My landlord changed the locks and kept my things. Is that legal?

Why

Philippine law strictly prohibits self-help evictions. Even if a tenant is legitimately behind on rent, an owner cannot take the law into their own hands. Under Article 536 of the Civil Code, a person who believes he has a right to take a thing from its holder must ask the court for help if the holder refuses to give it up. The lawful route is the ejectment process under Rule 70 of the Rules of Court: a written demand to pay and vacate, barangay conciliation where required, a judgment from the Municipal Trial Court, and enforcement of the writ by a court sheriff.

When a landlord locks you out, removes doors, or installs padlocks without a court writ, you may have a case for Forcible Entry under Rule 70, Section 1, which covers a person deprived of possession by force, intimidation, threat, strategy, or stealth. The case must be filed within one (1) year from the dispossession (counted from discovery if it was done by stealth), and under Rule 70, Section 15 you may move, within five (5) days from filing the complaint, for a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction to restore you to possession while the case is pending.

Shutting off utilities—such as water or electricity—to force a tenant out is another form of self-help. Under Article 1654 of the Civil Code, the lessor must maintain the lessee in the peaceful and adequate enjoyment of the lease for the whole term, so cutting services to drive you out can support a claim for damages, and depending on how it is done, a criminal complaint.

Confiscating or withholding a tenant's personal property, appliances, or clothes is equally unlawful. The Civil Code gives a lessor a preference for up to one year's unpaid rent over the lessee's personal property in the leased premises (Article 2241), but that preference is enforced through the courts; it does not let the landlord seize your things. Under Article 287 of the Revised Penal Code, seizing a debtor's property by violence to apply it to the debt is light coercion, and preventing you by violence, threats, or intimidation from doing something lawful, such as retrieving your belongings, may be grave coercion under Article 286. Other harassment may be unjust vexation.

If the tenant and the landlord are individuals residing in the same city or municipality, the dispute must generally first be brought to the Lupong Tagapamayapa under Republic Act No. 7160 (Katarungang Pambarangay), and you will need a Certificate to File Action before going to court. Under Section 412(b), however, you may go directly to court when the action is coupled with a provisional remedy such as a preliminary injunction or the delivery of personal property, or when the case may otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations.