reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2701 - Summary procedure—Applicable provisions; ordinary way; costs and attorney’s fees

Once a mortgage loan or its interest has wholly or partially become due, the procedure for its foreclosure and collection, when levied solely against the property encumbered with the mortgage, shall conform to the provisions in this subtitle.
At his option, a mortgage creditor may also resort to ordinary judicial procedures to collect his loan, in which case only the following sections shall be applicable: 2702, 2707 pars. V and VI, 2711, 2720-2724, 2726, excluding the clause that refers to the requirement for confirmation, 2727-2729, 2731, 2732, 2734.
Mortgaged properties are not liable for court costs and attorneys’ fees arising from a judicial claim on a mortgage loan, if the amount agreed upon for this purpose is not entered in the Registry.
The holder of two or more overdue mortgage loans constituted by the same debtor on one or more of his properties located in the jurisdiction of a single Court of First Instance Part, may combine both the foreclosure and the collection in a single summary mortgage procedure.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 210; June 14, 1980, No. 143, p. 535.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2702 - Summary procedure—Jurisdiction and venue; circumstances for determination

The Court of First Instance Part in whose jurisdiction all the mortgaged properties are located shall have jurisdiction and exclusive venue to take cognizance of the summary mortgage procedure, whatever the amount of the obligation may be, and without admitting in any way the submission of another party to the contrary.
If the encumbered property is located in the jurisdiction of more than one Part, or when several mortgaged properties are located in the jurisdictions of different Court of First Instance Parts, any of them may have jurisdiction and shall be competent to take cognizance of the summary procedure.
In cases covered by the preceding paragraph, the parties may choose any one of the competent Parts by mentioning it in the mortgage deed.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 202.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2703 - Summary procedure—Prior requisites

In order for the procedure for foreclosure and collection of a mortgage loan to be valid, the debtor or his successors in the secured obligation must, after its expiration, first be ordered to pay the exact amount owed for all concepts, except for the amount stipulated for court costs and attorneys’ fees in the event of a judicial collection, at least twenty (20) days before the date of the beginning of the procedure. The third owner or titleholder of the encumbered property or real right shall also be ordered to pay, if his acquisition was authentically recorded or proved.
This demand for payment may be made by notary or by certified mail with acknowledgment of receipt, to the last correct address of the debtor, the third owner or his heirs, with the admonition that if payment is not made within 20 days, a summary foreclosure procedure shall be initiated.
If the debtor or, when applicable, the third owner, is outside Puerto Rico in hiding to avoid the payment order, or if his whereabouts are unknown and this is satisfactorily proved, the payment order shall be sent to his last known address, as well as if the debtor or the third owner had died, and his successors are unknown. If no address is known, it shall be sent to the address of the property.
If the encumbered property is community property, and one of spouses is outside Puerto Rico while the other is in Puerto Rico, or if one is in hiding to avoid receiving the payment order, or his whereabouts are unknown, it shall be deemed that the delivery of said requirement has been complied with, when the spouse who is present receives it by one or another of the channels indicated in the paragraph.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 203; June 14, 1980, No. 143, p. 535.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2704 - Summary procedure—Demand for payment by notary or by letter; procedure to follow when person is summoned

