Practice question
One mortgage secures a single debt over a parcel. The debtor pays one-third and demands automatic release of a corresponding physical third of the land. No agreed allocation of determinate portions of the debt to distinct properties or other release term exists. What is the governing principle?
- Every partial payment automatically partitions the mortgage.
- The creditor must return the whole security after any payment.
- Only the debtor’s preferred boundary controls.
- A mortgage is generally indivisible, so partial payment does not alone require proportionate release on these facts.
- The creditor becomes owner of the remaining two-thirds without foreclosure.
Legal references
- https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1949/ra_386_1949.html — Civil Code, articles 2085,2087–2092 and2124–2130.
- https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2024/aug2024/gr_217368_2024.html — Ruby Shelter Builders v Tan, GR 217368, August 5 2024, main opinion: pactum commissorium distinguished from consensual later disposition.
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