REPUBLIC ACT NO.

66
AN ACT TO AMEND COMMONWEALTH ACT NUMBERED SIX HUNDRED
AND EIGHTY-NINE, ENTITLED "AN ACT TO PENALIZE SPECULATION
ON RENTS OF BUILDINGS DESTINED FOR DWELLING PURPOSES"
Section 1. Secs. one, two, three, four, five, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and
fourteen of Commonwealth Act Numbered Six hundred and eighty-nine are
hereby amended to read as follows:
"Section 1. A lease for the occupation as dwelling of a building or part
thereof which is not a room or rooms of an hotel, or lot, which does not
specify any term, shall be considered of one year's duration
counted from the date of occupation by virtue of said lease at the
option of the lessee. Building used both as dwelling of the lessee and
also as place of business of the latter for home industries intended for
the support of the family shall be deemed included in the provisions of
this Act.
"Sec. 2. In a suit for ejection or for the collection of rents due and
payable by virtue of a contract of lease of buildings destined solely for
dwelling, not being a room or rooms of a hotel, and lots, the fact that the
rents are unjust and unreasonable shall constitute a valid defense.
Except as provided in Sec. twelve of this Act, no lessee or occupant
shall be ejected in cases other than for willful and deliberate nonpayment of rents or when the lessor has to occupy the building
leased.
"Sec. 3. The said rents shall be presumed unjust and unreasonable if
the amount thereof per annum exceeds twenty per centum of the
annual assessments value of the building and the lot on which it is
erected, if both belong to the lessor, or of the actual assessment value
of the building in addition to all rents paid on the lot if said lot
belongs to another person. In the case of the lease for the occupation
of a lot, the rents shall be presumed unjust and unreasonable if the
amount thereof per annum likewise exceeds twenty per centum of
the annual assessment value of the said lot. If the lessee occupies
only part of the building or lot, the actual assessment value
corresponding to the part occupied by him, shall be determined
proportionally.

"Whenever a verbal or written contract of lease for the occupation as

dwelling of a building or part thereof is entered into, the lessor and the
lessee shall file individually and separately in the office of the
mayor of the city or municipality where the building is located an
affidavit stating the exact location of said building, the names and
addresses of the parties to the contract, the duration of the lease,
the assessed value of the building, and the amount of rental
agreed upon between the said parties. Submission of said affidavits
shall be made within five days from the date of the execution of the
contract of lease or from the date of occupation of the building by the
lessee in case there is no written contract. Parties to any existing lease
contract shall also file the aforementioned affidavits within ten days
from the approval of this Act.
"Sec. 4. When a final and executory order or judgment in a suit for
the recovery of rentals or for ejection from a building or part thereof
used as dwelling or from a lot establishes the fact that the lessee has
retained the possession of the buildings or lot leased to him after the
expiration of the contract, the court that issued such order or
judgment shall, on the petition of the lessee and subject to the
conditions prescribed in this Act, suspend the execution of said
order or judgment for a period which it considers convenient but
not exceeding six months.
"Sec. 5. When there is a petition for the suspension of execution of an
order or judgment, the court shall hear both parties, and if during the
trial it shall be found that the building or buildings or lot mentioned in the
petition are destined solely for dwelling; that the petitioner cannot
secure another dwelling house or lot for himself and his family; that he
had used due diligence to find another building; that he had filed his
petition in good faith, and is willing to obey and comply with the
requirements and orders of the court, said court shall grant the
suspension as provided in this Act, on the condition that the
requirements laid down for said suspension shall be complied with."
(unamended) Section 6. The order of suspension shall be granted
and will continue in force only on condition that the person
against him judgment has been rendered deposits the total

