Land Title 2.0: How to Convert Your Land Title to an Etitle

E Title: What is it about?

Have you heard of an electronic title? An eTitle or electronic title is similar to your land title, it just comes in digitized form. However, it is more than just taking a photo of your land title or scanning it as a file on your computer. There is a proper system of making your land titles digital, and when it is properly done. It can now be called an eTitle.

In the old days, land titles are issued in the Philippines as a manual title. With an e title, your original paper land title will upgrade manually issued titles into a digital form.

How do they differ, you ask? In the Philippines, your land title or Certificate of Title must have two physical copies. The first one, the Original Certificate of Title, will be in the Register of Deed's (RD), vault for safekeeping, and the second one, which the owner can keep will be stamped and known as the Owner’s Duplicate Copy. You don't need to worry about the discrepancy, as they are considered the same, both produced in a special type of paper and manually issued for both parties.

However, once you have applied for an eTitle, your Original Certificate of Title in safekeeping by the Register of Deeds does not appear as a physical document, but as a digital version of the title. For the Owner’s Duplicate Copy, you will receive the paper version of the digital title. 

Land Registration Authority (LRA): Who made the Voluntary Title Standardization Program possible?

The officiating body in charge of the Voluntary Title Standardization Program is the Land Registration Authority or LRA. With the digitization initiative, the LRA can easily track lands and titles all over the country using its database. However, it is also acknowledged that there are still land owners who have yet to convert to eTitle, and are thus encouraged to do so tracking and storing land titles can become efficient and stress-free for both land owners and the agency.

LRA's Land Titling Computerization Project Goals

The LRA in its pursuit of a better system to serve its clients aims to achieve the following:

• To create and maintain a precise online database of all land titles in the Philippines;
• To instill the integrity, privacy, and security of records by guarding them against being tampered with by those who want to sell fake titles, or from being destroyed by natural disasters. The agency also aims to stop and if possible, eradicate the substitution or addition of inaccurate and questionable data in all land titles, may it be in paper or eTitle format; and
• To implement a system that can detect fake and tampered with land titles. This can assist in identifying the rightful owners of the real estate properties and the accurate description and coverage of their land.

Why Choose an eTitle: The Benefits of becoming a member of eTitle owners

1. To Safeguard Your Property

When you have an electronic title as part of the computerized system, you don't have to stress or waste time requesting to have a copy. E-Titles are the answer when you want to replace destroyed titles (reconstitution).

2. To Protect Against Tampering

You can do away with fake paper land titles. As a buyer, a property with an eTitle means you can crosscheck whether the title of the property you're interested in is legit. On the other hand, Land e Title owners can experience timely detection if there are people who try to sell off their property.

3. For Ease of Doing Business

When a property owner wants to transfer or sell ownership of property, then he or she wants every transaction to be smooth and be done as soon as possible. Hence, with an eTitle, you don't need to locate the Land Title manually, the computerized system can identify pertinent information about a specific land, provided that it got registered for eTitles.

4. To Process Home mortgages faster

Property owners know that there are corresponding responsibilities when owning land. Hence, because of eTitles and the system behind it, transactions can now be done with the LRA’s extension office kiosks in partnership with the major banks in the country. Some of the improvements brought by the Voluntary Title Standardization Program are:

• The turnaround time in verifying the authenticity of land ownership. From several days, it will now take just a matter of minutes, and;
• For people to the actual Registry of Deeds site which keeps the original manual title of their property. Now, what's left them to do is verify the virtual copy in the virtual registry of deeds.

How to Convert Your Land Title: The Process of Conversion to an E Title

Now that you're informed of the importance of an eTitle, then your next question may be, how do you apply for one?

We got you! Here's a comprehensive guide on how to convert your land title to an eTitle one.

What Are the eTitle Requirements?

• A valid Government-issued ID copy  (i.e., Passport, Driver’s License, UMID, Postal ID) of the applicant.

• IIn the absence of the owner, then, a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) must be presented. 

• In case the owners are from a corporation, then, a duly notarized Secretary Certificate or Board Resolution must be given to the representative to file the conversion request with the Registry of Deeds. 

• Prepare the Owner’s Duplicate of Certificate of Title and all issued Co-owner’s Duplicate of the Certificate of Title, as well.

Step by Step Guide: Processing Your eTitle Conversion

1. Visit the official agency, may it be the Land Registration Authority (LRA) or the Register of Deeds (RD) in charge of safeguarding your original title.

2. Present a duly filled Conversion Request Form along with a copy of the Owner’s Duplicate Certificate of Title and other supporting documents needed.

3. Pay the corresponding processing fees as per the system computation. Once done, the LRA or RD will start the conversion process of your land title. If there are no problems seen, then an Electronic Certificate of Title or eTitle is created. You will also have a physical copy, the owner’s Duplicate Copy of the eTitle, in print form, complete with a unique system-generated title number. 

4. Congratulations! You can now claim your eTitle on its assigned release date upon its conversion into eTitle. Moving forward, all your transactions will honor only the eTitle, and the old one will be deactivated.

The cost of converting a land title to an eTitle

LRA promotes conversion of manually-issued title into eTitle to registered owners as the cost is minimal. As of the time of writing, here are the known LRA fees.

• Entry Fee of ₱30 per entry
• Registration Fee of ₱30 for the Verified Petition; ₱120 for the SPA; ₱120 for Secretary’s Certificate or Board Resolution
• Issuance of Certificate of Title Fee of ₱60 per title issued; ₱30 per additional parcel of lot
• Issuance of Added Copy of Certificate of Title Fee of ₱60 for the first page; ₱30 for each subsequent page 
• Annotation Fee ₱30 per annotation
• Judicial Form Fee ₱30 per title issued

Lumina Homes: The Best Affordable House and Lot Community in the Philippines

With the information you've learned about eTitles, don't forget to include this step in the quest for your dream home and securing your investment. Want to take the easy route? Look no further, then. Lumina Homes and our registered agents can readily assist you to get the best affordable house and lot for sale, and help get your eTitle, as well! Learn more on how we can help you. Contact us today.