Interesting articles updated daily

Being a member of the REBAP National Board, I had the privilege to attend a webinar conducted by the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA) on March 5, 2021, regarding the Reforms Initiatives launched by the Land Registration Authority (LRA). The attendees were representatives of the different Real Estate Broker organizations and groups representing the Real Estate industry's stakeholders. It was spearheaded and facilitated by its Deputy Director-General for Operations, Atty. Ernesto V. Perez and his team. At the beginning of the webinar, Atty Perez had informed the attendees the webinar was more of a consultative meeting since they would like to get feedback from the stakeholders about the Nine (9) “for process improvement” programs by the LRA. These programs were intended to streamline the documents' processing within the agency and to decentralize its services to the Local Government Units (LGUs) within the country.

Since the cases of Covid-19 positive individuals continue to increase every day, I would suggest we try to use the above-mentioned available services if they are applicable and use them as options instead of going to a particular or concerned government agency personally. Since some of the processes have helped me significantly and efficiently during the lockdown last year, I would like to share my first-hand experience using them. It is my own small way of helping the LRA create awareness and disseminating the information regarding the existence of the programs. I want to share my experience concerning A2A during the pandemic. My buyer had scheduled the payment for a property his company had bought on June 1, 2020. But before the payment, he had instructed me to get the Certified True Copies (CTCs) of the titles. We were expecting that the Registry for San Juan City would be open on that date, but unfortunately, all Registry of Deeds within Metro Manila remained closed due to Enhanced Community Quarantine. Without the CTCs of the titles, securing the considerations and scheduling a closing date would be improbable. Fortunately, Rizal was under GCQ so we were able to get the CTCs from the Antipolo RD. This enabled the purchase agreement to be fully executed. The second process I had experience with was the Transaction Preview Notice (TPN). It is currently being implemented at the Registry of Deeds for Makati City. It had been an easy and helpful undertaking. During an assessment, the Registry of Deed’s personnel will encode the title's contents and the technical description. Initially, it will be printed on a regular letter size paper to let the registrant check and compare it with the title. At least before printing, the registrant can check for typographical entries. If the registrant agrees that there were no errors, that would be the only time they will accept the payment for registration. The third process that was very useful to me was the LRA Online Tracking System or LOTS. This system could be helpful and timely considering the prevailing restrictions nowadays. This enables us to know the status of the transfer of the title. We do not need to go to the RD to verify it physically. We would only need the EPEB number, and we can get the processing status information online.

I would like to share these options to emphasize or underscore the importance of utilizing and being up-to-date with the tools and processes available to us brokers. Strong foundation, and access to good information repository and useful resources are essential to our practice. Equipped with these handy nuggets of must-haves, securing and closing deals can be more manageable and less stressful than ever. We are very fortunate that on our 1st NGMM, Atty Perez has agreed to discuss these nine (9) steps. Our members will have the opportunity to hear and ask about these wonderful options available for everyone’s benefit.