See - 174581.pdf
"x x x.
Caubang never made an effort to inquire as to whether the Oriental
Daily Examiner was indeed a newspaper of general circulation, as required
by law. It was shown that the Oriental Daily Examiner is not even on the
list of newspapers accredited to publish legal notices, as recorded in the
Davao RTC’s Office of the Clerk of Court. It also has no paying subscribers
and it would only publish whenever there are customers. Since there was no
proper publication of the notice of sale, the Spouses Crisologo, as well as the
rest of the general public, were never informed that the mortgaged property
was about to be foreclosed and auctioned. As a result, PDCP Bank became
the sole bidder. This allowed the bank to bid for a very low price
(P1,331,460.00) and go after the spouses for a bigger amount as deficiency.
The principal object of a notice of sale in a foreclosure of mortgage is
not so much to notify the mortgagor as to inform the public generally of the
nature and condition of the property to be sold, and of the time, place, and
terms of the sale. Notices are given to secure bidders and prevent a sacrifice
of the property. Therefore, statutory provisions governing publication of
notice of mortgage foreclosure sales must be strictly complied with and
slight deviations therefrom will invalidate the notice and render the sale, at
the very least, voidable. Certainly, the statutory requirements of posting and
publication are mandated and imbued with public policy considerations.
Failure to advertise a mortgage foreclosure sale in compliance with the
statutory requirements constitutes a jurisdictional defect, and any substantial
error in a notice of sale will render the notice insufficient and will
consequently vitiate the sale. 8
Since it was Caubang who caused the improper publication of the
notices which, in turn, compelled the Spouses Crisologo to litigate and incur
expenses involving the declaration of nullity of the auction sale for the
protection of their interest on the property, the CA aptly held that Caubang
shall be the one liable for the spouses' claim for litigation expenses and
attorney's fees.
x x x."
