Property law ,properly applied in the acquisition of properties guarantees peace of mind.

I will be shedding some light, in no particular order ,on some pertinent matters relating to property and its acquisition. I hope you will be greatly enlightened.

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In our quest to acquire properties, it is essential to be conversant with the rules guiding land acquisition in order not to become victims of fraudsters who are growing in large numbers in the property sector. An attempt is made here to describe property types, with particular reference to Lagos, so you know the steps to take before buying that property.

TWO MAIN TYPES OF PROPERTIES IN LAGOS, NIGERIA

PROPERTIES WITH REGISTERED TITLES
These types of properties are registered with the Land Registry prior to the commencement of the Land Use Act of 1978.It is easy to verify the authenticity of their titles because they are properly documented at the Registry. The conveyances or titled deeds are registered and many such properties are located in the Island and Mainland areas of Lagos State, Nigeria. The owners have perfected their titles and registered them at the Land Registry. The titles to these properties are usually registered conveyances and some of them date back to the colonial era. For example, a property registered as Page 1 Vol. 1 1955 shows that the registered conveyance with which the holder secured his interest in the property was registered at Page 1 of Volume 1 of the year 1955 register. These types of property are among the best because unlike a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) which is a defeasible title, it is almost impossible to defeat those titles.

Subsequent transactions or encumbrances such as a mortgage or charge are registered against these types of properties. For example, where the owner of property registered as 1/1/55 borrowed money from a bank and executed a mortgage deed in favour of the bank(the bank would have taken steps to register the mortgage against the property).How does a prospective purchaser know that the owner of the property has borrowed money with the property? The prospective purchaser needs to conduct a search in the Registry by applying to search registration No. 1/1/55.The mortgage deed itself would be registered on its own while the particulars are endorsed against the property owner’s (mortgagor) property.

Therefore, if this type of property is encumbered in anyway by a mortgage or a charge, or a caution placed on it, it will be revealed by a search at the Registry. This signals a warning to the prospective purchaser to reconsider his offer to purchase. A search at the Registry shows the prospective purchaser the exact position of things and enables him to take a decision on the property- to go on or back off. Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) duly registered also forms a part of this category of property.

PROPERTIES WITH UNREGISTERED TITLES
These types of properties found mainly in the outskirt of Lagos State, Nigeria are held by either individuals or families under native law and custom. These families are usually well organized and some of them with incorporated trustees, full time officers and an administrative office, all geared towards administering their affairs. One of such important officer is the secretary whose major functions include issuing receipts (purchase receipt) for any land sold by the family.
A group among these land holding families is the ‘’omo onile’’, which comprises of the young members of each family group. Upon purchasing land from the families, one may be confronted with the demands of these young people such as a request for a certain amount of money before erecting a foundation in any land sold under their domain or having it pulled down if turned down.
Many of these properties do not have any title deeds or document of title because they are mostly held by individuals and families under native law and custom. The purchaser of this type of property normally proceed to the Land Registry with an application for Certificate of Occupancy (C of O)
This type of property cannot be investigated before purchase by a search in the Registry because nothing of its existence is documented at the Land Registry. Consequently, the only way to investigate is to make inquiries into the authenticity of the ownership of the individual or family selling the property and also get a surveyor from the surveyor general’s office to ensure the property is not subject to government compulsory/committed acquisition or designated as an open space.

APPROPRIATE STEPS TO TAKE BEFORE PURCHASE OF PROPERTY
The proper action of a prospective purchaser who has made up his mind to invest in a property whether or not he has seen it is to approach his lawyer and brief him .Where a prospective buyer has not seen the exact property he wants to buy, he can instruct his lawyer to find a suitable property in any choice area. Where the prospective purchaser has seen one, the ideal action is to draw the attention of his lawyer to it. In either case, it is the duty of the lawyer to conduct a search of the property at the Land Registry.


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Hello peeps
I thought about the value of time today,and just felt like sharing this info on time.

TIME
Your time is your primary asset.How you use your time determines your standard of living.Begin your day by focusing on activities that contributes the most value to your life and work.

Time managment experts say that you increase your productivity by 25 percent or gain two extra hours per day,by the very act of planning your day in advance.

