-Atty. Ferdie Aguirre

(About the writer: G. Ferdinand (Ferdie) Aguirre has more than 20 years of combined experience as a legal professional in the Philippines and in Canada.  After graduating from the Ateneo de Manila College of Law in 1987 and passing the Bar given that year, he has held the following positions in the Philippine Corporate world: Asst. Senior Vice President of the Philippine National Bank, Senior Manager of the Law Division of the Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company and as Chief Legal Counsel of Unibancard.  His private practice included having successfully handled several major cases and being included in the Philippine case books.  Ferdie Aguirre was also a professor of Political Science and Business Law before migrating to Ontario Canada in 2005 where worked as a Paralegal. He is presently a Court Agent & a Commissioner of Oaths in Alberta and is now working on his admission to the Alberta Bar.  Ferdie Aguirre may be reached at (403) 6131168 /403 4747168 or at [email protected])

^{CAN A BUYER OF A PROPERTY UNDER A LEASE CONTRACT IGNORE THE OBLIGATION OF THE PREVIOUS OWNER?}

^{Hank and Felix entered into a 15 year lease contract whereby Felix allowed  Hank to occupy his commercial property in Hagonoy Bulacan. Upon the insistence of Hank the lease was registered  in the title of the property. Two years after executing the lease, Felix died and his sons inherited the land..}

^{Less than a year after inheriting the land, the heirs of Felix  immediately instituted an  action to evict Hank claiming  that they were not bound by the contract  because they were  a party to it.  They also claim that the death of Felix, terminated the contract hence Hank no  longer had no right to  the property}

^{HEIRS CANNOT EVICT HANK}

^{Under Article 1311 of the Civil Code, the heirs are bound by the contracts entered into by their predecessors-in-interest except when the rights and obligations therein are not transmissible by their nature, by stipulation or by provision of law. A contract of lease is, therefore, generally transmissible to the heirs of the lessor or lessee. It involves a property right and, as such, the death of a party does not excuse non-performance of the contract.[1] [1][29] The rights and obligations pass to the heirs of the deceased and the heir of the deceased lessor is bound to respect the period of the lease.[2] [2][30] Consequently, the successors-in-interest of the lessee are entitled to the benefits, while that of the lessor are burdened with the duties and obligations, which said covenants conferred and imposed on the original parties.} LLENADO vs. LLENADO G.R. No. 145736: March 4, 2009

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