An unlawful detainer case is how a landlord — or a seller, buyer or other person entitled to possession — lawfully recovers a property from a tenant or occupant whose right to stay has ended but who will not leave. It is deliberately built as a summary action: pleadings are restricted, there is no full-blown trial, and the judgment settles possession only, leaving questions of ownership to a separate case. The speed comes at the price of strictness, though. The case stands or falls on a properly served demand, on suing inside a tight window, and on filing in the right court. This page walks through the requirements in the order a landlord will meet them, from the demand letter to the writ that restores possession.
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Confirm the case is unlawful detainer and that you are inside the one-year window
Unlawful detainer is the summary action available to a lessor, vendor, vendee or other person against whom the possession of land or a building is unlawfully withheld after the expiration or termination of the right to hold possession, by virtue of any contract, express or implied. The action must be brought within one (1) year after the unlawful withholding of possession, in the proper Municipal Trial Court. For a tenant who stops paying rent, the count runs from the demand described in the next step, not from the first missed payment. Once the window closes, the summary route is gone and a slower, ordinary possessory action has to be used instead — so the date arithmetic is worth doing before anything else.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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Serve the demand to pay or comply and to vacate
Unless the lease stipulates otherwise, the lessor's action may be commenced only after a demand to pay or comply with the conditions of the lease and to vacate is made upon the lessee. The demand may be made on the lessee directly, by serving written notice of it upon the person found on the premises, or by posting the notice on the premises if no person is found there. The tenant must then fail to comply for fifteen (15) days in the case of land, or five (5) days in the case of buildings, before the case may be filed. Keep proof of exactly how and when the demand was served — a defective or unproven demand is one of the commonest reasons these cases fail.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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Pass through barangay conciliation where the law requires it
Many landlord-and-tenant disputes between individuals must first be referred for conciliation at the barangay before any case may be filed in court. Rule 70 enforces this from the court's side: cases requiring referral for conciliation, where there is no showing of compliance with that requirement, shall be dismissed without prejudice, and may be revived only after the requirement has been complied with. The certification issued when conciliation fails is what gets attached to the complaint as proof of compliance. The mechanics of the barangay process are covered on a separate page; the point here is that skipping it saves nothing — it costs a dismissal and a restart.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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File the verified complaint with the Municipal Trial Court
The complaint is filed in the proper Municipal Trial Court, and — like every pleading in the action — it must be verified. All actions for forcible entry and unlawful detainer, irrespective of the amount of damages or unpaid rentals sought, are governed by the summary procedure laid down in Rule 70. On filing, the court examines the allegations and any evidence attached and may dismiss the case outright on any ground for the dismissal of a civil action that is apparent on its face; if no such ground appears, it issues summons forthwith. Attach the lease if there is one, the demand letter, proof of its service, and the barangay certification where required.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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Expect a stripped-down, fast-moving case
The summary character is what separates ejectment from ordinary litigation. The only pleadings allowed are the complaint, the compulsory counterclaim and cross-claim pleaded in the answer, and the answers to those. The defendant must answer within ten (10) days from service of summons, and defences not pleaded in the answer are deemed waived. A long list of the usual delaying devices is prohibited outright: a motion to dismiss (except for lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter or failure to go through conciliation), a motion for a bill of particulars, a motion for new trial or for reconsideration of the judgment, a petition for relief from judgment, and any motion for extension of time to file pleadings. The design leaves both sides very little room to slow the case down.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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Attend the preliminary conference and submit position papers
A preliminary conference is held not later than thirty (30) days after the last answer is filed, and appearance matters: the plaintiff's failure to appear is cause for the dismissal of the complaint, while a sole defendant who fails to appear exposes himself to judgment on the complaint. Within five (5) days after the conference ends, the court issues an order recording the matters taken up. Within ten (10) days from receipt of that order, the parties submit the affidavits of their witnesses and their other evidence on the factual issues defined in the order, together with position papers setting out the law and the facts relied upon. There is no trial in the ordinary sense — the affidavits and papers are the evidence.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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Judgment: possession, arrears and costs
The court renders judgment within thirty (30) days after receipt of the affidavits and position papers, or the expiration of the period for filing them. If the allegations of the complaint are found true, judgment is rendered for the restitution of the premises, the sum justly due as arrears of rent or as reasonable compensation for the use and occupation of the premises, attorney's fees and costs. The judgment is conclusive with respect to possession only: it does not bind the title or affect the ownership of the land or building, and it does not bar a later action between the same parties respecting title.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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Execution: immediate, unless the tenant stays it
If judgment is rendered against the defendant, execution issues immediately upon motion. The defendant can stay execution only by doing three things together: perfecting an appeal, filing a sufficient supersedeas bond approved by the Municipal Trial Court and executed in favour of the plaintiff to pay the rents, damages and costs accruing down to the time of the judgment appealed from, and depositing with the appellate court, as the appeal runs, the amount of rent falling due as determined by the judgment. If any of the three is missing, the landlord may move for execution and recover the premises even while the appeal continues. The stay is covered in detail, from the tenant's side, on a separate page.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →