I.

PROPERTY - Is an economic concept, meaning a mass of things useful to human activity and
which are necessary to life, for which reason they may be organized and distributed in one
way or another, but, always for the good of the main.
- In order that a thing may be considered as property:
1. Utility capacity to satisfy human wants
2. Individuality or Substantivity an autonomous or separate
existence; materials composing a thing are not thing in themselves.
3. Appropriability or susceptibility to appropriation

A. Classification under the Civil Code
1. Immovable or Real Property
a. By Nature those which cannot be moved from place to place
Land, buildings, road and constructions of all kinds
Mines, quarries and slag dumps
b. By Incorporation
Trees, plants and growing fruits
Everything attached to an immovable
Fertilizer
c. By Destination
Statues, reliefs, paintings and other objects for use or
ornamentation
Machines, receptacles, implements and instruments
Animal houses, pigeon-houses, beehives, fishponds and
breeding places of similar nature
Docks and structures
d. By Analogy
Contracts for public works, servitudes and other real rights
over immovable property
2. Movables or Personal Property
Those movables susceptible of appropriation which are not
included in the preceding article
Real Property which by any special provision of law is
considered as personal property
Forces of nature which are brought under the control by
science
In general, all things which can be transported from place to
place without impairment of the real property to which they
are fixed
B. Classification by Ownership
1. Res Nullius - does not belong and are not enjoyed by anyone e.g. abandoned property
and hidden treasure
2. Public Dominion owned by the state but enjoyed by all its citizens
The following are things of public dominion:
a. Those intended for public use, such as roads, canals, rivers, torrents, ports and
bridges, constructed by the State, banks, shores, roadsteads and other of similar
character
b. Those which belong to the State, without being for public use, and are intended for
some public service or for the development of national wealth
c. Private Property
d. Effect and Significance of Classification of Property as Property of Public Dominion

II. OWNERSHIP
- Art 429 The owner or lawful possessor of a thing has the right to exclude any person
from the enjoyment and disposal thereof. For this purpose, he may use such force as
may be reasonably necessary to repel or prevent an actual or threatened unlawful
physical invasion or usurpation of his property.
A. Definition - Independent and general right of a person to control a thing
particularly in his possession, enjoyment, disposition, and recovery.
B. Kinds of Ownership
1. Full ownership includes all the rights of an owner;
Note: Naked ownership + Usufruct
2. Naked ownership ownership where the rights to the use and to the fruits
have been denied;
Note: Full ownership Usufruct
3. Sole ownership ownership is vested in only one person;
4. Coownership ownership is vested in 2 or more persons.
C. Bundle of Rights included in Ownership
1. Jus Utendi right to use and enjoy the property without destroying its
substance
2. Jus Abutendi right to use and enjoy by consuming the thing by its use
3. Jus Fruendi right to receive the fruits
4. Jus Disponendi right to dispose or the power of the owner to alienate,
encumber, transform and even destroy the thing owned
5. Jus Vindicandi right to recover a thing
D. Other Specific Rights found in the Civil Code
1. Right to exclude; self-help; Doctrine of Self-help
2. Right to enclose or fence
3. Right to receive just compensation in case of expropriation
4. Right to hidden treasure
5. Right to space and subsoil
6. Right to accession
Art 440 The ownership of property gives the right by accession to:
Everything which is produced thereby (accession discreta)
Incorporated or attached thereto, either naturally or artificially
(accession continua)
7. Right to recover possession and/or ownership (jus vindicandi)
E. Quieting of Title
ART 476 Whenever there is a cloud on title to real property or any
interest therein, by reason of any instrument, record, claim, encumbrance or
proceeding which is apparently valid or effective but it is in truth and in fact
invalid, ineffective, voidable or unenforceable, and may be prejudicial to said
title, an action may be brought to remove such clod or to quiet the title.
An action may also be brought to prevent a cloud from being cast
upon title to real property or any interest therein.
a. Title to real property- that upon which ownership is based.
b. Action to quiet title - an action for the purpose of putting an end to
vexatious litigation with respect to the property involved
c. Reasons for quieting title
F. Hidden Treasures