Begin your day with a list,set priorities on your list and start working on the most important task before you,concentrating on it fervently until it is complete.

Manage your time well,plan carefully in advance and resolve to make every minute count.

TYPES OF DOCUMENT THAT CAN BE REGISTERED

1. DEED OF CONVEYANCE: These are documents on property which were brought into operation through the Property and Conveyancing Laws (PCL) of Nigeria1969.Its purpose was to transfer freehold titles i.e. titles of ownership that could be transferred from one generation to another generation perpetually. Although still relevant today but subject to the Land Use Act 1978.Initially, the Land Use Decree advised that all Deeds of Conveyance be changed to Certificate of Occupancy, so that the deed of conveyance could be surrendered to the government registry. Majority of people with this title failed to comply with the directive as the provisions of the new decree was ambiguous and they were reluctant to accept it. The decree did not invalidate a Deed of Conveyance; therefore it is still acceptable as a good title to transfer property. Deed of conveyance can no longer be obtained today but it is possible to transfer an old one through a Deed of Assignment. In other words, when properties with deed of conveyance are sold today, the seller/vendor executes a Deed of Assignment which confers only equitable title to the buyer. The buyer in turn has to make application to the Land Registry for a Governor’s consent to obtain a legal title to such property.

2. CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY: The Land Use Decree 1978 vested all land in the Governor of a state, who would hold such land in trust for the people. Hence, people could no longer own properties forever and transfer to their children and children’s children in absolute ownership. What became operational was the creation of leasehold titles in which case property is ‘’owned’’ for a leasehold period of 99 years by virtue of a Certificate of Occupancy which is issued by the Governor of a state. The land reverts back to the state after 99 years, although the leaseholder could renew for another term of years subject to the approval of the incumbent governor. The Certificate of Occupancy can be assigned or transferred, provided as the law stipulates, the buyer obtains the Governor’s consent.

3. AGREEMENTS: These are unregistered titles to land which essentially are land contract between sellers and buyers. This is common with original land holding families and layout owners who have no prior registered title to transfer. It is the most unreliable mode of transferring title because there is little objectivity in how to investigate such titles and inferences can best be made from surrounding. A prospective buyer has to be very careful with such title as there is nothing on this sort of title in the Lands Registry. It is best to get a solicitor involved before purchasing properties with such document.


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PERFECTION OF TITLE DEEDS TO PROPERTY

The mistake majority of buyers of property make in Nigeria is to assume that once they have a purchase receipt or deed of assignment made in their name upon payment of the full purchase sum, they have acquired a legal title to the property. Perfection of title deeds is however an important aspect of conveyancing that cannot and should not be ignored because as we all know ignorance of the law is not an excuse.
The acquisition of legal title to property should be factored in from on the moment a person makes up his/her mind to acquire a property either for personal use or investment purposes. This is because without the title deed being perfected, the purchaser will only be vested with an equitable title to the property while the legal title will continue to vest in the vendor until the law and practice with regard to transfer of legal title has been complied with. In lay man’s English as long as a property buyer fails to register his interest (perfect title) in the newly acquired property with the relevant land registry, the law will still continue to see the seller of the property as the owner of the property even though receipt and deed of assignment has been executed and given to the buyer. More so, any third party who subsequently pays for the same land from the same seller and registers his interest with the land registry will be deemed as the true owner of the property because in law he who is first in time takes priority (qui prior est tempore potior est jure).

SCENERIO TO PERFECT PROPERTY WITH REGISTERED TITLE:
Where Tope purchases Green Acre with registered title from Shina and a deed of assignment is executed in her favour, Tope has only acquired an equitable interest in Green Acre and no more, even though the title is duly registered and unencumbered. The law requires that for any legal interest in the property to transfer to Tope, the consent of the Governor of the state should be obtained which is done by proceeding to the land registry to apply for governor’s consent.

