In fact i am just feeling too demoralized after today. I have screamed this issue over and over again but i dont know why some purchasers still fail to take this basic simple rule.

Today i was briefed about a land transaction gone all too horribly wrong and i really dont know where to start. A purchaser from Europe went through the castle magazine property papers online and saw a property or land specifically he liked in Lekki phase 2 going for around #17Million. He contacts the agency through their hotlines and before you know, he delegates his friend to go and inspect the place. The agent tells him that the property is free from defect and the property has a survey plan, deed of assignment and reciept.

His friend takes the photocopy of the documents and scans it for the purchaser to see and the the purchaser feels comfortable with it and proceeds to get a surveyor to do a proper outlining of the actual square meters. Once the surveyor finished with it, the purchaser now sends 17Million to his friend via wireless transfer including the 5% agency and legal fees and the agent grants him a reciept and hands over all the documents to the friend.

2 weeks later the purchaser decides to come to Nigeria to see the land in Lekki 2 and sees speculators surrounding the property. He screams at them and tries to chase them off but an argument ensues that the land in question belongs to another buyer with the same documents. immediately they go to Alausa to check the survey plan and realise that the survey plan of the purchaser is a clone and has been doctored. The original survey plan from Alausa shows the land is under government acqusition and there is an on going litigation battle about that land in court by the families involved and the previous owner.

The purchaser tries to locate the agent but after that sale, the agent had disappeared into thin air. Now he has no land, no document and no money to be refunded.

It costs you purchasers nothing to get a lawyer, whoever to help conclude your sales transactions. They can spot a mishap a mile away. Documents are being doctored everyday and and once money changes hands, its bye bye. The lawyers will do all the search needed in court and Alausa and if it is not a viable land, then nothing can happen.

Now the guy is crying to me to help and i dont know where to start. The Agency he represents says they werent aware of the sale at all and it wasnt even in their own bulletin as properties to be sold.

Purchasers beware. Not all shinning yellows bracelets are gold. Do the right thing and involve professionals unless you have yourself to blame for skimping on a few naira that could prevent you from losing millions.

Cheers!

Indeed a very sad story, but no matter how you shout it from the rooftop, people will still do what they want to do. A lot of people think because an advert is found in Castle, it makes a transaction fraud proof. I hope more people learn their lessons from your warnings. What about the guy's friend who carried out the transaction on his behalf?

Chai!!! See how hard earned dollars got stolen. I wish I could laid my hand on the agent. Naija na wa

Land boku for Osun, Kwara and Zamfara, 17 million go buy a whole town. Shine your eyes, there is NO land in Lagos anymore unless u wan sandfill water.

@ lawyer

Thanks a mil

Two questions. How was money picked up? Cash, cheque or draft? Which friend will certify a land title clean without checks (usually not exceeding 8K).

Its a painful but not entirely hopeless situation.If he is prepared to spend 5-10% of that amount he will get his money back.10% because the crook will try to use the money to fight back when cornered.He is not a spirit and so could not have disappeared into thin air.Whether cash or cheque there is no way the bank will not have a passport photograph.

Now the friend.I think he needs to be squeezed to find out how he profitted from this deal.

o ma se oooooooo

Land boku for Osun, Kwara and Zamfara, 17 million go buy a whole town. Shine your eyes, there is NO land in Lagos anymore unless u wan sandfill water. Cheesy

Word!!!!

DE LAW!

I bought a land in Ofada about 7years ago.
 
My boss that we bought together is now living on his own.

I want to know, which papers do I ask for. There is no contention on this Land now. and my boss is not having any problem on his own.

I have the survey paln in my name and have even fenced to about 4couches.

What else, apart from receipt do I need to ask for?

mail to jydewalker@yahoo.com

Thx

A very sad story indeed.  I'm forced to commence construction work on a piece of land I bought about 2 years ago, because after selling off all the prime lands in their possession, the omoniles are now busy speculating on the lands they already sold.  I've been getting calls here & there from friends & concerned people about the presence of these miscreants & prospective buyers on the land.  Even when you have genuine documents, chances are that you can still loose your property to dubious omoniles.

that was exactly what happened to my land in PH,my mom bought it without checking and the land was sold to 2 people and the case went to court although she won the case but she greedily conned me from my property and my hard earn money.but i have learnt my lessons

next time if there will even be any next time i wont involve any family member to help me with all thing because some of them are the same as the 419ers.
they can even kill u for ur own property.

