By Douglas Ogbankwa Esq. @douglasogbankwa@gmail.com
Purchasing land can be a thing of great joy, but if you are not careful, it could be a living nightmare! The following are safeguards when purchasing land in Nigeria:
- Let a lawyer be with you at the beginning of the transaction. It makes the Land Speculators do the right thing, from the beginning, knowing that a good lawyer will detect fraud or discrepancies from the start.
- Never make payments or sign documents later. Most times, after making payments, the vendors become evasive and elusive, knowing there is nothing to look on to.
Never pay cash for land purchases, do a bank transfer, issue a cheque, or raise a draft to provide a trail of evidence.
- Investigate the title and ownership before purchase, don’t believe every information given to you by the vendor, subject it to scrutiny.
If they say the Vendor is abroad, insist on a Power of Attorney from the Vendor to a person here in Nigeria and go online to verify the authenticity of the fact, by using social media channels to reach the Vendor.
- Let the person who introduced you to the transaction sign and witness the transaction for you.
- Always put dates in your Deeds of Transfer or Assignment, an undated document has no probative value in Law-as per a ratio by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
- If the land document is registered, search the Lands Registry to ascertain if there had been a transfer, if there was a charge, mortgage, caveat, or any kind of encumbrances, and what
- If the owner of the land is dead, demand a document conferring ownership on the vendor, like Letters of Administration, Document of Sharing, or Order from the Customary Court.
- Take your documentation seriously, do not patronise quacks or business centres, be guided that according to the Land Instrument Preparation Law, every document relating to land must be prepared by a legal practitioner; otherwise, what you have is a worthless sheet of paper! Pay right now, or you will pay more later.
If you are not sure of the genuineness of the land, pay Instalmentally, do some work to ascertain encumbrance or otherwise.
- Do not allow the vendor to rush you while doing a land transaction; being rushed is a red flag, and the land may not be genuine.
- Always insist on a receipt for every payment made to give you evidence of the same.
- Do a Survey Plan immediately after purchasing land, and lodge it in the Lands Registry to put the purchase on official records.
- Do not buy a land and leave it fallow, make sure you have contact with people around the land to monitor it for you and to alert you against any trespass.
- Make sure you have pictures and videos of the signing of the Land Documents. The children of the vendor may feign ignorance of your transaction. If, for any reason, the vendor dies.
- Do not allow the vendor to get a lawyer for you. Get your lawyer who will protect your interests.
- Make sure the community leaders are aware of your purchase of land in their community
Community, it makes fraud less likely and makes your purchase public knowledge.
- Read through before signing a Land Document; every word is important, and the Law only interprets your agreements and not your thoughts. “Pacta Sunt Servanda “-Parties are bound by their Agreements.
- You may require the vendor to swear to an affidavit of ownership, so if it turns out that he is not the owner, it becomes a criminal issue of lying under Oath – perjury.
Buying land from an individual who is ascertained to be the owner of the land is likely to be more authentic than buying from the Community! Be more thorough when buying from the community!
- Ensure you make the Vendor sign and receipt and indemnity for you, and ensure every Deed of Transfer prepared for you has an indemnity clause. If the land is fake, the Matter becomes an automatic case of fraud.
