Short answer. Yes, within limits. An agent may keep the things that are the object of the agency until you reimburse what he advanced and indemnify him for damage he suffered in carrying out the work. He cannot hold property that has nothing to do with the agency.
What the law says
The agent may retain in pledge the things which are the object of the agency until the principal effects the reimbursement and pays the indemnity set forth in the two preceding articles.
Civil Code, Article 1914 — Agent's Right of Retention. Read the full provision →
Only the things the agency was about
The right is tied to the job. What the agent may hold are the things which are the object of the agency — the goods he was told to sell, the documents he was told to process, the proceeds he collected on your instructions. Property of yours that happens to be in his hands for some other reason is outside the article entirely. An agent engaged to sell a vehicle cannot hold your land title because you have not settled his account on the vehicle. If he does, he is not exercising a right of retention; he is simply refusing to return property that is yours.
What the retention secures
The article points back to two obligations of the principal: reimbursement of the sums the agent advanced in carrying out the agency, and indemnity for damages he suffered in performing it without fault or negligence on his part. Those are the amounts the retention answers for. An agent who paid registration fees, freight, or a filing charge out of his own pocket on your instruction is in that position. Notice what is not named — the agent's compensation. A dispute purely about an unpaid commission does not sit comfortably within this right, and an agent who withholds your property over his fee is on much weaker ground than one who is out of pocket for expenses he was told to incur.
Holding is not owning, using or selling
The article says the agent may retain the things in pledge, and that word sets the ceiling. He holds them as security. He does not become the owner, he may not use them for himself, and he may not sell them off to collect what he is owed without going through the proper process. He also remains bound to take care of what he holds and to account for it. An agent who consumes, disposes of or quietly transfers the property while claiming a right of retention has stepped well past what this provision allows, and the consequences of that are not limited to the civil dispute.
How to break the deadlock
If you are the principal, the fastest route is to make the retention pointless. Ask for a written accounting: each advance, the date, the purpose and the receipt. Pay what is genuinely due and pay it traceably, so there is no argument later about whether it was tendered. Where the figures are contested, pay or formally tender the undisputed portion and narrow the fight to what remains. If you are the agent, the same discipline protects you — a documented, itemised claim looks like a right being exercised, while a bare refusal to hand things over looks like something else.
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.
- BP Oil and Chemicals International Philippines, Inc. vs. Total Distribution & Logistic Systems, Inc, G.R. No. 214406, February 6, 2017 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Pacsports Phils., Inc. vs. Niccolo Sports, Inc, G.R. No. 141602, November 22, 2001 — read the decision on LawPhil →