Short answer. The tenant, the lessee, pays. Among the obligations Article 1657 places on the lessee is to pay expenses for the deed of lease. So the cost of executing and notarizing the written lease is the tenant's responsibility under the Civil Code's default rule, unless the parties agree to a different arrangement in the contract itself.
What the law says
To pay expenses for the deed of lease.
Civil Code, Article 1657 — Obligations of the Lessee. Read the full provision →
The lessee pays for the deed of lease
Article 1657 lists what a tenant, the lessee, must do, and one of those duties is direct: to pay expenses for the deed of lease. The deed of lease is the written contract that puts the lease into formal shape, and executing it, including notarizing it where that is done, involves costs. The Civil Code assigns those costs to the tenant. So when a lease is reduced to a notarized document, the default expectation is that the tenant, not the landlord, shoulders the expense of preparing and formalizing that deed. This is one of three basic obligations the article spells out for a lessee.
The lessee's other duties, in context
It helps to read this alongside the tenant's other core obligations, because it shows the article is simply dividing responsibilities in a lease. The same provision requires the lessee to pay the price of the lease according to the terms stipulated and to use the thing leased as a diligent father of a family, devoting it to the agreed use. Paying for the deed sits naturally beside these: the tenant pays the rent, treats the property with care, and covers the cost of the document that records the arrangement. Seen together, these are the everyday duties that keep a lease in order.
Can the landlord and tenant agree otherwise?
Like most rules on who bears expenses, this one operates as a default and gives way to the parties' own agreement. Nothing stops a landlord and tenant from stipulating in the lease that the landlord will pay the notarial cost, or that the two will split it. If the contract addresses the point, the contract governs; if it is silent, Article 1657 fills the gap and places the expense on the tenant. So the practical first step is to check what your lease actually says. Where it says nothing about who pays for the deed, the tenant is the one the law charges.
What this obligation does not decide
Be careful not to stretch this beyond its terms. The duty is to pay the expenses of the deed of lease, the cost of formalizing the contract itself. It does not make the tenant answer for every expense connected to the property, such as the landlord's own duties of repair or the taxes each side owes under other laws. Nor does it override a valid contrary agreement. Because the answer can turn on the wording of your lease and on how related costs are handled, this is general legal information, not advice on your particular tenancy; the contract's own terms come first.
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.
- Efren S. Quesada, et al. vs. Bonanza Restaurants, Inc, G.R. No. 207500, November 14, 2016 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Victoria N. Racelis vs. Spouses Germil Javier and Rebecca Javier, G.R. No. 189609, January 29, 2018 — read the decision on LawPhil →