Reconstitution of Torrens title
The judicial reconstitution of a Torrens title under Republic Act No. 26 means the restoration in the original form and condition of a lost or destroyed Torrens certificate attesting the title of a person to registered land. The purpose of the reconstitution is to enable, after observing the procedures prescribed by law, the reproduction of the lost or destroyed Torrens certificate in the same form and in exactly the same way it was at the time of the loss or destruction.
To ensure the reconstitution proceedings from abuse, Republic Act No. 26 has laid down the mandatory requirements to be followed. For the judicial reconstitution of an existing and valid original certificate of Torrens title, Section 2 of Republic Act No. 26 has expressly listed the acceptable bases, viz.:
To ensure the reconstitution proceedings from abuse, Republic Act No. 26 has laid down the mandatory requirements to be followed. For the judicial reconstitution of an existing and valid original certificate of Torrens title, Section 2 of Republic Act No. 26 has expressly listed the acceptable bases, viz.:
Section 2. Original certificates of title shall be reconstituted from such of the sources hereunder enumerated as may be available, in the following order:
(a) The owner’s duplicate of the certificate of title;
(b) The co-owner’s, mortgagee’s, or lessee’s duplicate of the certificate of title;
(c) A certified copy of the certificate of title, previously issued by the register of deeds or by a legal custodian thereof;
(d) An authenticated copy of the decree of registration or patent, as the case may be, pursuant to which the original certificate of title was issued;
(e) A document, on file in the registry of deeds, by which the property, the description of which is given in said document, is mortgaged, leased or encumbered, or an authenticated copy of said document showing that its original had been registered; and
(f) Any other document which, in the judgment of the court, is sufficient and proper basis for reconstituting the lost or destroyed certificate of title.