A notarial demand for payment or one made by letter mentioned in § 2703 of this title shall be made in the following way:
If the person to be summoned is an adult, the payment order shall be sent to him or to his agent if he is empowered to pay his debts, to represent him in a trial or to receive notifications.
If he is a minor, 14 years of age or older, he shall be summoned by notary or by mail in the manner previously indicated and, in addition, his father or mother with patria potestas, or his guardian, shall be summoned. If they are not in Puerto Rico, any person who has charge of or cares for the minor, or with whom he lives, shall be summoned instead.
If he is less than 14 years of age, the notarial demand or letter must be made in his name and mailed to the parent with patria potestas or to his guardian; if they are not in Puerto Rico, it shall be addressed, instead, to any person in charge of the minor or who cares for him, or with whom he lives.
If the debtor or third owner is declared legally incompetent and a guardian is named, the demand or mail dispatch shall be made instead to his guardian; and if he should be confined in an institution for the treatment of mental illnesses, the summons or dispatch must also be sent to the director of the institution.
If the creditor knows that the person to be served is demented, or a deaf-mute who does not know how to read or write, suffers from mental retardation, or lacks the faculty of understanding or reasoning to such a degree that it impedes him/her from understanding what is being served to him/her or from acting in his/her defense, or if the person is a mental incompetent of any kind whose disability has not been judicially declared, and if that condition is notoriously and publicly known, he/she shall be served, or it shall be delivered to him/her personally, and also to his/her spouse, if he/she has one, or to his/her father, mother, child over 14 years of age, or to his other closest relative, or to the person who has custody of him/her.
If he is confined in a penal institution, the summons shall be delivered only in notarial form, and in the presence of the director or assistant director of the institution or of the public employee who may then be taking their place.
If it is a corporation, company, association or any other corporate body, the notarial summons or the mail delivery shall be made, in its name, either to the resident agent, to a director or administrative official, general agent, managing partner, or to any other person legally authorized to be summoned notarially for payment, or by mail, as indicated.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 204; June 14, 1980, No. 143, p. 535; Dec. 14, 1997, No. 142, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2705 - Summary procedure—Payment or remittance; opportunity to make; interest

The payment or remittance may be made at any time prior to the filing of the initial brief, without being obligated at that time to pay all or part of the amount agreed to in the mortgage deed for court costs and attorneys’ fees. Interest must be computed and paid up to the date of their payment or remittance.
If the demand for payment is notarial, the creditor must also be paid the amount provided in the Regulations, or it must be deposited in the court, for each person demanded, as sole payment for services rendered and expenses incurred in the delivery of the notarial demand. Any agreement to pay or deposit a greater amount to cover these services shall be illegal.
As soon as the creditor has been paid the full amounts previously demanded of the debtor or, when applicable, the third owner, as well as the additional amount to which the previous paragraph refers, the corresponding public document for cancellation of the mortgage loan, if in order, shall be granted at the request of an interested party and before the notary designated by him; or he shall endorse the conveyable title which attested to the debt. The expenses and fees involved shall be charged to the party seeking the cancellation or endorsement.
In the event it is decided to deposit the amount required by the debtor plus the payment of fees, if the order was made notarially, the original demand for payment must accompany the writ of consignment as well as a certificate that the creditor was sent a copy of the writ of consignment to his last known address by certified mail with return receipt requested.
Five (5) working days after having made the judicial deposit to which this section refers when applicable, if the amount consigned coincides with the amount claimed in the demand for payment, plus the fees if made notarially, if there is no opposition, the court shall declare it properly made and consequently, the main secured obligation extinguished, and it shall order the Registrar to cancel all or part of the mortgage security, if in order. In case the amount consigned is not equal to the demand for payment, the deposit shall be invalid.
If the secured obligation is represented by a negotiable title, before ordering the referred cancellation, the court shall make sure that said title is cancelled, and this shall appear in the order.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 205; June 14, 1980, No. 143, p. 535.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2706 - Summary procedure—Initial brief; requirements; content

A summary procedure shall be initiated by presenting in a Part of the competent Court of First Instance a brief signed by a lawyer which must necessarily include:
I. The competence of the Part of the Court of First Instance resorted to;
II. the facts and the exact text or essential statement of the specific legal grounds for the certainty, subsistence and ability to demand the mortgage loan;
III. the liquid and exact amount which, for all intents and purposes, is subject to the claim, with an exact breakdown as to:
(a) The balance on the capital of the principal obligation at the time;
(b) the interest due and not paid during the term agreed upon for its payment or during the delinquent period, indicating the rate and amount of the former or the latter, and whether the interest rate in the case of delinquency was stipulated and entered in the Registry;
(c) the amount agreed upon and recorded for court costs and lawyer’s fees, and
(d) the amount and nature of any other sum whose payment is recorded as secured by the mortgage;
IV. the date and place in which the debtor and, when applicable, the third owner, was previously issued a payment order pursuant to the preceding sections, and the fact that the creditor was not paid or the amounts due were not deposited in the court, and
V. the request that the summary mortgage procedure be authorized and continue to the end.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 206.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2707 - Summary procedure—Documents to be presented with initial brief

