The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that errors in a deed of sale can be corrected to reflect the true agreement between parties.In a case involving a 491-square-meter land parcel in Cebu, the SC Third Division upheld the validity of the sale between buyers and sellers, despite a clerical error in the deed referencing the wrong lot number.

The buyers, who occupied the property for 20 years, faced disruption when a couple claimed the land, destroyed their fence, and built their own structure.The buyers filed a complaint to cancel the title, but the sellers' heirs contested, arguing the deed referred to a different lot.The Regional Trial Court initially ruled in favor of the buyers, but the Court of Appeals overturned this.

The SC reinstated the RTC's decision, emphasizing that the Civil Code allows correction of written instruments if they fail to express the parties' true intent due to mistakes.

The court highlighted that the parties' actions, including long-term possession and transactions in 1979, 1981, and 1982, clearly indicated the true subject of the sale.The ruling underscores the importance of interpreting contracts based on the parties' actual intentions rather than literal text.

This decision provides clarity for legal disputes involving deed of sale errors and reinforces the principle of contractual reform under the Civil Code.