ANTICHRESIS Measure of application of fruits to interest and

principal to forestall usury.

Art. 2132. By the contract of antichresis the
creditor acquires the right to receive the fruits of an Art. 2134. The amount of the principal and of the
immovable of his debtor, with the obligation to interest shall be specified in writing; otherwise, the
apply them to the payment of the interest, if owing, contract of antichresis shall be void.
and thereafter to the principal of his credit.
 Form of the contract
 Characteristics of the contract Even if the antichresis is void, the principal
1. Accessory – secures the performances of a obligation remains valid.
principal obligation
2. Formal – must be in writing to be valid (Art. Art. 2135. The creditor, unless there is a stipulation
2134) to the contrary, is obliged to pay the taxes and
charges upon the estate.
Delivery of property required only so that the
creditor may receive the fruits. He is also bound to bear the expenses necessary for
its preservation and repair.
Right of creditor to the fruits – normally covers all
fruits, but the parties may stipulate otherwise (Art. The sums spent for the purposes stated in this Art.
1306) shall be deducted from the fruits.

 Obligation to pay interest not essential Obligations of the antichretic creditor are
The principal obligation may or may not earn necessary consequences of the contract because
interest. Antichresis is susceptible to guaranteeing they arise from its very nature. The sums spent will
all kinds of obligations, pure of conditional be charged against the fruits of the property.

Antichresis, real mortgage and pledge compared 1. Payment of taxes and charges upon the
Antichresis Real Mortgage Pledge estate – unless there is a contrary stipulation,
Real property Personal otherwise, will be liable to pay indemnity
property for damages (Art. 1170). Any payment by
Perfected by Perfected by the the debtor will be applied to the debt.
mere consent delivery of thing 2. Application of the fruits of the estate –
pledged after receiving them, to the interest if owing
Right to receive Creates real right and thereafter the principal. He also has to
fruits account.
Express No such No such
stipulation to stipulation stipulation Art. 2136. The debtor cannot reacquire the
apply fruits to enjoyment of the immovable without first having
principal totally paid what he owes the creditor.
Creditor to pay No obligation to
taxes pay taxes
But the latter, in order to exempt himself from the
Real Consensual
Debtor loses Debtor loses Debtor retains obligations imposed upon him by the preceding
possession possession possession article, may always compel the debtor to enter
again upon the enjoyment of the property, except
when there is a stipulation to the contrary.
Art. 2133. The actual market value of the fruits at
the time of the application thereof to the interest  Right of antichretic debtor to reacquire
and principal shall be the measure of such enjoyment of property
application. 1. Only upon full payment of the debt or
2. If the creditor does not want to pay taxes and
expenses for preservation and repair
Art. 2137. The creditor does not acquire the Third persons who are not parties to the
ownership of the real estate for non-payment of the principal obligation may secure the latter by
debt within the period agreed upon. pledging or mortgaging their own property.

Every stipulation to the contrary shall be void. But  Art. 2089. A pledge or mortgage is indivisible,
the creditor may petition the court for the payment even though the debt may be divided among the
of the debt or the sale of the real property. In this successors in interest of the debtor or of the
case, the Rules of Court on the foreclosure of creditor.
mortgages shall apply.
Therefore, the debtor's heir who has paid a part
 Remedy of creditor in case of nonpayment of of the debt cannot ask for the proportionate
debt extinguishment of the pledge or mortgage as
1. Cannot automatically appropriate (Art. 2088) long as the debt is not completely satisfied.
2. Action for specific performance
3. Petition for the sale of real property as Neither can the creditor's heir who received his
foreclosure under Rule 68 share of the debt return the pledge or cancel the
4. Parties may agree to extrajudicial foreclosure mortgage, to the prejudice of the other heirs
who have not been paid.
Acquisition by creditor of property by prescription
any agreement to this effect is void. Possession of From these provisions is expected the case in
an antichretic creditor is not in the concept of an which, there being several things given in
owner. mortgage or pledge, each one of them
guarantees only a determinate portion of the
Art. 2138. The contracting parties may stipulate credit.
that the interest upon the debt be compensated with
the fruits of the property which is the object of the The debtor, in this case, shall have a right to the
antichresis, provided that if the value of the fruits extinguishment of the pledge or mortgage as the
should exceed the amount of interest allowed by the portion of the debt for which each thing is
laws against usury, the excess shall be applied to specially answerable is satisfied.
the principal.
 Art. 2090. The indivisibility of a pledge or
 Interest in antichresis subject to the Usury mortgage is not affected by the fact that the
Law debtors are not solidarily liable.
This is no longer subject to any ceiling.
 Art. 2091. The contract of pledge or mortgage
Art. 2139. The last paragraph of Art. 2085, and may secure all kinds of obligations, be they pure
Articles 2089 to 2091 are applicable to this or subject to a suspensive or resolutory
contract. condition.