SCENERIO TO PERFECT PROPERTY WITHOUT REGISTERED TITLE:
Tope purchases Green Acre from the Shina family,a land held under native law and custom by the Shina family and no form of documentation has been done in respect of Green Acre. The Shina family issues to Tope, the official receipt of Shina family together with a deed of conveyance executed by the head of Shina family with the consent of principal members of Shina family. At this stage, Tope only has an equitable interest in respect of Green Acre and nothing more. The legal title still vests with Shina family or the Governor of the state in whom all land in the state has all been vested as a trustee. For legal title to pass to Tope, she has to make an application to the land registry for Certificate of Occupancy in respect of that land. It is with the purchase receipt and /or deed of conveyance along with other relevant document and prescribed fees that she will submit to get the Certificate of Occupancy.

SCENERIO TO PERFECT PROPERTY UNDER COMPULSORY GOVERNMENT ACQUISITION:
Tope purchases Green Acre from the Shina family and upon search at Surveyor General’s office, it is found to be under compulsory government acquisition. The appropriate step is to apply to the land registry for ratification of the land. Upon ratification, Certificate of Occupancy is given to Tope and this vest in her a legal title.

However, where the land is discovered to be under committed government acquisition, no ratification is allowed and Tope at that point should walk away from such transaction.

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FACTORS TO CONSIDER BEFORE BUYING PLOT(S) OF LAND

a) Sizes of Plots of Land: It is paramount to have a good knowledge of the various plot sizes available in the market as it must be considered alongside the choice of location so as to arrive at a good monetary value for the property before buying of same.

STANDARD PLOTS SIZES IN FEET AND SQUARE METRES IN NIGERIA
60ft x 100ft
80ft x 100ft
100ft x 100ft
120ft x 100ft
120ft x 150ft
150ftx 180ft


Equivalent in m³
60ft x 100ft = 557.4m³ (Approx.)
80ft x 100ft = 743.2m² (Approx.)
100ft x 100ft = 929m²
120ft x 100ft = 1114.8m²
120ft x 150ft = 1678.8m² or ½ acre
150ftx 180ft = 2787.8m² or ¾ an acre



No. of Plots in 1 Acre
60ft x 100ft = 557.4m³ (Approx.) = 7
80ft x 100ft = 743.2m² (Approx.) = 5
100ft x 100ft = 929m² = 4
120ft x 100ft = 1114.8m² = 3.64
120ft x 150ft = 1678.8m² or ½ acre=2-2.5
150ftx 180ft = 2787.8m² or ¾ an acre =1.45


1 Hectare = 10,000 square metres

1 Acre = 4,047 square metres

Therefore, there are approximately 2 ½ acres in one hectare of land

FAQ: How many plots can be found in an acre?

The number of plots found in an acre is dependent on the size of each plot as shown in the table above. Generally, the larger the plots, the fewer there are in one acre. For example, several plots of 60’’ x 100’’ exist in an acre but only 2 plots of 120’’ x 150’’may be found in the same acre. It is also logical that the larger the plot, the more costly it would be relatively to a smaller one on the same location. It is important to understand that dimensions may not always be accurate. For instance, a plot could measure 86’’ x 102’’ or 100’’x 146’’.The accuracy of rounded figures like 60’’, 80’’ or 120’’ would depend on the land space available after taking out the road network, open spaces, schools and the public uses where applicable. In private residential layouts, it is proper to sight the town planning approval in a layout before purchasing the plot. Government planned estates and GRA plots (low and medium density) often contain large plots.

b) The gradient or slope of the plot of land: If it is too steep or sloppy, building of a retaining wall or using of concrete reinforcement at the foundation level is necessary though expensive

c) Water-logging: If it is water logged, a specialized foundation like raft or pad foundation is essential though may incur serious cost implications. A sign that a proposed land for sale is water-logged could be the presence of a stream nearby or the type of vegetation on the soil. When in doubt, consult a soil or civil engineer.
d) Termite-infested soil: A plot of land infested is difficult to build upon because even after fumigation and treatment, the termites still return to attack all timber used in window, door and roof and even garden. A strong indication of the presence of termite infested soil is the presence of termites’ hills and rotten termite-infested wood on the site.

e) Overhead high tension wires or railway lines: The presence of overhead high tension wires or railway lines in a location of your choice should also be considered before investing in any piece of land there

f) Government compulsory/committed acquisition or designated open space: It is important to conduct a thorough search at the relevant land registry in order to ensure the property is not subject to government compulsory/committed acquisition or designated as an open space.