The foreclosing creditor shall submit the following documents along with the initial brief:
I. The title or titles of the mortgage loan to be collected.
II. A certified copy of the notarial record proving payment was demanded from the debtor or, when applicable, from the third owner, with at least twenty (20) days advance notice, pursuant to the provisions in § 2703 of this title. If the demand was made by certified mail with return receipt requested, the following shall be submitted: (1) a sworn statement by the person who presented it at the post office to be sent by certified mail; (2) a copy or duplicate of said letter; (3) evidence of its postal certification, and (4) the receipt or, when applicable, the postal record of failure to deliver the letter to the addressee. If said requirement was not accomplished, the creditor’s sworn written statement must be attached stating his reasons for not having done so.
III. When the mortgage being foreclosed was constituted to secure titles conveyable by endorsement or to the bearer, it shall also be essential to attach these titles or photostatic copies thereof to the initial brief. But in this latter case, the court must require that the originals be presented for examination.
IV. When a mortgage foreclosure securing a line of credit is involved, the documents attesting to the final balance subject to foreclosure shall be attached.
V. If a creditor has died, a legal death certificate shall be submitted along with a list of his successors.
VI. If the debtor or the third owner has died, a death certificate shall be attached along with a written sworn designation of the names of the known heirs, and their respective residences, if they are also known.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 207; June 14, 1980, No. 143, p. 535.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2708 - Summary procedure—Copy of initial brief certified by clerk of court; submission to registry; effect

Once the initial brief is filed, the forecloser shall submit a copy of it certified by the Clerk of the Court to the Registry, requesting that a note be placed in the margin of the mortgage entry which is subject to the suit. This note shall serve as notification for all legal effects to third acquirers of the mortgaged property or right, or of any other right on the property.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 208.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2709 - Summary procedure—Certification by registrar after notation in register; content

The forecloser shall request from the Registrar, and submit to the Court a certification with a later date than that of the notation in the Registry, which shall contain the following details:
(a) The present titleholders of the property.
(b) A list of all the encumbrances, liens, real rights and notations which affect the properties, specifying the names of the respective titleholders, the amount of the secured obligation, the interest rate and the maturity date or dates.
(c) A statement that the mortgage lien which is about to be foreclosed continues to exist and does not appear cancelled nor pending cancellation, according to the Day Book.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 209.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2710 - Summary procedure—Action by court; order of requirement to pay; denial of requirement; appeal

The court shall examine the initial brief, the attached documents and the Registrar’s certification, and if it considers that the stated legal requirements have been met shall, with this alone, admit it and issue a writ summoning those who, according to the Registry certification, are in possession of the mortgaged property, whether the debtor still has title, or whether it has been conveyed totally or in part to a third party, so that within thirty days, which cannot be extended, they may pay off the amounts claimed along with the court costs and lawyer’s fees, with the admonition that the mortgaged property shall be sold at auction.
When the Registry certification reveals that an encumbrance or real right constituted after registration of the mortgage that secures the claimant’s loan, or creditors of encumbrances or real rights who placed them after the claimant’s mortgage, or notations subsequent to the registration of said mortgage, or holders of segregations from the ownership, rights, conditions or others which, because of their rank must be declared extinguished when the loan is paid off, and who registered their rights after the foreclosure of the mortgage, the marshal shall be ordered in the same writ to notify each interested party or titleholder of the foreclosure procedure by means of the delivery of copies of the initial brief and of the summons so that they may attend the auction, if they please; or pay off the loan, the interest, the guaranteed court costs and attorney’s fees and then subrogate their rights to those of the foreclosing creditor before the auction is held.
When the court considers that these requirements have not been met, it shall refuse the payment order requested by a show cause decision which may be appealed in the Supreme Court within thirty days, in accordance with the rules of appeal.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 210.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2711 - Summary procedure—Subsequent mortgage creditors and titleholders; motion on amount owed; questions shall not paralyze procedure