amount of rents due during the period of suspension or such

portions of said amount as the Court may order from time to time,
at the same rate of rental that he was charged for the month
immediately preceding the expiration of the lease. This deposit shall
include, in addition, the costs and all rents due and not paid before the
suspension and a reasonable amount to answer for damages. The
Court shall determine the amount of such deposit, during the hearing of
the petition for suspension, and its decision as to the amount of deposit
shall be final and executory and shall be carried out in such manner
and within such time as the Court may direct.
(unamended) Section 7. The Clerk of Court, or the Judge if there be no
Clerk of Court, shall pay to the lessor or his authorized agent all the
amount deposited or part thereof in accordance with the conditions of
the order of suspension and of other orders of the Court.
"Sec. 8. Any proprietor or lessor, or his agent, found guilty of having,
with the object of ejecting a lessee, falsely claimed that he needed
the building or part thereof, or the lot for himself and his family, or
if he really so needed it, he exposed the lessee by deed,
negligence or omission, directly or indirectly, to unsafe or
insanitary conditions, or imposed upon him any burden, or caused
him any loss or unnecessary vexation, in the use or occupation of
the building, or lot or part of either, shall be punished with a fine of not
exceeding one thousand pesos or with imprisonment for not more
than one year or with both penalties, in the discretion of the court.
The fact that the proprietor or lessor has leased to another party
the building or lot or part of either within one year after ejecting
the former lessee on the claim that said building or lot was needed
by said proprietor or lessor for himself and his family, shall be
prima facie evidence of the falsehood of such claims.
"Sec. 9. Any person who directly or indirectly collects any rent or
payment more than that authorized by this Act, or who extrajudicially
deprives the lessee against his will, of the occupation of a building or lot
or part thereof used as dwelling during the period of lease, shall be
punished by a fine of not exceeding two thousand pesos, or
imprisonment for not more than two years or with both penalties.

"Sec. 10. Any person found guilty of having, with the intention of
evading the provisions of this Act, entered into a contract or
arrangement for the payment of a bonus or of any other
consideration in connection with any contract of lease or any
other contract whatsoever for the use and occupation of any
building or lot described in Sec. one of this Act, or taken part in
any fictitious sale or in any artifice, combination, or arrangement the
object of which is to increase the rent of said building, or lot, or to evade
in any other way the effects of this Act, shall be punished by a fine of
not exceeding one thousand pesos, or imprisonment for not more
than one year, or with both penalties in the discretion of the court
without prejudice to the filing of an action for perjury if the same
has been committed.
"Sec. 11. The lessee shall not sublease the building or lot or part of
either use as dwelling or for dwelling purposes, without the written
consent of the proprietor. A violation of this provision is a cause for
the ejection of the lessee as well as of the sublessee and shall be
punished by a fine of not exceeding one hundred pesos."
(unamended) Section 12. If any violation of this Act is committed by a
corporation or any association, its managers, officers or agents who
have authorized, ordered, or consented to any of the acts constituting
said infringement shall be held criminally responsible.
(unamended) Section 13. All laws or executive orders or parts threof
which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby
repealed.
"Sec. 14. This Act shall be in force for a period of four years after its
approval."
Sec. 2. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved: October 18, 1946

S. No. 1963, H. No. 6098

Republic of the Philippines
Congress of the Philippines
Metro Manila
Fourteenth Congress
Second Regular Session
Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-eight day of July,
two thousand eight.
Republic Act No. 9653
AN ACT ESTABLISHING REFORMS IN THE REGULATION OF RENT OF
CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL UNITS, PROVIDING THE MECHANISMS
THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the Philippines in Congress assembled:
SECTION 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known and cited as the Rent
Control Act of 2009.
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. The State shall, for the common good,
undertake a continuing program of encouraging the development of
affordable housing for the lower income brackets and other beneficiaries.
Toward this end, the State shall continue to protect housing tenants in the
lower income brackets and other beneficiaries from unreasonable rent
increases.
SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. The following terms as used in
this Act shall be understood as:
(a) Rent shall mean the amount paid for the use or occupancy of
a residential unit whether payment is made on a monthly or other
basis.
(b) Residential unit shall refer to an apartment, house and/or land on
which anothers dwelling is located and used for residential purposes
and shall include not only buildings, part or units thereof used solely
as dwelling places, boarding houses, dormitories, rooms and
bedspaces offered for rent by their owners, except motels, motel
rooms, hotels, hotel rooms, but also those used for home industries,
retail stores or other business purposes if the owner thereof and his or

