When acquiring a property, it is always important to know if the property has a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) or some other title. But it is more important to know if the C of O is defective.
it is not uncommon for errors to be made during land title preparation.
One thing you must do before acquiring a property with Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) is to check the survey plan.
The most common error on a survey plan is wrong coordinates. This error usually results from typos or wrong GPS parameters. And it goes undetected because it is often impossible to know if the coordinate of a location is wrong by visual inspection. The implication of wrong coordinates on a survey plan is that the survey plan describes a property in another geographic location not the intended location. For example the property is in Surulere but when the survey is plotted/charted, the property falls in Agege.
Errors in a C of O (or other land titles) can be corrected with a Deed of Rectifaction. However, before you decide to acquire a property with defective title, it is important to know the requirements for rectification so you can decide if it’s a process you want to go through.

REQUIREMENTS FOR RECTIFICATION OF TITLE
Application letter addressed to the Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau.
2Nos. Deed of Rectification
2 Nos. Sunprint Survey plan for survey rectification
Newspaper publication (half page) in a widely circulated
Means of identification (National ID, Driving License, Voter’s Card or data page of valid International passport
Sworn affidavit with photograph attached
Receipts evidencing payment of rectification charges:
1.5% aggregate broken down into;
Rectification Fee @ 0.75% of assessed value,
Stamp duty @ 0.375% of assessed value and
Registration @ 0.375% of assessed value



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