Subsequent mortgage creditors and lawful titleholders in final and unappealable judgments, duly recorded or secured by embargo on the loan being foreclosed, may file a sworn motion during the procedure establishing the amount of the loan owed to them. This procedure shall be essential to exercise the right granted to them in § 2722 of this title.
Without affecting the right granted to certain subsequent creditors in § 2722 of this title, the right of a debtor, third owner, or his heirs to question the amount of the subsequent credit shall not paralyze the summary foreclosure procedure being processed by the creditor of the preferred lien. Any incident to these effects shall be resolved in a separate, ordinary action in a competent court and shall not paralyze the summary foreclosure procedure.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 211; June 14, 1980, No. 143, p. 535.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2712 - Summary procedure—Summons; requirements and contents; warning of public auction

As soon as the writ mentioned in § 2710 of this title is issued, the Clerk of the Court shall issue a summons which must be signed by him and shall bear the name and seal of the court, specifying the corresponding Court of First Instance Part and the names of the foreclosing creditor and the foreclosed debtor or third owner; it shall be addressed to the foreclosed debtor or to the third owner and to subsequent creditors, interested parties or holders of encumbrances or real rights registered or noted after the mortgage that is being foreclosed or which had been subordinated to it, whom the court had ordered notified of the procedure; it shall show the name and address of the foreclosing creditor’s lawyer and shall fully and literally insert the court’s writ, and summon the foreclosed debtor or the third owner, if applicable, so that in compliance with said writ, within the nonextensible term of thirty days from the date they were summoned, they pay the creditor the amounts claimed in the procedure, with the admonition that the mortgaged property shall be sold at auction.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 212.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2713 - Summary procedure—Demand for payment; form to follow; published edicts

The indicated demand for payment shall be delivered by any marshal of the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico, as an executive official thereof, in the following manner:
(1) When all the mortgaged properties are in the hands of a single owner, according to the Registry certification, the demand for payment shall be addressed to him personally. The same shall be done with respect to each of the owners of the different mortgaged properties, when there are several.
(2) If the Registry certification reveals, or if the foreclosing creditor learns, that the owner is an individual subject to restrictions of his legal capacity or an artificial or legal person, the demand for payment shall be made as indicated in § 2704 of this title.
(3) When the ownership of any of the mortgaged real properties is divided because one person has the ownership or direct control and the other the usufruct or dominio utile, both shall be considered owners for the purpose of making the demand for payment.
(4) When the person to be summoned is outside Puerto Rico or, being in Puerto Rico, cannot be located after having taken the pertinent measures, or is in hiding in order not to be summoned, his whereabouts are unknown, or if he has died and the names and addresses of his heirs are unknown, or it is a foreign corporation without a manager, a business agent, a cashier or a secretary in Puerto Rico, and it should thus be proved to the satisfaction of the court by a sworn statement or in any another authentic or certifying manner, the court shall order that the demand for payment be published as an edict issued by the Clerk once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation which the court shall designate. In this case, the thirty days shall begin to be counted from the day following the date of the last publication of the edict, provided the other requirements made herein have been met.
It shall also, necessarily, be ordered that within the ten days following the first publication of the edict:
(a) A copy of the initial brief and another of the summons, which the Clerk of the Court must always issue, be sent to the debtor or to the third owner, if applicable, to his last known address, if there is one;
(b) the demand for payment shall also be addressed to the debtor’s empowered legal agent, or to the lessee, or the sharecropper or occupant who is in charge of the property by any legal concept, and
(c) that, if the encumbered property is abandoned, the mayor or the person exercising the main executive authority in the municipality in which said property is located be notified of the summons so that he may inform the debtor of it.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 213.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2714 - Summary procedure—Demand for payment by marshal to debtor; warning of public auction