her family actually live therein and use it principally for dwelling
purposes.
(c) Immediate members of family of the lessee or lessor for purposes
of repossessing the leased premises, shall be limited to his or her
spouse, direct descendants or ascendants, by consanguinity or
affinity.
(d) Lessee shall mean the person renting a residential unit.
(e) Owner/Lessor shall include the owner or administrator or agent of
the owner of the residential unit.
(f) Sublessor shall mean the person who leases or rents out a
residential unit leased to him by an owner.
(g) Sublessee shall mean the person who leases or rents out a
residential unit from a sublessor.
SEC. 4. Limit on Increases in Rent. For a period of one (1) year from
its effectivity, no increase shall be imposed upon the rent of any
residential unit covered by this Act: Provided, that after such period until
December 31, 2013, the rent of any residential unit covered by this Act shall
not be increased by more than seven (7%) annually as long as the unit
is occupied by the same lessee: Provided, further, That when the
residential unit becomes vacant, the lessor may set the initial rent for the
next lessee: Provided, however, That in the case of boarding houses,
dormitories, rooms and bedspaces offered for rent to students, no increase
in rental more than once per year shall be allowed.
SEC. 5. Coverage of this Act. All residential units in the National
Capital Region and other highly urbanized cities, the total monthly rent
for each of which ranges from One peso (P1.00) to Ten thousand pesos
(P10,000.00) and all residential units in all other areas, the total monthly
rent for each of which ranges from One peso (P1.00) to Five
thousand pesos (P5,000.00) as of the effectivity date of this Act shall
be covered, without prejudice to existing contracts.
SEC. 6. Authority to Continue Rental Regulation. Notwithstanding the
lapse of the period provided in Section 4 of this Act, the Housing and Urban
Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) is hereby granted the authority
to continue the regulation of the rental of certain residential units, to
determine the period of regulation and its subsequent extensions if

warranted, to determine the residential units covered and to adjust the

allowable limit on rental increases per annum, taking into consideration,
among others, National Statistics Office (NSO) census on rental units,
prevailing rental rates, the monthly inflation rate on rentals of
the immediately preceding year, and rental price index.
SEC. 7. Rent and Requirement of Bank Deposit. Rent shall be paid in
advance within the first five (5) days of every current month or the
beginning of the lease agreement unless the contract of lease provides
for a later date of payment. The lessor cannot demand more than one
(1) month advance rent. Neither can he/she demand more than two (2)
months deposit which shall be kept in a bank under the lessors
account name during the entire duration of the lease agreement. Any
and all interest that shall accrue therein shall be returned to the lessee at the
expiration of the lease contract. In the event however, that the lessee fails to
settle rent, electric, telephone, water or such other utility bills or destroys any
house components and accessories, the deposits and interests therein shall
be forfeited in favor of the latter in the amount commensurate to the
pecuniary damage done by the former.
SEC. 8. Assignment of Lease or Subleasing. Assignment of lease or
subleasing of the whole or any portion of the residential unit, including the
acceptance of boarders or bedspacers, without the written consent of the
owner/lessor is prohibited.
SEC. 9. Grounds for Judicial Ejectment. Ejectment shall be allowed on the
following grounds:
(a) Assignment of lease or subleasing of residential units in whole
or in part, including the acceptance of boarders or bedspacers,
without the written consent of the owner/lessor;
(b) Arrears in payment of rent for a total of three (3) months:
Provided, That in the case of refusal by the lessor to accept
payment of the rent agreed upon, the lessee may either deposit, by
way of consignation, the amount in court, or with the city or municipal
treasurer, as the case may be, or barangay chairman, or in a bank in
the name of and with notice to the lessor, within one (1) month after
the refusal of the lessor to accept payment. The lessee shall
thereafter deposit the rent within ten (10) days of every current month.

