A property can only be legally sold by someone who has the authority to sell it. That sounds obvious — but in Philippine property transactions, the person sitting across the negotiating table is not always the person with that authority, and buyers who assume otherwise frequently pay money toward a transaction that cannot legally close. Verifying a seller’s authority to sell is not a formality. It is one of the earliest and most important checks in any property transaction.

This article covers the specific scenarios where authority questions arise most commonly — sole ownership with identity verification, co-owned properties, representatives with Special Powers of Attorney, corporate sellers, and properties where the registered owner has died — and explains exactly what documentation confirms authority in each case.

The simplest case — and still the one most buyers handle loosely. If the person selling a property claims to be the sole registered owner, the verification steps are: obtain a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the title from the Registry of Deeds; confirm the registered owner’s name on the CTC exactly matches the name on the seller’s government-issued identification; and confirm the seller is alive, present, and acting voluntarily.

Each of these steps is necessary. The CTC confirms who the Registry recognizes as the legal owner. The ID match confirms the person in front of you is that person. And confirming the seller’s voluntary participation protects against scenarios where a registered owner is being coerced into a sale they have not freely agreed to — which creates legal exposure for the buyer if discovered later.

Pay attention to name discrepancies. A title registered to “Maria Santos” and a seller presenting an ID showing “Maria C. Santos” is worth clarifying. In the Philippines, naming conventions and clerical inconsistencies can produce variations that are innocent but require confirmation. A lawyer or the Registry of Deeds can advise on how to handle specific discrepancies.

A Certified True Copy showing two or more registered owners — joint owners, co-heirs, spouses in a conjugal property regime, or business partners — means all registered owners must consent to and sign the Deed of Absolute Sale. One co-owner cannot sell the entire property without the others’ agreement, and a sale completed without all co-owners’ signatures is voidable by any dissenting co-owner.

When only one co-owner approaches you as the seller, the verification requirement is: confirm the identity of all registered co-owners from the CTC; confirm that all co-owners are in agreement with the sale; and confirm that all co-owners will either sign the Deed of Sale personally or that any absent co-owner has executed a valid and authenticated Special Power of Attorney authorizing the signing co-owner to act on their behalf.

The most common breakdown in co-owned property transactions occurs when one co-owner initiates and conducts the entire negotiation — agreeing on price, accepting earnest money, and scheduling the closing — without the buyer verifying that the other co-owners have genuinely agreed. The dissenting co-owner is under no obligation to ratify what they did not agree to, and the buyer who paid earnest money to one co-owner faces the prospect of either losing the deal or suing the co-owner who accepted the payment.

A Special Power of Attorney (SPA) is a notarized document that authorizes a named person — the attorney-in-fact — to perform specific acts on behalf of the registered owner. In Philippine property transactions, SPAs are commonly used when the registered owner is abroad, elderly, or otherwise unable to be personally present to sign documents.

An SPA is legitimate when it meets all of the following conditions: it was executed before a notary public, it was executed by the registered owner (not by the attorney-in-fact themselves), it specifically authorizes the sale of the identified property (a general SPA is not sufficient for a property sale), it has not expired (SPAs typically include or should include an expiry date), and — if executed abroad — it has been consularized at a Philippine consulate or apostilled under the Hague Apostille Convention.

When a seller presents an SPA, the buyer must verify: the authenticity of the SPA (it can be verified with the notary whose name appears on the document), that the registered owner on the title matches the grantor named in the SPA, that the SPA specifically covers the sale of this property, that the SPA has not expired or been revoked, and that the registered owner is still alive. An SPA is automatically revoked upon the death of the grantor — which means a transaction conducted under an SPA after the grantor’s death has no legal foundation.

SPAs can be forged. A seller presenting an SPA for a transaction involving a property that is priced below market, where the registered owner is allegedly unavailable, and where the urgency to close is high, warrants heightened scrutiny. Have the SPA authenticated through the notary’s office before proceeding.

When a property is owned by a corporation, the seller is the legal entity — not the individual representative you are dealing with. A corporation can only act through its authorized representatives, and those representatives’ authority to sell property must be formally established through the corporation’s governing documents and internal resolutions.

For a corporate seller, the documents that establish authority to sell include: the Board of Directors’ resolution specifically authorizing the sale of the identified property, the corporation’s Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws confirming the Board’s authority to approve such transactions, and a Secretary’s Certificate attesting that the resolution was duly adopted at a proper meeting. Some corporations also require stockholder approval for significant asset disposals — the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws will indicate whether this applies.

The individual signing the Deed of Sale on the corporation’s behalf — typically the President, CEO, or a designated officer — must be specifically authorized to do so by the Board resolution. Verify that the signatory named in the resolution is the same person who will sign the documents and that their authority has not been superseded by subsequent corporate action.

For SEC-registered corporations, you can verify the company’s registration status and basic corporate information through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s online registry. A corporation that cannot be found in SEC records is either not registered or registered under a different name — either way, a reason for elevated scrutiny.

If the registered owner has died, no sale can proceed until the estate has been settled and the title has been transferred to the heirs’ names. The heirs — even if all in agreement — cannot sell the property in the deceased’s name. The property must first go through the estate settlement process, with the title transferred to the heirs, before any of them has the legal standing to convey ownership to a buyer.

When a group of heirs approaches you as sellers, verify: that the title has already been transferred from the deceased’s name into the heirs’ names through a completed estate settlement process; that all heirs whose names appear on the new title are in agreement with the sale; and that all heirs will sign the Deed of Sale or that proper SPAs are in place for any absent heir.

Buying a property where the title remains in a deceased person’s name — even with all the heirs’ agreement — produces a title defect. The Registry of Deeds cannot transfer a property from a deceased owner directly to a buyer without the estate settlement documentation. A buyer who closes such a transaction without the estate settlement completed will be unable to complete the title transfer.