In order. The free steps come first, and one of them you cannot skip even if you want to.
1. The barangay
Free, close to you, and for most disputes between people living in the same city or municipality it is a precondition — the court will not take the case until you have been through the lupon.
“No complaint, petition, action, or proceeding involving any matter within the authority of the lupon shall be filed or instituted directly in court or any other government office for adjudication, unless there has been a confrontation between the parties before the lupon chairman or the pangkat, and that no conciliation or settlement has been reached as certified by the lupon secretary or pangkat secretary as attested to by the lupon or pangkat chairman or unless the settlement has been repudiated by the parties thereto.”
The same law lists exceptions in Section 408 and cases where you may go straight to court in Section 412(b) — among them where the action is coupled with a provisional remedy, or where it would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations.
What to bring
None of this is law. It is what makes the difference between a hearing that moves and one that turns into two people remembering things differently.
- The signed contract — or, if there is none, whatever stands in for it: receipts, transfer screenshots, messages about the rent
- Proof of what you paid and when
- A government ID
- Photos of the unit, dated if you can
- A short written timeline: what happened, on what date, in order
- The landlord’s full name and address — the summons has to reach someone
Bring copies you can leave behind, and keep your originals. Write the timeline before you go, not while you are sitting there.
2. Free legal help
The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) and the legal aid chapters of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) give legal assistance without a fee. Whether you qualify is theirs to decide — ask them.
This step comes before a private lawyer, not after it. If you can afford a lawyer you are usually not in this situation in the first place.
3. A private lawyer
For anything above the coverage line, or where the money is large or the documents are complicated. We do not take a share of any legal fee and we are not paid to send anyone to anyone.
And if it was us
If the person who showed you the unit was one of ours, tell us directly. We would rather hear it from you than not hear it at all.
This page quotes the law and links to the source. It is information, not legal advice, and it is not written for any one person’s situation. For your own case, go to your barangay or to a lawyer.
Law text checked 2026-08-08