When the demand for payment mentioned in § 2713 of this titleis made, the marshal shall personally summon the foreclosed debtor or third owner so that within a nonextensible period of thirty days, he pay all the money claimed in the summary procedure to the foreclosing creditor, expressly warning him that if this payment is not made within said period, the sale of the mortgaged properties at public auction shall be in order to pay these sums. The marshal shall deliver to the person summoned an exact copy of the initial brief and an authentic copy of the demand for payment issued by the Clerk of the Court, and will leave it in his possession, and at the time of delivery, this official shall certify, with his signature, the date and place of said delivery of the demand for payment and the admonition and the name of the person to whom it was made on the back of the copy of the demand order. Subsequent creditors or interested parties in encumbrances or real rights recorded or noted subsequent to the mortgage about to be foreclosed or subordinated to it shall be notified of the procedure by delivery of a copy of the initial brief and a copy of the demand order for the purposes stated in § 2710 of this title.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 214.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2715 - Summary procedure—Proof of service required; notice by published edicts; proof of notice

Proof that the summons was served shall be contained in the certification which the marshall who served it makes and signs on the back of the demand order issued by the Clerk, where the name of the person summoned, the date and place in which he served the summons, the manner in which he served the summons, and the fact of having expressly warned him that if he did not pay all the money claimed in the procedure the mortgaged properties would be sold at public auction shall appear in said certification. The name or names and the date or dates, and place or places of the person or persons notified in the proceeding as owners or interested parties of encumbrances or real rights recorded or noted after the mortgage which is being foreclosed, or which are not prior to it, shall also appear for the purposes expressed in § 2710 of this title.
With respect to notification of the demand order by publication of the edict, this shall be proved by the sworn statement of the newspaper’s administrator or authorized agent, along with a copy of the published edict and a sworn statement proving that authentic copies of the initial brief and the demand order were sent by certified mail to the address of the debtor or of the third owner, by showing the acknowledgment of receipt of the person thus notified, or, when applicable, the postal evidence of failure to deliver them to the addressee.
At its discretion and in the terms that it believes fair, the court may permit amendment of any summons or proof that it was served by the marshal at any time.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 215.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2716 - Summary procedure—Deposition by person summoned; date; matter specified in challenge; notice of deposition; failure to challenge and effect

Within the first twenty (20) days of the thirty granted by § 2710 of this title for the payment of all the money claimed in the summary procedure, the person demanded judicially for payment may submit a written deposition in the procedure, solely to state clearly and precisely all de facto and de jure reasons that he may have for contesting in full or in part:
(a) The validity, legality and legal efficacy of the mortgage loan being foreclosed, because of error, or internal or external defects in the way it was granted or drawn up, either in accordance with the Notarial Law, §§ 2001-2141 of Title 4, in force or any other provision of law.
(b) The registration, security, subsistence, maturity, ability to demand and the amount of the mortgage debt being collected; the money collected that is not covered by the mortgage guarantee.
(c) The foreclosing creditor’s legal capability or his capability to be party to a suit for the purpose of pressing a summary procedure, and that of the debtor himself or third owner to be summoned for payment.
(d) Fulfillment of the requirements indicated by this subtitle to try a case or to be able to initiate it.
(e) The validity of judicial actions or procedure verified up to that time.
(f) The rate or rates and the amount of interest charged during the duration of the contract or for delinquency in its payment.
(g) The jurisdiction or competence of the Court of First Instance Part resorted to, over the parties or the procedures.
Notification of said written deposition shall be made with a copy to the creditor’s lawyer on the date it is filed, and the legal grounds for the objection shall be given. Documents or authentic written evidence proving or justifying it shall be included.
The course of the nonextensible thirty-day period for paying the money claimed shall not be interrupted nor shall the presentation of this deposition affect it in any way, but the auction sale shall not be ordered until final resolution is made of the objections.
After the first twenty days have passed uncontested, the person demanded for payment shall not be permitted to file an exception, neither in the summary procedure in which he was demanded, nor in any other litigation filed by ordinary procedures in which the validity, efficacy, and legal value of the mortgage loan and that of the summary procedures, based on the objections authorized in this section, is attacked, contested or challenged, other than an exception to the court’s jurisdiction over the parties, or the court’s jurisdiction or competence over the procedure, and that of fraud. In no case shall the rights of third parties protected by § 2355 of this title be affected.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 216; June 14, 1980, No. 143, p. 535, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2717 - Summary procedure—Dismissal; hearing for meritorious challenge; proceeding; resolution

