Immediately after buying a house, land or property, a good number of purchasers are not knowledgeable about the types of documents they should obtain from the seller. This may be due to the fact that they are either less concerned, distracted by the success of their new acquisition or simply unaware of these documents as a result of poor counsel without consulting a professional to advise them properly.

Thus, the sellers play on their gullibility and ignorance by either handing over incomplete documents transferring inchoate title and ownership to them or they are giving one or two documents and withhold the remaining. The purchaser may therefore, be in possession of the land, house or property but he may never be able to proof his title without having all the essential title documents in his custody to corroborate his claim.

The issue of securing the right and complete title documents cannot be over-emphasized other than the fact there are people who have lost their lives in the process which could have been avoided if due diligence was carried out before and at the point of purchase. Some pertinent questions we need to ask ourselves are as follows:

If you answer all these tough questions in the affirmative, then you are on the right path of guarding yourself against land fraud as these questions will be treated for a better appreciation and understanding.

First, it is important to note that personality of a seller also plays a huge role in determining the type of documents you demand. Generally, there are four (4) types of people you buy land or property from. They are:

Buying lands from private individuals

When an individual puts up his property or land for sale, care and due diligence must be exercised to ensure that he is selling for the right legitimate reasons, he has the vested statutory right to sell and most importantly, he can transfer title to you upon purchase.

This information is very delicate as it will aid the purchaser to make the right decisions without fear of transfer of unknown liabilities and also confirm the seller’s genuineness.

An individual can either sell a land which he acquired with a virgin title by first registration as the owner or re-sell a land which he had acquired in the past from previous owner(s) or occupier(s).

Where such individual sells his land as the first owner, the following documents must be transferred to the purchaser:

Where such individual sells his land which he acquired from the previous owner(s) or occupier(s), the following documents must be transferred to the purchaser:

• Deed of assignment issued to him by the previous owners (or a certified true copy when he wishes to sell part of his estate)

• Building plan and approval from the appropriate authorities if there is an existing structure on the land

• Land purchase receipt

• Form 1c

• Tax clearance certificate

Buying lands from family or community

When buying land from the communal family, two scenarios are involved.

If they are selling family land, the consent of the head of the family and other accredited representatives of the family must be sought and obtained. If the head of the family does not consent or is unaware of the sale of the land, such transaction stands void and whatever document given to you is just a paper without value.

If all the aforementioned parties are informed and consent to the sale, the following documents will be transferred to the purchaser:

If they are selling community land, the consent of the head of the community (usually the baale or oba) and other accredited representatives of the community such as the secretary of the community must be sought and obtained.

If the head of the community does not consent or is unaware of the sale of the land, such transaction is void. If all the aforementioned parties are informed and consent to the sale, the following documents will be transferred to the purchaser:

BUYING LANDS FROM REAL ESTATE COMPANY OR DEVELOPER

Before you finally purchase their land, ensure that they have the right title in their possession and their name such as a certificate of occupancy or a deed of assignment (whether registered or not) so that they can also pass a good title to you. Once this is certain, you must be given the following documents:

Buying lands from government

The following documents are necessary for the purchaser to prove his ownership over government-owned lands:

It is also very important to note that the seller may have used his land or property as security for a mortgage transaction, pledge or any other transaction which requires collateral. In that case, you must request for the security documents to avoid unnecessary surprise in the future preventing you from enjoying peaceful and quiet possession of your land or property.

It is therefore apt to always consult with a professional who can guarantee a 100% complete land documents from the seller so that you can enjoy the full title as owner of the land or property without any hiccups.

Don’t be a victim of either an Omonile Land scam or fraudulent real estate developer. Get in touch with Omonile Lawyer and we promise to help prevent you from losing your hard earned millions to crooks.