Dávila Padró v. Córdova Dávila

77 P.R. 125
CourtSupreme Court of Puerto Rico
DecidedSeptember 20, 1954
DocketNo. 10559
StatusPublished

This text of 77 P.R. 125 (Dávila Padró v. Córdova Dávila) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dávila Padró v. Córdova Dávila, 77 P.R. 125 (prsupreme 1954).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Bela val

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is a petition for declaratory judgment wherein plaintiff-appellant alleges that she is the owner of a house and lot located at Las Flores Street in Cataño, Puerto Rico, which she acquired on March 6, 1912, by purchase from Jacinto Lasalle, and that she immediately entered into the possession and enjoyment of the property as sole owner notwithstanding the fact that the property is recorded in the Registry of Property of Bayamón in favor of Ramón Cór-dova Diaz; that the latter appeared at the execution of the deed in order to acquire the property but for the sole benefit of appellant herein, who was the one who paid the selling-price with her own money; that in the acquisitive title of such property it was made to appear that the house and lot was owned by the late Ramón Córdova Diaz, but subject to the latter's express verbal condition that the ownership title would be transferred to plaintiff-appellant upon her demand to Ramón Córdova Díaz; that plaintiff-appellant requested the heirs of Ramón Córdova Díaz, defendants herein, to transfer the title of the house and lot to her, which they have refused to do; and that the judicial administratrix of the estate has advertised the public sale of appellant’s property to be held on February 27, 1948, wherefore plaintiff-appellant requested the court of first instance to render judg[127]*127ment declaring plaintiff-appellant to be the sole owner of the real property, and ordering the cancellation in the Registry of Property of the record in favor of the late Ramón Córdova Díaz.

The defendants alleged in their answer that the complaint did not state facts sufficient to constitute a good cause of action against defendants, and that the property in litigation belongs to the heirs of Elena Agapita Dávila and Ramón Córdova Díaz, and that it has never been and is not now plaintiff’s property. At the hearing plaintiff-appellant offered and introduced pertinent evidence, without objection from the other party, stating that she was going to present her case not only under the theory of the possible nonperformance of contract but also under the theory of acquisitive prescription. The court, sustaining an objection by the defendants, did not permit appellant to testify on certain particulars of the verbal agreement between her and Ramón Córdova Díaz because it involved statements made by a deceased, and the case continued on the second theory thus established, namely, acquisitive prescription.

After the hearing, the trial court of Bayamón made the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

“Statement of Facts Proved
“1. Plaintiff has never been nor is the owner of the property in litigation.
“2. Ramón Cordova Diaz and his wife, Elena Agapita Dá-vila, purchased and paid for the real property in question, and it was recorded in their name in the Registry of Property.
“3. The fact that plaintiff occupied and still occupies the real property has never implied that she was the owner.
“Conclusions of Law
“1. Since plaintiff did not prove the allegations set forth in the complaint, she has no right to the relief requested therein, wherefore judgment cannot be rendered adjudging that plaintiff is the owner of the house described in the complaint.”

[128]*128In conformity with its findings of fact and conclusions-of law, the court rendered judgment dismissing the complaint, with costs against plaintiff, plus $100 for fees for defendant’s attorney.

It is to be noted that the trial judge made no specific finding as to whether or not plaintiff-appellant’s possession was sufficient to establish a right of ownership in her favor by extraordinary prescription, pursuant to our judgment of May 29, 1952, remanding -the case for compliance with Rule 52(a) of the Rules of Civil Procedure of Puerto Rico. It is difficult for us to regard finding No. 3, which says, “The fact that plaintiff occupied and still occupies the real property has never implied that she was the owner,” as a finding on the real issue here presented, which is the creation of a right of ownership by extraordinary prescription, for it does not state how long appellant has occupied the house of litigation, the day she took possession of the house, in what belief and the character of the possession. Since this Court has power to set aside the finding of the trial court for the reason that, if the fact that plaintiff has lived on the property, if she did so with public belief of ownership, is sufficient to create rights in her favor, such finding is clearly erroneous in the light of the facts (Rule 52(a)) and the law applicable thereto, we shall analyze, first, the question of law, in order to determine what kind of evidence is required to prove extraordinary prescription, and, second, the questions of fact, in order to determine whether such facts are sufficient to vest her with the right of ownership by extraordinary prescription, as plaintiff-appellant alleges to have proved.

Section 1859 of the Civil Code of Puerto Rico provides that “Ownership and other property rights in real property shall also prescribe by uninterrupted possession of the same for thirty years without the necessity of title nor good faith and without distinction between present and [129]*129absent persons, with the exception mentioned in Section 475, second article, Chapter I, Title VII, Second Book, of this Code,” namely, with the exception of continuous and not apparent servitudes and discontinuous servitudes, either apparent or not apparent, which can only be acquired by virtue of a title, and are therefore not subject to prescription. According to Manresa, “the section under consideration should be read in connection with § 447 [§376 of our Code] and, therefore, the possession to which it refers and which is liable to produce ownership by extraordinary prescription must be exercised in the belief of ownership, because according to that section in order that possession may serve as a title for the acquisition of ownership, it must have been acquired and enjoyed in that belief. Hence, the colono, the bailee, the attorney in fact, and, in general, all those who possess in the name or in representation of another, can not acquire the ownership of the thing possessed by them or any other right, by prescription, whether ordinary or extraordinary, no matter how long they are in possession thereof, because they do not possess in the belief of ownership. The Supreme Court [he refers to the Supreme Court of Spain] confirms that doctrine by declaring that § 1959 of the Code [1859 of ours], in requiring as sole condition for the extraordinary prescription the uninterrupted possession for thirty years, does not refer to the material possession of the thing, but the possession in the belief of ownership, as inferred from § § 444, 447, and 1941. (Judgment of November 19, 1910.)” 12 Manresa, Comen-tarios al Código Español, 906, 907, rev. 5th ed. of the Insti-tuto Editorial • Reus, 1951.) Sections 444, 447, and 1941 of the Spanish Civil Code are identical with § § 373, 376, and 1841 of the Civil Code of Puerto Rico.

We must therefore determine what is meant by possession “in the belief that he is the owner” by reading as a whole the provisions of § § 373, 376, and 1841 of our [130]*130Code.

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Bluebook (online)
77 P.R. 125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davila-padro-v-cordova-davila-prsupreme-1954.