"x x x.
Sales; sale of real property; authority of the agent must be in writing; otherwise the sale is null and void. Articles 1874 of the Civil Code provides:
Art. 1874. When a sale of a piece of land or any interest therein is through an agent, the authority of the latter shall be in writing; otherwise, the sale shall be void.
Likewise, Article 1878 paragraph 5 of the Civil Code specifically mandates that the authority of the agent to sell a real property must be conferred in writing, to wit:
Art. 1878. Special powers of attorney are necessary in the following cases:(1) x x xx x x(5) To enter into any contract by which the ownership of an immovable is transmitted or acquired either gratuitously or for a valuable consideration;x x x.
The foregoing provisions explicitly require a written authority when the sale of a piece of land is through an agent, whether the sale is gratuitously or for a valuable consideration. Absent such authority in writing, the sale is null and void.Spouses Eliseo R. Bautista and Emperatriz C. Bautista v. Spouses Mila Jalandoni and Antonio Jalandoni and Manila Credit Corporation, G.R. No. 171464/G.R. No. 199341, November 27, 2013.
Sales; sale of real property; buyer in good faith; conditions to prove good faith; failure to verify extent and nature of agent’s authority. A buyer in good faith is one who buys the property of another without notice that some other person has a right to or interest in such property. He is a buyer for value if he pays a full and fair price at the time of the purchase or before he has notice of the claim or interest of some other person in the property. “Good faith connotes an honest intention to abstain from taking unconscientious advantage of another.”To prove good faith, the following conditions must be present: (a) the seller is the registered owner of the land; (b) the owner is in possession thereof; and (3) at the time of the sale, the buyer was not aware of any claim or interest of some other person in the property, or of any defect or restriction in the title of the seller or in his capacity to convey title to the property. All these conditions must be present, otherwise, the buyer is under obligation to exercise extra ordinary diligence by scrutinizing the certificates of title and examining all factual circumstances to enable him to ascertain the seller’s title and capacity to transfer any interest in the property. Spouses Eliseo R. Bautista and Emperatriz C. Bautista v. Spouses Mila Jalandoni and Antonio Jalandoni and Manila Credit Corporation, G.R. No. 171464/G.R. No. 199341, November 27, 2013."