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BASIC STEPS TO ACQUIRING YOUR HOME

Many Nigerians aspire to become homeowners. This aspiration is mainly fueled by the severe shortage of affordable homes, caused by the lack of a coherent housing plan by successive governments and the constant harassment experienced by tenant at the hands of landlords. Here are basic steps to guide aspiring homeowners in realizing their dream home

1. Determine the location of your choice
The dream to purchase a property begins with your desired town or city. Your choice of location could be influenced by economic reasons, personal attachment to the area or for investment purposes.

2. Determine the authenticity of the title of the land sourced for in your location of choice:
Purchase of property in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos state is a very sensitive matter which is better handled by lawyers who are specially trained and experienced in the business. This is due mainly to the presence of a large number of fraudsters, who have made it very difficult to source a property without a defective title and without any form of encumbrance. Thus, it is the responsibility of the solicitor acting for the purchaser to exercise due diligence by conducting a search on the property at the relevant Land Registry (if it a property with registered title)or investigate by making enquiry into the genuineness of the ownership of the individual or family selling the property in question (if it is a property without any registered title ).

3. Determine the type of house you desire to own
Once you have decided the location and determined the genuineness of the land, start envisioning the type of property you can afford based on your level of income.

TYPES OF HOUSES
A) BUNGALOWS
i) DETACHED BUNGALOW: This type of bungalow is built on separate plot of land with no adjoining structure on its side. It is often characterized with its own fence and single access gate.

ii) SEMI-DETACHED /DUPLEX BUNGALOW :This comprises of two (twin ) units of bungalows built side by side on the same plot of land .Some of this type of bungalows are built as separate buildings but with a low fence wall separating the structures and separate entrance gate to ensure privacy. While some others are built with one common roof and with a common wall or a low fence to demarcate the two units.

B) DETACHED HOUSES
This is what is commonly referred to in Nigeria as duplex which is however a misnomer. The proper word to describe such houses is detached houses.

WHAT IS A DETACHED HOUSE?
A detached house is a dwelling house on two floors (two storey) with the sitting room, dining ,kitchen, store, visitor’s toilet, lock-up garage and where desired guest room are on the ground floor while all the bedrooms and family living room/sitting room are upstairs. The two floors are connected by an internal stairway usually taking off from inside the sitting room downstairs.
Detached houses may have as many as eight bedrooms and as few as three bedrooms. Some have been known to have three-four living rooms/sitting rooms. The detached house like the detached bungalow is usually built on its own individual plot fenced with a single access gate.

i) SEMI-DETACHED/DUPLEX HOUSES: This like semi-detached or duplex bungalow comprises of two (twin) units of houses that are built together on the same plot of land. It could be constructed as separate units on the same plot while jointly sharing several utilities. It could also be separated by a common wall under a common roof. In some cases, there’s a middle fence wall of partition to ensure privacy with separate gate or one gate serving the apartments.

C) BLOCKS OF FLATS
This house type is common in the high and medium density areas of several towns in Nigeria.
A block of flats is a single building built to house several units of flats under a common roof ,each existing side by side or on top of the other with a common access and separately defined access to each flat exclusive of the others. They often comprise two or more floors.

i) BLOCKS OF FOUR FLATS: This is a building on two floors containing 4 units of flats. Each floor comprises 2 flats arranged side by side with the upper floor built of reinforced concrete. Each flat has a separate entrance and access to the upper floor is usually through a staircase constructed in the middle of the building which leads directly to the upper flat’s doors on the left and right side respectively. This type of building is also fenced around often on a single plot with a common access gate for the occupants of each flat.

ii) BLOCKS OF TWO FLATS: It is a building that comprises 2 units of accommodation/apartments within a block on 2 floors which are constructed one on top of the other with a side or rear staircase leading to the upper flat which is constructed on a reinforced concrete floor.

iii) BLOCKS OF SIX, EIGHT AND TEN FLATS: These buildings are a variation of the 2 and 4 blocks of flats. The numbers of storeys (floors) go up as the number of flats increase.

