TITLE/ TAX DEC ADDRESS

What address should you put on your land title or tax declaration?

Permanent home? Office? Rental unit?

Does it even matter?

Yes—it matters more than most people think.

A client of mine once lost ownership of her agricultural land without knowing it had even been auctioned off by the government. The reason? Unpaid real property taxes.

The kicker: she never received a single notice.

(Interestingly, she was current on her real property tax payments—but that’s another story for another post.)

When we looked into it, we found the Tax Declaration only listed “Diliman” (a broad area in Quezon City) as her address. The land was acquired in the 1960s, when street names in the area didn’t exist yet. So when the city started sending tax reminders and final notices from 2011 onward, there was no specific address to deliver them to.

This is why the address on your property documents is crucial.

The address on your title is taken from what’s written in the Deed of Absolute Sale (DOAS). The City Assessor uses the same source for the tax declaration. These are copied manually—so if you’re vague or careless, that gets carried over too.

And no, updating your address isn’t quick or easy. Most LGUs require you to update the title first before they’ll allow changes to the tax declaration. It can take months.

So what should you do?

+ Use a permanent address—somewhere you’ll always be reachable.

+ Concerned about privacy? Some owners list a different property they own—like a provincial home that still receives mail. It’s a discreet way to keep your real address off the record (no one needs to know you live in Forbes Park).

Bottom line:

The government uses the address on file to serve notices. If they can’t reach you, your property could be at risk—and you might never know until it’s too late.

If the address is a condo or a house in a managed village, no need to panic—HOA admins usually have ways of reaching owners who’ve moved out.