- Petitioner
- Vicente I. Santos
- Respondent
- Intermediate Appellate Court
- Citation
- G.R. No. 75384
- Court
- Supreme Court
- Division
- Second Division
- Ponente
- Paras, J.
- Decided
- June 21, 1990
Summary
This case involves a property dispute over a house built by Valentina Barron on land bequeathed to Maximino de Leon. After Antonio San Jose died in 1955, his widow Valentina Barron built a new house on land that was bequeathed to their ward Maximino de Leon, believing it was still conjugal property. The Project of Partition adjudicated only the lot to de Leon, excluding the house. In 1964, de Leon sold both lot and house to Vicente Santos without notice to the occupants or court, despite ongoing litigation. The Supreme Court affirmed that Barron was a builder in good faith entitled to pre-emption rights under Article 448 of the Civil Code, and declared the sale rescissible under Article 1381 for being made while the property was under litigation. The decision protects the rights of good faith builders and prevents fraudulent transfers of litigated property.