If submitted, the court shall examine said written deposition and the documents on which it is founded, and if it should find that it lacks merit, it shall dismiss it outright by resolution that shall promptly be notified to the creditor and to the debtor or third owner who drafted it.
If the court determines that a valid objection has been presented and it is founded on all or some of the reasons stated in § 2716 of this title, it shall summon the creditor and the debtor or third owner and their respective lawyers to a hearing which must necessarily be held within 10 working days after the presentation of said deposition. In this hearing, it shall admit all the evidence each party wishes to offer and hear all of the parties’ arguments, after which it shall resolve all the objections presented on their merits within five working days after the hearing, decreeing the procedure to be followed or the remedies which, in its judgment, are in order according to the allegations and proof admitted, including correction or curing of those errors or defects which it considers were made and ordering that a new demand for payment be made, if necessary.
The party aggrieved by this decree may only appeal the resolution made by writ of certiorari before the Supreme Court within five working days after notification.
The final decree on said objection shall constitute res judicata among the intervening parties.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 217.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2718 - Summary procedure—Amendment of initial brief; notice

The initial brief may be amended with the court’s permission, notifying the debtor, the third owner and the persons interested in the liabilities recorded after the right of the forecloser of the amendment. In this case, in view of the character and importance of the amendment, the court may require the submission of an amended initial brief and a new Property Registry certification and order a new demand for payment or adopt any other measure which in its judgment is in order.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 218.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2719 - Summary procedure—Auction; prior actions; published edict

When the time allotted for the judicial demand for payment has expired without the debtor or third owner’s having made the payments for which he was summoned, and with the objections he made in accordance with the provisions of § 2716 of this title having been finally resolved against him, the court, at the request of the forecloser, the debtor or the third owner, shall order that, prior to the Clerk’s issuance of the corresponding order, the marshal shall proceed to auction the mortgaged properties, advertising the auction at least twenty days in advance by inserting said edict in a newspaper of general circulation at least once a week, and not less than three times, starting from the first publication.
The court order to proceed with the auction shall be final and enforceable from the date it is made and shall be unappealable.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 219.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2720 - Summary procedure—Auction edict; content and warning

The auction edict issued by the marshal shall state:
(a) That the record of the case and all the documents pertaining to the procedure filed shall be on exhibit in the Office of the Clerk of the Court during working hours.
(b) That it shall be understood that all bidders accept the title documents as sufficient, and that the prior encumbrances and liens and those with preference, if any, on the forecloser’s loan shall subsist, with the understanding that the highest bidder accepts them and is subrogated to their liabilities, without using the auction price to pay them off, specifying the amount of each former or preferred encumbrance, and the name or names of their holders and their maturity date or dates, if they appear in the Registry certification accompanying the initial brief.
Said edict, in addition to giving a description of the property or real rights which are subject to public auction, the minimum auction price, and the rest of the complementary data on the auction, shall indicate the day, hour and location where the auction shall take place, and also serve to announce the auction to creditors who have recorded or noted their rights on the mortgaged property after the registration of the forecloser’s credit, or that of the creditors of encumbrances or real rights who may have subordinated them to the claimant’s mortgage, and to the owners, possessors, or holders of, or parties having an interest in titles conveyable by endorsement, or to the bearer, which are secured by a mortgage subsequent to the claimant’s loan, and on which the personal notification of the initial brief and the demand for payment would have no effect, stating in the text of the edict the names of all these interested parties, if they are in the Registry certification, so that they may attend the auction, if they so desire, or before the auction is held, pay off the loan, its interest, assured court costs and lawyers’ fees, and then subrogate their rights to those of the foreclosing creditor.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 220; June 14, 1980, No. 143, p. 535, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2721 - Summary procedure—Day, place and time of auction; bids for first and following auctions

