- Petitioner
- House International Building Tenants Association
- Respondent
- Intermediate Appellate Court
- Citation
- G.R. No. 75287
- Court
- Supreme Court
- Division
- Second Division
- Ponente
- Cortes, J.
- Decided
- June 30, 1987
Summary
The Supreme Court denied the petition of House International Building Tenants Association challenging the validity of a conditional sale between GSIS and Centertown Marketing Corporation. The Court ruled that the association lacked legal standing as it was not the real party in interest - the individual tenants were the proper parties who could be benefited or injured by the judgment. The Court held that an association has separate legal personality from its members and cannot sue for rights belonging to individual tenants. Additionally, the association could not challenge the contract's validity under Civil Code Article 1397 since it was neither party nor privy to the deed of conditional sale. The Court distinguished ultra vires contracts as voidable rather than void, and ruled that constitutional provisions and P.D. 1517 cited by petitioner were inapplicable to the case. The decision reinforced the doctrine that only real parties in interest with material stakes in litigation can maintain legal actions.