A woman was trying to sell two plots of land at Langbassa worth N17,000,000 to our client without the consent of her husband who is also a co-owner of the property of a Jointly owned C of O. She lied that her husband was dead but refused to produce a death certificate.

A woman was trying to sell two plots of land at langbassa worth N17,000,000 to our client without the consent of her husband who is a co-owner of the property. Thankfully, the property was covered by a certificate of occupancy issued in both their names.

The first meeting that was scheduled between parties had the sellers absent for reasons not made known to us. At this meeting, the sellers’ agent kept insisting that he had the authority of his principals to deal on their behalf since he had the original copy of the certificate of occupancy in his possession hence their presence was irrelevant, this raise some level of suspicion in our minds.

We requested the meeting be rescheduled to a date that will be convenient for the sellers to attend. At the rescheduled one the sellers was available, we asked for the other but was told the man just passed away, this got us more suspicious. Also, she said the property originally belonged to her but at the process of obtaining the certificate of occupancy, she decided to include her husband’s name as a show of respect.

We informed her that tradition and customs are of no relevance in law hence since she had included the husband’s name, the property now belongs to both of the jointly and not severally. To sell we need the consent of both parties but if truly one has passed away, the other becomes a sole owner however certain conditions must be met.

We requested she provide us with a copy of the death certificate as well as the man’s will to show that he had not transferred his rights over the property to a third party, this got her very infuriated and led us to believe the woman was up to something. We immediately asked our client to look elsewhere for another property.