Mortgage; mortgagor must be absolute owner of the thing mortgaged. - That the mortgagor be the absolute owner of the thing mortgaged is an essential requisite of a contract of mortgage. Article 2085 (2) of the Civil Code specifically says so: Art. 2085. The following requisites are essential to the contracts of pledge and mortgage: x x x x (2) That the pledgor or mortagagor be the absolute owner of the thing pledged or mortgaged. Succinctly, for a valid mortgage to exist, ownership of the property is an essential requisite. Reyes v. De Leon cited the case of Philippine National Bank v. Rocha where it was pronounced that “a mortgage of real property executed by one who is not an owner thereof at the time of the execution of the mortgage is without legal existence.” Such that, according to DBP v. Prudential Bank, there being no valid mortgage, there could also be no valid foreclosure or valid auction sale. Homeowners Savings and Loan Bank v. Asuncion P. Felonia and Lydia C. De Guzman, rep. by Maribel Frias, et al., G.R. No. 189477. February 26, 2014.
