Art. 160. When a creditor whose claims is not among those mentioned in Article 155 obtains a judgment in his favor, and he has reasonable grounds to believe that the family home is actually worth more than the maximum amount fixed in Article 157, he may apply to the court which rendered the judgment for an order directing the sale of the property under execution. The court shall so order if it finds that the actual value of the family home exceeds the maximum amount allowed by law as of the time of its constitution. If the increased actual value exceeds the maximum allowed in Article 157 and results from subsequent voluntary improvements introduced by the person or persons constituting the family home, by the owner or owners of the property, or by any of the beneficiaries, the same rule and procedure shall apply.

At the execution sale, no bid below the value allowed for a family home shall be considered. The proceeds shall be applied first to the amount mentioned in Article 157, and then to the liabilities under the judgment and the costs. The excess, if any, shall be delivered to the judgment debtor. (247a, 248a)

Under this provision, there is a need for a court decision before a judgment creditor can avail of the privilege.

Suppose a creditor has a judgment in his favor directing the debtor to pay Php 500 000.00 and said debtor owns a house worth Php 1M. The bidders cannot bid below Php 300 000.00. If the family home was sold for Php 700 000.00 only, the sheriff had to give the debtor the amount of Php 300 000.00 first then give the balance of Php 400 000.00 to the judgment creditor.

The idea that the family house is immune to Php 300 000.00 is for the debtor to be able to build a new family home in order that he or she and the family will not be homeless.