- Petitioner
- Loida
- Respondent
- Court of Appeals
- Citation
- G.R. No. 112285
- Court
- Supreme Court
- Division
- Second Division
- Ponente
- Puno, J.
- Decided
- February 21, 1995
Summary
This case involves an ejectment dispute between property owners (heirs of Jose Acab) and a long-term tenant (Amparo Villanueva) over a residential lot in Kalookan City. The tenant had a verbal month-to-month lease since 1942 paying P50 monthly rent. When the original owner sold the property to his children in 1989, the new owners gave the tenant three months notice to vacate in 1991. The MTC and RTC ruled in favor of the owners, but the Court of Appeals reversed, requiring proof that owners had no other available units. The Supreme Court reversed the CA, establishing that month-to-month leases are definite-period contracts under Article 1687 of the Civil Code, terminable upon proper notice regardless of the lessor's need for the property. The decision clarified that BP 877 (rent control law) does not suspend Civil Code provisions on lease termination, making ejectment legally justified upon lease expiration with proper demand.