SC division: Actual knowledge of sale can replace written notice

There is no written notice required if co-owners are properly informed about the sale of a shared property and failed to exercise their right to buy the share within 30 days, according to the Supreme Court (SC).

In a 10-page decision, the SC First Division denied the petition filed by siblings who are co-owners of a property to buy back a parcel of land. 

“The Court finds that petitioners had actual knowledge of the sale, at the latest on January 27, 2010. They filed the complaint for legal redemption with damages only on March 28, 2016. It took them six years and two months to file their complaint,” the SC said.

According to the Court, the siblings and their aunt co-own a parcel of land in Cagayan. The two were in possession of the land.

However, their aunt later sold her portion to a buyer, which was then officially registered under the party’s name after the land was surveyed and divided.

Following this, the SC said the buyer filed a case with the regional trial court against the siblings to take possession of the land. The court ruled in his favor.

When the siblings filed a complaint for legal redemption years later, the RTC dismissed the complaint while the Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling of the RTC.

This prompted the siblings to file the present petition with the SC, arguing that their aunt had not informed them of the sale in writing.

However, the SC said that while a written notice to co-owners is necessary, it can be waived if unusual circumstances have made co-owners aware of the sale, and if the co-owners did not take action or were negligent in their right to redeem the property.

The SC said that the siblings were informed about the survey conducted on the land. It also found that they received the legal complaint of the buyer to recover the possession. 

“[T]he written notice requirement may be dispensed with in the instance case due to the peculiar circumstances involved and the laches that had set in against petitioners,” the SC said.

“It would be the height of inequity to allow them to redeem despite their inaction of six years and two months,” it added.

The decision, penned by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, was promulgated in April 2025 and published in June 2025. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News