MALAYAN REALTY VS UY

GR No. 163763 November 10, 2006

FACTS:

Malayan Realty, Inc. (Malayan), is the owner of an apartment unit known as 3013 Interior
No. 90 (the property), located at Nagtahan Street, Sampaloc, Manila. In 1958, Malayan entered
into a verbal lease contract with Uy Han Yong (Uy) over the property at a monthly rental of
P262.00. The monthly rental was increased yearly starting 1989, and by 2001, the monthly
rental was P4,671.65.

On July 17, 2001, Malayan sent Uy a written notice informing him that the lease contract
would no longer be renewed or extended upon its expiration on August 31, 2001, and asking him
to vacate and turn over the possession of the property within five days from August 31, 2001, or
on September 5, 2001. Despite Uy’s receipt of the notice on June 18, 2001, he refused to vacate
the property, prompting Malayan to file before the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) of Manila a
complaint for ejectment, docketed as Civil Case No. 171256, and was raffled to Branch 3
thereof. The Court ruled in favor of Uy and granted an extension period of five years.

ISSUE:

Is respondent Uy entitled to a grant of extension by the Court?

RULING:

The 2nd paragraph of Article 1687 provides that in the event that the lessee has occupied
the leased premises for over a year, the courts may fix a longer term for the lease.
The power of the courts to establish a grace period is potestative or discretionary, depending on
the particular circumstances of the case. Thus, a longer term may be granted where equities
come into play, and may be denied where none appears, always with due deference to the
parties’ freedom to contract.

In the present case, respondent has remained in possession of the property from the time
the complaint for ejectment was filed on September 18, 2001 up to the present time. Effectively,
respondent’s lease has been extended for more than five years, which time is, under the
circumstances, deemed sufficient as an extension and for him to find another place to stay.