Buying land through a corporation — what are lawyers telling you?
I'm not planning to buy any land or property — I'm just asking out of pure curiosity.
I've lost count of how many times I've heard people say they can buy, or have bought, land through a corporation. I know it's a legal arrangement, but broadly speaking it's mostly done to get around the constitution. So I'm curious what advice lawyers give and how they reassure you when they recommend this route.
With the anti-dummy law in place, it seems like the whole thing would be thrown out pretty quickly if a dispute came up with the other shareholders.
Compared to just putting the title in your partner's name, I can see how a corporation might stop someone from secretly selling the land without you knowing. But if the relationship goes bad and the other side is determined to screw you over, I don't really see a corporate setup giving you any extra protection in the long run.
What am I missing? Has anyone gone this way and regretted it? And with Thailand cracking down on nominee ownership, aren't you worried something similar could grow here in the future?
Again, I'm not buying and not even looking — I just want to understand a bit better why people choose this route.
Cheers 🙌🏻
Lawyers tell people what they want to hear. Unethical? Sure, but that's par for the course here. I can't blame them for taking advantage of people being stupid.
My boss has a Filipino son, and he put everything in the son's name instead of his wife's.
Foreigners can buy property (like condos) but not the land underneath. Foreign corporations, however, can lease land for up to 99 years as long as the business isn't on the Foreign Investment Negative List (per the Investors' Lease Act as amended in 2025). For a foreign corporation to hold actual land titles, it has to follow the 60/40 rule and become a Philippine corporation. It's the same across the rest of ASEAN — foreigners can't own land directly. Malaysia is the only exception, but it comes with prices well above market. Thailand only requires 51% for a joint corporation to count as a Thai corporation.
Thailand is cracking down hard on this right now, and I believe Indonesia is too. Vietnam doesn't like it either. Anti-foreigner sentiment is growing all over the world — don't underestimate it. All these countries are broke and would love to take what's yours. I'm not in the Philippines, and the laws and local customs are clearly different, but... my honest advice is to be really, really careful. Here in Southeast Asia, things can flip in a matter of weeks...
Just don't. The prices are bad anyway (unless you're buying land in the middle of the province). I've been shocked at what people ask in the more popular areas. Rent, rent, rent
I thought trying to get around the law banning foreigners from owning land was itself illegal. I haven't asked a lawyer, though.
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