
Originally Posted by
Juan Martinez
deed of sale is a unilateral contact. And being a contract it needs Consent, Object, and Consideration. So long as these three requisites are present a contract is valid and enforceable. So, with or without notarization a deed of sale is binding between the parties (vendor and vendee). In other words, notarization does not affect the validity of the contract. However, to make the deed a public document (because a contract is private undertaking) you need to have it notarized before a notary public. Without notarization LTO will not accept it for registration for the simple reason that government agencies like the LTO or Registry of Deeds do not honor private documents. Now, the question is where shall the document be notarized? kung saan man si VENDOR. If you take a good look at a deed of sale, at the bottom portion, there is this ACKNOWLEDMENT, and it states something like- BEFORE ME THIS ___ AT ______ PERSONALLY APPEARED blah blah. Wherever the vendor is, in the Philippines or abroad (in this case he goes to the consul to have the deed notarized), that place where he can be found he must personally present himself to the Notary Public. the ACKNOWLEDMENT portion is where the Notary Public will affix his signature.
There is no need for the vendee to sign the document or to present himself to the Notary Public because as I said a contract of sale is unilateral contract (unilateral act of the vendor). I hope this helps.