The auction shall be held on the day, place and time indicated in the edict, in the presence of the marshal of the Court of First Instance Part intervening in the procedure, without its being lawful for this official to deviate from the auction’s terms and conditions indicated by the Court in its sale order.
The price at which the contracting parties appraised the property in the mortgage deed shall serve as a standard for the auction procedure and no bid below this standard shall be accepted. If there is no highest bidder or sale in the first auction, the standard for the second auction shall be two-thirds of the price agreed upon. If there is no highest bidder or sale in the second auction, the standard for the third auction shall be half of the price agreed upon.
If the third auction is declared void, the procedure shall be considered ended, and the property may be awarded to the creditor within the next 10 days, if he considers it desirable, for the entire amount owed if this is equal to or less than the amount of the standard for the third auction, and crediting this amount to the amount owed if it is more. All auctions must be ruled by the court and held according to the previous provisions.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 221.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2722 - Summary procedure—Bidders; who may and may not bid; procedure

The foreclosing creditor may bid in all the auctions. Should he turn out to be the highest bidder, the amount of his loan shall be totally or partially credited to the price offered by him.
The holders of current mortgage loans and those made after the mortgage, which is being collected and foreclosed, who appear as such in the Registry certification, may also bid in all the auctions.
In such a case, they may use the amount owed to them or any part thereof in their bids. If the bid accepted is for a greater amount than the sum of the loan or loans, with preference to the forecloser, upon obtaining the bid award he must pay on the spot, in cash or by certified check, the entire amount of the mortgage loan being foreclosed, and that of any other loans made after the foreclosed loan, but with preference to his, and the surplus balance shall constitute the partial or total payment of his own loan.
Neither the marshal holding the auction, nor his assistant, nor other persons who may not acquire by purchase in accordance with the provisions of § 3773 of Title 31, may be bidders or take any interest whatsoever in said auction.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 222.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2723 - Summary procedure—Additional rules for auction

Besides conforming to that provided in the four preceding sections, an auction procedure must also conform to the following rules:
First.— The marshal shall open the auction procedure on the hour, date and place indicated in the published auction edict by reading the entire edict aloud and inviting those present to bid on the properties to be auctioned, on the basis of the corresponding minimum bid.
Second.— The sale of said properties shall be made to the highest bidder, and it shall be the marshal’s duty to always try to obtain the highest price for each property or right to be auctioned.
Third.— The auction shall be held on the court’s working days and not before eight o’clock in the morning nor after five o’clock in the afternoon.
Fourth.— The bid price shall be paid during the auction procedure itself and as soon as the bid is awarded to the highest bidder in cash and legal tender or by certified check drawn to the order of the marshal.
Fifth.— When there are several mortgaged properties, they must be sold separately in the order indicated by the debtor or the third owner if they are attending the auction.
Sixth.— As soon as sufficient properties are sold for the full payment of the amounts claimed, no more may be sold, thus releasing the properties not auctioned from the mortgage subject to foreclosure, and
Seventh.— If the highest bidder in the auction refuses to pay the amount of his bid, the bid awarded shall have no legal effect, and the marshal may auction the property again in the same auction procedure.
After the auction, the marshal shall promptly and separately write up a memorandum of the auction in which he shall clearly show the date, time, place and manner that the auction was held, the participating bidders, the bids made before the sale or adjudication of the properties, enumerating and reporting them in such a way that they are sufficiently and clearly identified, and recording any other detail which, in his judgment, should appear in the auction record. He shall give one copy of this record to the foreclosing creditor and another to the debtor or third owner.
In this auction memorandum, the foreclosing creditor, the debtor, the third owner or any bidder may make objections in writing based on the auction procedures so that they may be considered by the court when the entire record of the procedure is submitted for its confirmation or nonconfirmation of the sale or award.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 223.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2724 - Summary procedure—Subsequent creditors not notified; procedure