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IS IT IDEAL TO SEE THE LANDOWNER BEFORE PAYING FOR A PROPERTY?

A prospective buyer in the course of acquiring a property may wonder, should he or she see the landlord before making payment for a land?
The answer is a resounding YES! It is definitely right to know the identity of the landlord you are dealing with. This can be facilitated by the agent who sourced for the property and usually instills confidence into the transaction. At the meeting with the landlord with the agent in attendance you can find out the following:

1. His readiness to part with the property which in some cases gives you the opportunity to further negotiate the price of the property downward. This is because in some cases, the agent has protected his client from price negotiation in a bid to negotiate a high sum to his advantage and definitely at the expense of the buyer.

2. If he is truly the owner of the property because several cases have shown that many landlords are impersonated either someone else appearing as the owner or his signature is forged. Thus, you must make an effort to be introduced to the landowner whether in his office, work place or home. At the meeting listen carefully to the landowner while asking some relevant questions and try to pick up details such as his profession or occupation. In some cases, something from what he says will reflect on past information on his document. Equally ask questions relating to the property to find out if he has a good knowledge of the property while observing the environment to see if there is any consistency with what he is telling you.
If in the course of relating with the landowner, you have serious doubts which the agent cannot satisfactorily deal with, withdraw from such transactions.

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TYPES OF ATTITUDES TO HOME OWNERSHIP

TYPE 1 ATTITUDE: This is the type of attitude exhibited by people who approach homeownership as a dream or wish that may never materialize. The sheer thought of the huge amount of capital required to carry it through seems intimidating and causes them to keep postponing the consideration of homeownership to a future date they perceive would be easier. Usually, rather than save up for homeownership after meeting their basic necessities, people with this attitude would commit such amounts to gratifying small pleasures that makes them feel good and continue to spend a chunk of their income on house rents, without so much as a buying a plot of land in anticipation of fulfilling their wish for a building of their own.

TYPE 2 ATTITUDE: People with this type of attitude approach home ownership much more seriously by hastily buying a plot of land as soon as they can put some savings together, regardless of the location of the land as long as their savings can cover the cost of the land. Because of their limited resources/savings, they tend to mould sand crete blocks or buy cement at cheaper control price from a friend or relatives or source direct cheap labour in an effort to save more money. Once they have exhausted the money saved, they stop and commence again when they have saved up more money to continue. They eventually succeed in completing their house but sometimes due to pressing financial needs for school fees, feeding, healthcare, they get stuck midway in building their house and end up for years with uncompleted building.

TYPE 3 ATTITUDE: People with this type of attitude have the means to build or buy their own houses but because of their practice of mismanaging money coupled with lack of hindsight, usually squander their money on high living and gratifying the pleasures of the moment. They usually end up with regrets.

The question therefore is ‘’which one of the attitudes do you currently exhibit?’’
It suffices to state that once financial resources are available, one of the greatest priorities to channel it to is building of one’s own house.

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PROPERTY ACQUISITION IN CASES OF JOINT OWNERSHIP

In property acquisition, where joint ownership is involved, some steps must be taking before making any form of payment to the land owners.
CASES OF JOINT OWNERSHIP

1. Where the owners are husband and wife, who jointly included their names on the title deed, then both of them must sign the deed of assignment prepared in your favour by the solicitor. In cases where one of the couple delegates a power of attorney, duly registered to the other, the one with the power of attorney can sign on behalf of both of them.
Where one of the couple is deceased, evidence of death certificate becomes important and questions such as whether the person died testate or intestate may affect the sale. Thus, the importance of consulting a competent property lawyer becomes imperative in cases like this.

2. Where two friends purchased a plot of land and divided it into two physically, without carrying out further documentation at the relevant land registry to make the division official, then the same rule that applies to a couple equally applies here.

3. Where the will of a deceased parent or parents leaves properties to be kept in trust for their children by the executors and administrators, then the responsibility and control of the properties rest upon the these people who must ensure that the instruction of the deceased’s will are enforced. In many cases, these executors and administrators may include the husband or wife of the deceased and one or more of the children.