III. Co-Ownership
A. There is co-ownership whenever the ownership of an undivided thing or right belongs to
different persons.
B. Requisites of Co-Ownership
1. Plurality of subjects
2. Unity of object
3. Recognition of ideal share
C. Sources of Co-Ownership
1. Law
2. Contact
3. Succession
4. fortuitous event or chance
5. Occupancy
// Art. 485. The share of the co-owners, in the benefits as well as in the charges,
shall be proportional to their respective interests. Any stipulation in a contract to the
contrary shall be void.
The portions belonging to the co-owners in the co-ownership shall be presumed
equal, unless the contrary is proved.
IV. Possessionxxxxx




V. Possession
A. Possession - the holding of a thing or the enjoyment of a right
B. Requisites of possession
1. Possession in fact or holding or control of a thing or right;
2. Animus possidendi or the deliberate intention to possess;
3. Possession by virtue of ones own right
C. Degrees of Holding of Possession
a. Mere holding or possession without title whatsoever and in violation of the right
of the owner //E.g. possession of a thief/robber or a usurper of land
b. Possession with a juridical title, but not that of ownership
// e.g. possession of tenant, depository agent, bailee, trustee, lessee, antichretic
creditor.
c. Possession with a just title or title sufficient to transfer ownership, but not from
the true owner // E.g. possession of a vendee from vendor who pretends to be
the owner
d. Possession with a just title from the true owner //e.g. The delivery of
possession transfers ownership, and strictly speaking, is the jus possidendi.

VI. USUFRUCT
// Art. 562. Usufruct gives a right to enjoy the property of another with the obligation of
preserving its form and substance, unless the title constituting it or the law otherwise
provides. (467)
A. What is usufruct?
1. A right to enjoy the property of another temporarily with the obligation of
preserving its form and substance(//including both the jus utendi and jus fruendi,
with the owner retaining the jus disponendi )
2. In essence, usufruct is nothing else but simply allowing one to enjoy anothers
propery
B. Characteristics of usufruct
1. It is a real right of use and enjoyment (whether registered or not in the Registry of
Property. Registering will affect and bind third persons)
2. Of Temporary duration
3. Transmissible
4. May be constituted on real or personal property, consumable or non- consumable,
tangible or intangible, the ownership of which is vested in another
VII. EASEMENT Or SERVITUDE
A. Easement or servitude
1. It is an encumbrance imposed upon an immovable for the benefit of:
another immovable belonging to a different owner; or
2. for the benefit of a community or one or more persons to whom the
encumbered estate does not belong by virtue of which the owner is obliged to
abstain from doing or to permit a certain thing to be done on his estate.

B. Characteristics of easement
1. Is a right limited by the Needs of the dominant owner or estate, without
possession;
2. Is Inseparable from the estate to which it is attached cannot be alienated
independently of the estate;
3. Cannot consist in the doing of an act unless the act is accessory in relation to
a real easement;
4. Involves 2 neighboring Estates: the dominant estate to which the right
belongs and the servient estate upon which an obligation rests;
5. Is a Limitation on the servient owners rights of ownership;
6. Is Indivisible not affected by the division of the estate between two or
more persons;
7. It is enjoyed over Another immovable never on ones own property;
8. Is a Real right but will affect third persons only when registered.
C. Essential qualities of easements
1. Incorporeal;
2. Imposed upon corporeal property
3. Confer no right to a participation in the profits arising from it;
4. Imposed for the benefit of corporeal property;
5. Has 2 distinct tenements: dominant and servient estate;
6. Cause must be perpetual.
VIII. NUISANCE
A. [Art.694]Any ACT, OMISSION,ESTABLISHMENT, BUSINESS or CONDITIONS OF PROPERTY,
OR ANYTHING ELSE WHICH:
1. Injures/dangers the health or safety of others
2. Shocks, defies or disregards decency or morality
3. Annoys or offends the senses
4. Hinders or impairs the use of property or
5. Obstructs or interferes with the free passage to any public highway
or street or body of water
B. Public Nuisance - A public nuisance has been defined as
1. the doing of or the failure to do something that injuriously affects safety, health or
morals of the public, or
2. work some substantial annoyance, inconvenience, or injury to the public.
C. Private Nuisance - A private nuisance has been defined as one which violates only
private rights and produces damage to but one or a few personas, and cannot be said to
be public