In the event that any subsequent creditor was not notified of the procedure or of the auction, the foreclosing creditor or the successful bidder shall notify him after the auction, so that he may request, if he so desires, that a new auction be held, or pay the price disbursed by the successful bidder. Should 20 days elapse after the notification without either of the two eventualities mentioned having occurred, the court shall order the cancellation of his liens.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 224.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2725 - Summary procedure—Proceedings after auction; confirmation of award; nonconfirmation and effect

Once the auction is held, the marshal shall return the auction order and memorandum to the Office of the Clerk of the Court along with the edict and other documents in his possession pertaining to the auction, including any objections to the procedure made during the auction. The Clerk shall immediately transfer the entire record of the summary procedure to the court, and the latter shall examine it carefully within ten days, to ascertain that the requirements indicated in this subtitle have been complied with or duly observed in all the steps of the summary procedure and, if it so determines, shall immediately issue an order confirming the award or sale of the mortgaged properties. Without this confirmation, the procedure will not be valid nor shall the award or sale be recordable in the Registry.
If the court decides that these requirements have not been met, in whole or in part, it shall give the reasons for this finding, and may order that errors, omissions or curable defects found be corrected, and that the incorrect steps or procedures arising from the record be done properly, including ordering the debtor or third owner not to pay any amount required over what is owed by him or not covered by the secured mortgage. Once those errors, omissions or defects are corrected or cured in the manner ordered, the court shall confirm the award or sale.
If the court does not confirm the award or sale finally, it shall be void or unlawful, and the price paid shall be returned to the buyer. The mortgage creditor may file a new foreclosure procedure in accordance with the provisions of this subtitle.
Any party affected by the order refusing confirmation may file an appeal in the Supreme Court by ordinary procedures.
—Mortgage Law, 1979, § 225.
History
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2726 - Summary procedure—Confirmation of sale; disposition of auction price

If the sale is confirmed as provided in § 2725 of this title, the auction price shall be assigned without delay to the payment of the claimant’s mortgage loan; the remainder shall be deposited by the marshal in the Office of the Clerk of the Court so that the court may resolve what is in order regarding subsequent creditors, following the order or rank each of them has with respect to the foreclosed loan, and if there is no subsequent credit or liability whatsoever, or if there is they have been taken care of, the remainder, if any, shall be given to the debtor or third owner.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 226.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2727 - Summary procedure—Property passing into hands of third owner; procedure

If, before the creditor makes valid his right on the mortgaged property, it should pass into the hands of a third owner, the latter, by proving the registration of his title, may ask to see the records in the Office of the Clerk of the Court, and the court shall so resolve without paralyzing the course of the procedure, dealing with him in further procedures as the subrogated in lieu of the debtor.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 227.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY - Mortgage Law and Regulations (§§ 1-5 — 5005) › Subtitle 4 - Mortgage and Property Registry Act of 1979; General Provisions (§§ 2001 — 2821) › Chapter 121 - Mortgage Foreclosure Proceedings (§§ 2701 — 2735) › § 2728 - Summary procedure—Failure to pay installment; foreclosure procedures

The foreclosure procedures regulated in preceding sections shall be equally applicable to a case in which part of the principal or interest is not paid, when its payment must be made in different installments if any of them is due, without the debtor having fulfilled his obligation, and provided said stipulation is recorded. When it is necessary to dispose of the mortgaged property for the payment of principal and interest installments, and other installments on the obligation have yet to fall due, the sale shall be made and the property or right shall be conveyed to the buyer with the mortgage corresponding to that part of the loan which was not paid.
History —Mortgage Law, 1979, § 228.