 Applicability of certain articles Spouses Reyes vs. Heirs of Benjamin Malanse

Pledge and mortgage provisions applicable to G.R. No. 219071 August 24, 2016
antichresis:
 Art. 2085. The following requisites are essential FACTS: Benjamin Malance was the owner of a
to the contracts of pledge and mortgage: parcel of agricultural land. During his lifetime,
(1) That they be constituted to secure the Benjamin obtained from the Magtalas sisters a loan
fulfillment of a principal obligation; (2) That as evidenced by a Kasulatan. Under the Kasulatan,
the pledgor or mortgagor be the absolute the Magtalas sisters shall have the right to the fruits
owner of the thing pledged or mortgaged; of the subject land for six (6) years or until the loan
(3) That the persons constituting the pledge is fully paid.
or mortgage have the free disposal of their
property, and in the absence thereof, that After Benjamin passed away, his siblings, the
they be legally authorized for the purpose. Malance heirs, inspected the subject land and
discovered that petitioners were cultivating the Thus, antichresis involves an express agreement
same on the basis of the Kasulatan. Doubting the between parties whereby: (a) the creditor will have
authenticity of the said Kasulatan, the Malance heirs possession of the debtor's real property given as
filed a case against petitioners, before the RTC of security; (b)such creditor will apply the fruits of the
Malolos City, Bulacan, Branch 84 which the said property to the interest owed by the debtor, if
Malance heirs subsequently amended. They claimed any, then to the principal amount; (c) the creditor
that: the Kasulatan was executed during the time retains enjoyment of such property until the debtor
when Benjamin was seriously ill and mentally has totally paid what he owes; and (d) should the
incapacitated due to his illness and advanced age; obligation be duly paid, then the contract is
and the signature of Benjamin in the Kasulatan was automatically extinguished proceeding from the
forged. accessory character of the agreement.

In their answer, petitioners averred that: when Bearing these elements in mind, the evidence on
Benjamin became sickly, he leased the subject land record shows that the parties intended to enter into a
to different people who cultivated the same with contract of antichresis.
petitioners' help; the Kasulatan was executed before
a notary public at the time when Benjamin was of While the Kasulatan did not provide for the transfer
sound mind, though sickly; they were cultivating of possession of the subject land, the
the subject land in accordance with the said contemporaneous and subsequent acts of the parties
Kasulatan; the Malance heirs must pay Benjamin's show that such possession was intended to be
indebtedness prior to recovery of possession. transferred. Atty. Navarro testified that while the
Kasulatan only shows that the harvest and the fruits
The complaint was initially dismissed for lack of shall answer for Benjamin's indebtedness, the
jurisdiction, but was subsequently reinstatedand re- parties agreed among themselves that the lenders
raffled to Branch 9 of the same RTC. The RTC would be the one to take possession of the subject
dismissed the complaint. It declared the Kasulatan land in order for them to get the harvest. As
as a contract of antichresis binding upon Benjamin's antichretic creditors, the Magtalas sisters are
heirs - the Malance heirs - and conferring on the entitled to retain enjoyment of the subject land until
Magtalas sisters the right to retain the subject land the debt has been totally paid. Article 2136 of the
until the debt is paid. Civil Code reads: Art. 2136. The debtor cannot
reacquire the enjoyment of the immovable without
Aggrieved, the Malance heirs appealed to the CA. first having totally paid what he owes the creditor.
The CA upheld the RTC's findings, the contract
between the parties was a contract of antichresis.
Consequently, it directed the Magtalas sisters to
surrender and turn-over the physical possession of
the subject land to the Malance heirs upon payment
by the latter of the outstanding loan. Dissatisfied,
petitioners moved for reconsideration. The same
was, however, denied; hence, this petition.

ISSUE: Whether the Kasulatan is a contract of

antichresis.

HELD: YES. Article 2132 of the Civil Code

provides: By the contract of antichresis the creditor
acquires the right to receive the fruits of an
immovable of his debtor, with the obligation to
apply them to the payment of the interest, if owing,
and thereafter to the principal of his credit.