
    Pasalacqua Hermanos & Co. v. The Registrar of Property.
    Appeal from a decision of tlie Registrar of Property of Caguas.
    No. 2.
    Decided March 25, 1904.
    Sale oe Award op Mortgaged Property — Prior Record. — A mortgaged, estate having been sold or awarded by virtue of proceedings instituted by the mortgage creditor against the heirs of the debtor or third possessor, the prior reeord of said estate in favor of the latter is not necessary in order that the deed of sale or the eertifed copy of the award may be recorded.
    Id. — Decree op Award — Dominion Title. — A mortgaged estate having been awarded, and the clerk of the district court having issued a certified copy containing the decree of award of the property, together with the other data necessary for purposes of record, the certified copy in itself constitutes a title of ownership perfectly recordable, and the record applied for cannot be refused by reason of the absence of the decree of award referred to in article 174 of the Mortgage Regulations, since such omission does not impair the value of the deeree.
    STATEMENT OE THE CASE.
    A hearing was had of the present administrative appeal, taken by Attorney Antonio Sarmiento, on behalf of Meásrs. Pasalacqua Hermanos & Co., doing business in Coamo, from the decision of the registrar of property of Caguas, refusing admission to record of a certificate of the decree of award of sundry rural estates, issued in an action prosecuted by said Pasalacqua Hermanos in the District Court of San Juan against the estate of José S. Mandés y Cintron.
    Foreclosure proceedings having been instituted in the District Court of San Juan by the firm of Pasalacqua Hermanos & Co., doing business in Coamo, against the estate of José S. Mandés y Cintron, consisting of his widow, Maria Ortiz Muñoz, domiciled in Cayey, and her acknowledged natural children, José Juan and José Alejandro Mandés, for the recovery of a mortgage debt amounting to fourteen thousand dollars, United States currency, the mortgage property was offered at public sale, and no bidders having presented themselves, the same was awarded to the execution creditors, Pasalacqua Hermanos & Co., for two-thirds of the valuation fixed for the second public sale.
    A certified copy of the decree of award was ordered to be issued to them, together with the other necessary data for the record thereof in the Registry of Property, which was done by the clerk of the court. The said certified copy having been presented at the Registry for the purpose of recording the property awarded, to the execution creditors, Pasalac-qua Hermanos & Co., the registrar refused in part to record the same for the reasons set forth in the memorandum placed at the bottom of the document presented, and which reads as follows:
    “Admission to record of the foregoing document has been refused, and in place thereof a cautionary notice made to have effect during one hundred and twenty days, as to the estates described under Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8, in view of a petition, at folios 242 and 60, reverse side, 75, 103, 171, 176 and 70, volume 3 of Comerio, 2 of Aguas Buenas, 5 and 11 of Comerio, 5 of Aguas Buenas, and 6 of Comerio, estates Nos. 156, 64; 224, 194, duplicate, 229, 230 and 269, notice letters A and B, respectively, on account of a defect consisting in the fact that the execution proceeding was prosecuted against the estate of José S. Mandés y Cintron for the recovery of a mortgage debt mentioned in said document, whereas said properties are not recorded in the name of aforesaid estate; and as to the properties described under Nos. 4 and 5, at folio 47, volume 12 of Comerio, estate No 559, notice letter A, on account of the following defeets: Said estate does not appear recorded in the name of José S. Mandés y Cintron, nor of any other person; the mortgage for which the award was made to the firm of Pasalacqua Hermanos & Co. was not recorded, as regards the estate in question; and the execution proceeding for the recovery of aforesaid mortgage debt was prosecuted against the estate of José S. Mandés y Cintron, whereas said property is not recorded in the name of aforesaid estate; and at folio 197, volume 5, of Aguas Buenas, estate No. 237, notice letter A, on account of tbe following defects: Although in the foregoing document it is stated that said property was the one awarded, by measurement and boundaries given therein, it is not possible to identify it as being aforesaid No. 237, nor any other on the Registry; nor has the mortgage been recorded, with respect to said property, which gave,,rise to the execution; the execution proceedings were instituted against the estate of. José S. Mandés, in whose name said property is not recorded, and the decree of award, mentioned in article 174 of the Regulations for the execution of the Mortgage Law in force, was not included in said document. Caguas, January 15, 1904. S. Abella Bastón, Registrar.”
    From the foregoing decision Attorney Antonio Sarmiento, on behalf of Pasalaoqua Hermanos & Co., took the present •administrative appeal, praying that the registrar’s decision be reversed and said registrar ordered to admit to record the awarded estates.
    
      Mr. Sarmiento, for appellant.
   Mb. Chief Justice QuiñoNes,

after making the above statement of facts, delivered the opinion of the court.

Although formerly established as doctrine and jurisprudence by the General Board of Directors of Registries of Property, save only in cases of inheritances not yet occupied, that property sold or awarded by judicial process in payment of debts should be recorded in the name of the heirs of the debtor, before entering the same in favor of the vendee or grantee, this doctrine was modified by Royal Order of July 22, 1896, issued at the request of the Mortgage Bapk of Madrid,.and communicated directly to the General Board of Directors of Registries of Property, which latter ordered that in cases of sale or award of mortgaged realty, through execution proceedings instituted at the instance of the mortgage creditor against the heirs of the debtor, or third possess- or, it is not necessary that the record in favor of the latter should have first been made in order to enter the deed of sale or the certified copy of the award. This doctrine, based on a correct interpretation of articles 105 and 133, in accord •with, article 20 of the Mortgage Law of Spain, and substantially reproduced in the one in force in this Island, is of general application and should, therefore, be applied in the present case, in which all the circumstances specified in said order are to be found.

As to the other ground for the refusal of the registrar, namely, the absence of the decree of award mentioned in article 174 of the Regulations for the execution of the Mortgage Law, inasmuch as the decree awarding the property, together with the other data necessary for purposes of the record, is contamed in the certified copy issued by the clerk of the District Court of San Juan, the same constituting by itself a title of ownership perfectly recordable, the record applied for cannot be refused because of the absence of a mere formality which does not in the least impair the value of the decree of award inserted in the certified copy presented.

In view of the legal provisions cited, the decision entered by the registrar of property of Caguas at the boftom of the certified copy in question is reversed, and it is hereby declared that, with the exception of the two estates described under Nos. 4 and 5, at folio 47, volume 12 of Comerlo, estate No. 559, and at folio 197, volume 5 of Aguas Buenas, estate No. 237, not referred to in the present appeal, the others must be recorded directly in favor of Pasalacqua Hermanos & Co., without there being any need of a prior record in favor of the heirs of José S. Mandes y Cintrón. A certified copy of the present decision, together with The documents presented, is ordered to be forwarded to the registrar of property of Caguas for his information and guidance.

Justices Hernández, Figueras, Sulzbacher and MacLeary concurred.  