4. Where parents die intestate (without a will), an application ought to be made to the probate registry to obtain a letter of administration in respect of the property of the deceased. In such cases, the names of those reflected in the letter of administration should be the names reflected in the deed of assignment in your favour.
Where the letter of administration of the sellers is not ready, it is advisable to wait until it is ready before dealing with them because at that point in time they have no legal authority to sell the property.

5. Where one is buying landed property from a registered body, association or social club, it is best to study the constitution of such a group to see if there is a board of governors or board of trustees who are mandated to decide on the sale of the property.

LEVELS OF INVESTORS IN PROPERTY MARKET

LEVEL ONE INVESTOR: This is the level where the investor desires to secure a dwelling place for himself and not to earn rent from it. The ultimate goal for this type of investor is to complete a building to the state where he can move in and be free from the problems associated with housing and irate landlords.

LEVEL TWO INVESTOR: This is the level where the investor has built his own house and uses extra income available to him to build more houses to let. In most cases, this type of investor passes on this wealth to coming generation and in cases of austerity such as is the case currently in Nigeria, sell one or two of his properties in old age to ensure his living expenses are met.

LEVEL THREE INVESTOR: This is the level where the investor with a business minded view of creating wealth and preserving landed property either buys landed property and waits until the area or location is open to development, sells it off, and makes two or three times the money used in purchasing the property in the first place or; seeks for opportunities to buy properties with a price advantage such as properties put up for sale by distressed owners, vendors/sellers or auctioned properties or uncompleted buildings and sells same for profit or keeps them for duration when he can determine it is best to sell off.
The level three investor is skillful, experienced and mature to buy properties, balance his hold and hold his investments for five, ten, twenty-five years as the case maybe. This type of investor also seeks professional advices and does investment analysis to point in the right directions.

LEVEL FOUR INVESTOR: This level of investors is usually referred to as developers because they construct several housing units and sell them for profit. This type of project are usually capital intensive hence the involvement of mortgage banks and commercial banks in its funding and execution.

LEVEL FIVE INVESTOR: This is the level where it is possible to raise finance from the capital market though the sale of shares and debenture stock from developers and estate investors.

Which one are you?

PURCHASE OF TENANTED PROPERTIES

What are tenanted properties?

Tenanted properties are properties with tenants who are renting. There are good and bad aspects to purchasing tenanted properties. It could be positive or negative depending on whether you are looking to buy as an owner occupier (i.e. with an intention to move in for personal use immediately after payment) or as an investor.

It is however not an ideal purchase option if one is looking to buy as an owner occupier. Ideally, it is the duty of the seller of tenanted property to evict existing tenant to enable the purchaser to have vacant possession immediately he completes the purchase. Where he fails or neglects to do this, it becomes a problem to the purchaser afterwards as he would be saddled with the difficulty of evicting those tenants. In such a case, the purchaser is deemed to have inherited the tenants upon payment for the property.

Where a purchaser buys a tenanted property, the following steps ought to be taken in consultation with a competent property lawyer:

1. Find out the tenant(s) tenancy terminal date. For example a tenancy may run from 1st of January to 31st of December, 2017.The terminal date is 31st of December.

2. Study a copy of the tenancy agreed period of notice to quit. Is it 3 months, 6 months?

3. Invite all the tenants to a meeting and inform them of the need to use the house for personal use and agree with them on reasonable period to move out. For those who have been served a notice to quit by the previous landlord but which are still subsisting, remind them of the need to move out at the expiration of their notice. For those not yet served notice to quit, the purchaser through his lawyer has to serve them the required notice to quit depending on the tenancy period. The purchase may however not have the co-operation of all the tenants as envisaged and may need to resort to legal steps to get a tenant to leave. Some people try to resort to unorthodox means like disconnecting electricity, removing doors and even part of the roof to eject the tenant. Such steps could end up a disaster for the purchaser.

In practice, to save time considering the slow pace of Nigeria’s judicial process and to expedite the moving out of the tenant, some purchasers reach an agreement with the tenants by offering incentives such as lump sum of money which could entice the tenants to vacant the premises within an greed period or before the expiration of quit notice which must be outlined in a contract to be signed.

The appropriate and legal step is to consult a lawyer who will initiate legal proceedings through the court of law to have the recalcitrant tenant ejected legally.