Couple denies receiving notices on foreclosed Ayala Alabang house

from manilabulletin.com by Jonathan Hicap:

A couple whose real property in the posh Ayala Alabang Village was foreclosed and auctioned off by the Muntinlupa City government has denied receiving notices from the City Treasurer’s Office headed by Anastacio Miñoza.

The property of spouses Manuel and Maria Lourdes Alberto was sold by the city government at a public auction on Dec. 7, 2016 after its real property taxes amounting to  P323,026.70 were not paid for six years from 2010.

The Albertos have sent a letter to the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission to protest the auction of their 450 sq. m. property located on Dama de Noche Street in Ayala Alabang Village.

“Mr. Minoza claims that they followed all legal and administrative procedures by sending the notices to us by registered mail. Here lies the heart of the scam. What the law requires is actual notice to the taxpayer,” said Manuel Alberto.

He added that “the City Treasurer’s Office’s own records will show that they have no proof that we actually received the notices they supposedly sent. Not one scrap of paper with our signatures. Some of the notices they were supposed to send were actually sent after we had already learned about the foreclosure and sale at auction of our home, and after we had filed a case to stop the cancellation of our title.”

In their letter to the PACC, the Albertos said, “On 16 May 2019, we were shocked to receive a final Notice from the Regional Trial Court of Muntinlupa, informing us that the Certificate of Title for the land where our  Family Home stands in Ayalaba [Ayala] Alabang Village was being cancelled supposedly because it was already sold at a public auction by the Local Government of the City of Muntinlupa, through the Office of the City Treasurer, to answer for unpaid Real Property Taxes.”

In his explanation to the Bureau of Local Government Finance of the Department of Finance, Miñoza said all procedures were followed such as sending notices to the couple’s address in Ayala Alabang Village.

“This office complied with all the procedural requirements before conducting a public auction. In their case, three (3) notices containing billing statements of real property tax due were mailed to Dama de Noche St., Ph. X-A, Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City based on the Tax Declarations (TDs) on May 20, 2016, September 2, 2016 and October 2016,” said Miñoza.

He added the final notice of delinquency dated Oct. 10, 2016 was sent through registered mail on Oct. 25, 2016 to the same address indicated in the TDs.

The warrant of levy was issued, and the notice of delinquency and notice of auction were published in a newspaper in November 2016, according to Miñoza. The notices were also posted in all barangays and different places in the Muntinlupa City Hall complex.

After the property was auctioned off, Miñoza said his office sent a letter through registered mail on Jan. 18, 2017 to the Albertos containing a copy of the Certificate of Sale dated Jan. 3, 2017. A letter dated Jan. 4, 2017 was also sent to the Albertos on Jan. 18, 2017 informing them that their property was auctioned off and they had one year to redeem it.

Following the expiration of the redemption period, the Deed of Conveyance was issued dated and notarized on Jan. 4, 2018. Miñoza said a letter dated March 27, 2018 was mailed on April 10, 2018 requesting the Albertos to visit the City Treasurer’s Office to claim the proceeds of the auction.

The Muntinlupa City government’s Anti-Graft Board is conducting an investigation on the matter.