What law governs the replacement of lost Owner's Duplicate Certificate of Title?
Section 109 of Presidential Decree No. 1529 (P.D. No. 1529), as amended, otherwise known as the Property Registration Decree.
What is the difference between the Owner's Duplicate and Original Title?
Owner's Duplicate, as the term suggests, is a mere copy of the Original Title.
The original Title is under the safekeeping of the Office of the Registry of Deeds (RD).
This article covers the replacement of lost Owner's Duplicate of Title. When what is lost is the original Title, its replacement shall be governed by the rules on "reconstitution".
What is the procedure if one seeks the replacement of a lost Owner's Duplicate Title?
1. File an affidavit of loss with the Office of the Registry of Deeds where the property is located.
2. Request for a Certified True Copy of the Title with the annotation of the duly filed affidavit of loss.
3. File a petition for the issuance of a new owner's duplicate certificate of title with the proper Regional Trial Court.
4. After due notice to the Register of Deeds and other concerned parties, the court shall set the petition for hearing.
5. The court may, after notice and due hearing, direct the issuance of a new duplicate certificate.
6. Request for a copy of the court decision, and a Certificate of Finality of Decision.
7. File the copy of the decision and the Certificate of Finality with the Registry of Deeds for the issuance of new Owner's Duplicate of Title.
How to avoid the inconvenience of the process of replacement of Owner's Duplicate of Title?
Upgrade your manual Title to e-Title under the Voluntary Title Standardization Program of the Land Registration Authority (LRA).
To do this, bring your Owner's Duplicate copy to the Registry of Deeds or the nearest satellite office for your manual Title to be converted to e-Title. After processing, you will be given a printed copy of your e-Title.
Please watch LRA's official video on the replacement of manual Title to e-Title.
You may read LRA's Notice on "Surrender of old Manual Titles for upgrading to Electronic Title".