Buying Land In The Philippines Part 4: DAR Clearance

Buying Land In The Philippines Part 4: DAR Clearance




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Disclaimer

This is the fourth part in the series about buying land in the Philippines. As always, nothing you read here is to be taken as legal advice or professional guidance. This is our personal experience that we are sharing with you. So caveat lectorum.

Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)


The next step after paying taxes due to BIR is to submit paperwork to the DAR in order to receive DAR Clearance to submitted to the Land Registration Authority (LRA) for titling.

This post will describe the general package that we submitted to DAR and I will also provide you with example documents and forms to give you some ideas for how to move forward.

You may refer to the DAR website as well as this 2016 document from DAR describing the clearance process.



Documents Required For DAR Clearance:


REQUIRED DOCUMENT
NOTES
Letter of Request


The letter includes a listing of generic requirements for the DAR document package.



Original Deed of Sale


It is a good idea to have multiple copies of the DOAS notarized with original signatures at the time of execution.
 
sample DOAS

Certified True Copy Of Title

Obtained from the LRA.

Certified True Copy of Tax Declaration

Obtained from the Municipal Assessor.

Affidavit of Aggregate Landholdings of Vendor

This is the seller's attestation that their aggregate landholdings do not exceed five (5) hectares.


Affidavit of Aggregate Landholdings of Vendee

This is the buyer's attestation that their current aggregate landholdings do not exceed five (5) hectares and that the referenced transaction will not cause the buyer's aggregate landholdings to exceed five (5) hectares.


Affidavit of Non-Tenancy of Vendor

The Affidavit of Non-Tenancy was mentioned back in Part 2: Deed of Absolute Sale.

sample Affidavit of Non-Tenancy

Barangay Certification of Non-Tenancy

The Barangay Certification of Non-Tenancy is obtained from the Barangay where the sale property is located.



Municipal Assessor’s Certification of Vendor’s Aggregate Landholdings

Municipal Assessor’s Certification of Vendee’s Aggregate Landholdings

Provincial Assessor’s Certification of Vendor’s Aggregate Landholdings

Provincial Assessor’s Certification of Vendee’s Aggregate Landholdings

The certifications of aggregate landholdings can become a bit complex. If either the vendor or vendee hold property in other provinces or municipalities, then both the vendor and vendee shall be required to provide certifications for aggregate landholdings in each municipality and province in which they own land.
Special Power of Attorney

Required if the applicant is other than the buyer.


Sketch Plan

The Sketch Plan can be a photo copy of the section of the map showing the lot. Could also be a printed digital photo of the map, provided the resolution is adequate.




Submission Of Documents

 

DAR required us to submit two folders: one folder is for all original documents and the other folder is for one set of copies of original all documents.

We also created an extra set of copies and had DAR sign each as "received."

The amount of time it will take to process clearance is variable and may range from a few days to several weeks.