Forcible entry v. Unlawful detainer


An accion interdictal can be an action for forcible entry or an action for unlawful detainer.

An action for forcible entry is proper when the lawful possessor is deprived of his realty through force, intimidation, strategy, threats and stealth. Its prescription is one (1) year from dispossession (force, intimidation, threats) or from knowledge of dispossession (strategy, stealth).

An action for unlawful detainer is proper when the possessor has refused to vacate upon demand by the owner. The possession started legal. However, legal possession (by permission or tolerance) becomes unlawful upon failure to vacate. Its prescription of action is one (1) year from last notice to vacate.

There are three kinds of actions available to recover possession of real property, viz: [1] accion interdictal; [2] accion publiciana; and [3] accion reivindicatoria.

Accion interdictal comprises two distinct causes of action, namely, forcible entry (detentacion) and unlawful detainer (desahuico). In forcible entry, one is deprived of physical possession of real property by means of force, intimidation, strategy, threats, or stealth whereas in unlawful detainer, one illegally withholds possession after the expiration or termination of his right to hold possession under any contract, express or implied.

The two are distinguished from each other in that in forcible entry, the possession of the defendant is illegal from the beginning, and that the issue is which party has prior de facto possession while in unlawful detainer, possession of the defendant is originally legal but became illegal due to the expiration or termination of the right to possess.

The jurisdiction of these two actions, which are summary in nature, lies in the proper municipal trial court or metropolitan trial court. Both actions must be brought within one year from the date of actual entry on the land, in case of forcible entry, and from the date of last demand, in case of unlawful detainer. The issue in said cases is the right to physical possession.Accion publiciana is the plenary action to recover the right of possession which should be brought in the proper regional trial court when dispossession has lasted for more than one year. It is an ordinary civil proceeding to determine the better right of possession of realty independently of title. In other words, if at the time of the filing of the complaint more than one year had elapsed since defendant had turned plaintiff out of possession or defendant’s possession had become illegal, the action will be not one of the forcible entry or illegal detainer but an accion publiciana.

On the other hand, accion reivindicatoria is an action to recover ownership also brought in the proper trial court in an ordinary civil proceeding (not summary). Under the present state of the law, jurisdiction over such action is based on the property's assessed value because it involves title to, possession of or interest in real property.

In a complaint for unlawful detainer, the following key jurisdictional facts must be alleged and sufficiently established:

[1] Initially, possession of property by the defendant was by contract with or by tolerance of the plaintiff;
[2] Eventually, such possession became illegal upon notice by plaintiff to defendant of the termination of the latter’s right of possession;
[3] Thereafter, the defendant remained in possession of the property and deprived the plaintiff of the enjoyment thereof; and
[4] Within one year from the last demand on defendant to vacate the property, the plaintiff instituted the complaint for ejectment.