Short answer. Yes. Family Code Article 156 expressly allows property bought on a conditional sale on installments, where the seller keeps ownership only to guarantee payment of the price, to be constituted as a family home. You do not need to have finished paying or hold clean title before setting it up as the family home.
What the law says
property that is the subject of a conditional sale on installments where ownership is reserved by the vendor only to guarantee payment of the purchase price may be constituted as a family home
Family Code, Article 156 — What Property May Be Constituted as a Family Home. Read the full provision →
The general rule and the exception written into the same article
Article 156 first ties the family home to property in the absolute community, the conjugal partnership, or a spouse's exclusive property with the other's consent, or to property an unmarried head of family owns outright. It then adds, deliberately, an exception: “nevertheless, property that is the subject of a conditional sale on installments where ownership is reserved by the vendor only to guarantee payment of the purchase price may be constituted as a family home.” That last clause is what covers a home you are still paying for.
Why the seller keeping title on paper does not disqualify you
In a conditional sale on installments, the seller often keeps formal ownership until the buyer finishes paying, purely as security for the unpaid balance rather than as a sign the buyer has no real stake in the property. Article 156 recognizes that reality and treats you, the paying buyer, as able to constitute the home despite not yet holding full legal title, because the reservation exists “only to guarantee payment of the purchase price” — nothing more.
What this means for a family still paying a mortgage or installment plan
Many families in the Philippines live in homes they are still paying off, and Article 156 makes clear that this common arrangement is not a bar to family-home status. Waiting until the last installment clears is not a legal requirement here. What matters is that the arrangement fits the description in the article — a conditional sale where the seller's continued ownership exists strictly to secure the remaining payments.
This provision addresses eligibility, not the protections themselves
Article 156 answers whether the property can be constituted as a family home in the first place; it is not, by itself, the provision that spells out what protection a family home enjoys once constituted. Confirming that your installment property qualifies under this article is the first step — what that status then actually shields the home from is governed by the other provisions in the same chapter of the Family Code.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Urduja Ortiz-Aquino vs. Letecia Ortillo, Lisette Ortillo, And Sheriff Of The Office Of The Provincial Sheriff Of Lingayen, Pangasinan, G.R. No. 257235, November 8, 2023 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Cesar D. Taruc vs. Angelina D. Maximo, Maricel Buenaventura, George Jordan, and Jennifer Burgos, G.R. No. 227728, September 28, 2022 — read the decision on LawPhil →