding decision.

Section 18(a) assigns the cost of registration proceedings and the cadastral survey and monumenting under the land-titles special proceedings law across three levels.
One-tenth of the cost is borne by the Insular Government.
One-tenth is paid by the province concerned.
One-tenth is paid by the city, municipality, municipal district, township, or settlement where the land is situated; the City of Manila is treated as both a province and a municipality for this purpose.
The remaining seven-tenths is assessed and collected against each lot included in a cadastral proceeding, and it is apportioned in accordance with the square root of the area of the lot.
No less than five pesos is taxed against each lot.

When the province or municipality (including municipal district, township, or settlement) has not sufficient funds, it may pay its share of the obligation in five equal installments within five years.
Installment payment for the local government share under this condition is without interest.

The amounts taxed against lots (under the seven-tenths assessment) are treated as a special assessment of taxes against the respective parcels.
Those special assessments constitute a first lien upon the land.
Collection is undertaken by the Director of Lands or his duly authorized representatives.
The Director of Lands collects in equal installments within a period of five years.
The collected installments bear interest at the rate of six per centum per annum.
The first installment becomes due and payable at the same time as general land taxes for the year next succeeding the year in which the assessment of the costs shall be received by the provincial treasurer, and it is collected in the same manner as general land taxes.
Each succeeding installment becomes due and payable at the same time as general land taxes for the corresponding current year, and it is collected in the same manner.
The Director of Lands must send the officer in charge of such collection a copy of the assessment of costs.

Amounts representing the proportional shares of costs taxed against certain lots do not constitute a lien and are not collected from the owners.
Exempt lots include those surveyed at the request and expense of their owner where a plan other than the cadastral plan was made by a duly authorized surveyor prior to the decision in the cadastral proceeding.
Exempt lots also include those registered under Act No. 496, the Land Registration Act, as referenced in the cadastral costs assessment regime.
Exempt lots also include those surveyed, patented, or leased under the Public Land and Mining Laws prior to the decision in the cadastral proceeding.
Exempt lots further include lots that have been declared to be public lands by the court.

The owner of any lot may pay any installment of the costs taxed against his lot at any time before the installment becomes due.

The Director of Lands is the key implementing officer for sending cost assessments to the collecting officer and for ensuring collection through authorized representatives.
The collection timetable is tied to the provincial treasurer’s receipt of the assessment and to the due dates of general land taxes for succeeding and current years.