Failure to deposit the rent for three (3) months shall

constitute a ground for ejectment. The lessor, upon authority of
the court in case of consignation or upon joint affidavit by him and the
lessee to be submitted to the city or municipal treasurer or barangay
chairman and to the bank where deposit was made, shall be allowed to
withdraw the deposits;
(c) Legitimate need of the owner/lessor to repossess his or her
property for his or her own use or for the use of any immediate
member of his or her family as a residential unit: Provided,
however, That the lease for a definite period has expired: Provided,
further, that the lessor has given the lessee the formal notice three
(3) months in advance of the lessors intention to repossess the
property and: Provided, finally, that the owner/lessor is prohibited
from leasing the residential unit or allowing its use by a third party
for a period of at least (1) year from the time of repossession;o
(d) Need of the lessor to make necessary repairs of the leased
premises which is the subject of an existing order of
condemnation by appropriate authorities concerned in order to make
the said premises safe and habitable: Provided, That after said repair,
the lessee ejected shall have the first preference to lease the same
premises: Provided, however, That the new rent shall be reasonably
commensurate with the expenses incurred for the repair of the said
residential unit and: Provided, finally, That if the residential unit is
condemned
or
completely
demolished,
the lease of the new building will no longer be subject to the
aforementioned first preference rule in this subsection; and
(e) Expiration of the period of the lease contract.
SEC. 10. Prohibition Against Ejectment by Reason of Sale or
Mortgage. No lessor or his successor-in-interest shall be entitled to eject
the lessee upon the ground that the leased premises have been sold or
mortgaged to a third person regardless of whether the lease or mortgage is
registered or not.
SEC. 11. Rent-to-Own Scheme. At the option of the lessor, he or she may
engage the lessee in a written rent-to-own agreement that will result in the
transfer of ownership of the particular dwelling in favor of the latter. Such an
agreement shall be exempt from the coverage of Section 5 of this Act.

SEC. 12. Application of the Civil Code and Rules of Court of the Philippines.
Except when the lease is for a definite period, the provision of paragraph
(1) of Article 1673 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, insofar as they
refer to residential units covered by this Act, shall be suspended during the
effectivity of this Act, but other provisions of the Civil Code and the Rules of
Court on lease contracts, insofar as they are not in conflict with the
provisions of this Act shall apply.
SEC. 13. Penalties. A fine of not less than Twenty-five thousand pesos
(P25,000.00) nor more than Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) or
imprisonment of not less than one (1) month and one (1) day to not more
than six (6) months or both shall be imposed on any person, natural or
juridical, found guilty of violating any provision of this Act.
SEC. 14. Information Drive. The Department of the Interior and Local
Government and the HUDCC, in coordination with other concerned
agencies, are hereby mandated to conduct a continuing information drive
about the provisions of this Act, which shall be translated and be
made available in major regional dialects and shall be posted in conspicuous
public places, including barangay halls.
SEC. 15. Review of the Rental Regulation The HUDCC is hereby
mandated to conduct every three (3) years from the effectivity of this
Act a review of its implementation and a study on rental regulation,
and submit to Congress its recommendation on whether a
continuing regulation is still necessary or deregulation is already warranted.
SEC. 16. Program to Cushion Impact in the Event of a Regulation-Free
Rental Housing Market The HUDCC and its attached agencies
are hereby mandated to formulate and implement a two (2) year
transition program which will provide for safety measures to cushion
the impact in the event of a regulation-free housing market.
SEC. 17. Separability Clause. If any provision or part hereof
is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the
provision not otherwise affected shall remain valid and subsisting.
SEC. 18. Repealing Clause. Any law, presidential decree or issuance,
executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation
contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed,
modified or amended accordingly.

SEC. 19. Effectivity Clause. This Act shall take effect beginning fifteen (15)
days after its complete publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general
circulation.
Approved,
PROSPERO C. NOGRALES
Speaker of the House
of Representatives

JUAN PONCE ENRILE

President of the Senate

This Act which is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 3163 and House Bill No.
6098 was finally passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on
May 27, 2009 and May 26, 2009, respectively.
MARILYN B. BARUA-YAP
Secretary General
House of Representatives
Approved:

EMMA LIRIO-REYES
Secretary of the Senate

JUL 14 2009
GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO
President of the Republic of the Philippines