2 weeks later the purchaser decides to come to Nigeria to see the land in Lekki 2 and sees speculators surrounding the property.

Exactly the same experience i had when i bought my land. The same agent took other purchasers there and the moment he saw me he was shocked . I did not waste anytime again as i started building that same day.

It is painful to lose your hard earned money to swindlers.

It is a pity but it always like that in Lagos everybody need to knows that if you want to buy land in Lagos you must make a proper document by your self, don’t trust any of your relative, consult a lawyer, even make sure you have an agreement form sign by your lawyer with his or her top print, and necessary document that you will need, so that in case if anything want to happen you will have someone to blame not to blame your self and you will also be able to recover your money to sum logical level.

I have one plot of land in Aja, and after consulting my lawyer and do the necessary findings, we realize that is a genie property, I make sure I pay those omonile by cash, I took my camera along with me, I snap them pictures as they were collecting the money from me, I also make sure all the signatory of there family were present the day I went there for payment and they are all sign my document, top print etc, if every body can be doing all this, definatly it will reduced the crime rate those omnile always commit. reason they always sell 1 land to 2 or 3 people is because they believe that those people don’t have more concrete evidence to proof that they collect money from them.

Really pathetic

Trusting someone to buy land on your behalf is like you suggesting that a friend should marry a wife for you without you  ever seeing the girl korokoro. You can only have yourself to blame. You wont do it with a car, why do it with your most important asset/investment. Even if this guy is found, you will be lucky if he has any money left, thats if he himself has not been a victim of armed robbery. This whole thing sucks.

Angolobabe:

that was exactly what happened to my land in PH,my mom bought it without checking and the land was sold to 2 people and the case went to court although she won the case but she greedily conned me from my property and my hard earn money.but i have learnt my lessons

next time if there will even be any next time i wont involve any family member to help me with all thing because some of them are the same as the 419ers.
they can even kill u for ur own property.

you make me laugh babe girl(((((419 in the family, it's crazy)))))

Both buying the land yourself or sending someone to help is no guarantee that you won't fall a victim! _{lets not even go into having family or friends arrange wife for you! that will be a whole new topic!} na them sabi

Two questions. How was money picked up? Cash, cheque or draft? Which friend will certify a land title clean without checks (usually not exceeding 8K).

Its a painful but not entirely hopeless situation.If he is prepared to spend 5-10% of that amount he will get his money back.10% because the crook will try to use the money to fight back when cornered.He is not a spirit and so could not have disappeared into thin air.Whether cash or cheque there is no way the bank will not have a passport photograph.

Now the friend.I think he needs to be squeezed to find out how he profitted from this deal.

I hope the guy follows this up.

I have gone through most of the posts and although i am still in shock. The guy has been bugging me to perform a miracle that is almost impossible at this stage. The issues for determination isnt really the cash per se to me, but the negligence of not involving a lawyer to handle the transaction before money changes hands.

1. I know there are thousands of agents out there trying to sell one land or the other whether it belongs to them or not but the issue comes up from the documentation. There is no lawyer except one that hopes to be disbarred tomorrow that wouldnt engage in a proper search at Alausa or Land registry of that state to check whether such a survey plan is existing or correct. All the person needs to do is take it to the Surveyor general's office and pay the charting fees which and they will search the original Government land documents to know whether it has been cloned, doctored or falsified.

In fact personally i have an insider in Alausa that immediately i show him the Survey plan, he will just tell me that it is fake or cloned or under government acquistion at just one glance. Omonile's are getting bolder these days and purchasers should get more inquisitive and not fall for every deal that sounds so beautiful.

The second one that must be done even if it passes the Alausa test is the Court search. There are thousands of land matter cases in all the courts in Nigeria, so how are you not sure that that land your buying is under litigation. It is infact one of the easiest things to do. After paying the search fees to the court register, they will search all land cases for the last 3 years at least no matter how bad or invincible the case is, it will be mentioned for adjournment. If you bought the land in lekki, the Igbosere high court is your next best friend or if you bought it on the mainland, the Ikeja High court is your home sweet home until it passes the bill of health.

It is not by force to buy a house today or land. tomorrow a better one will crop up. Now my guy has lost #17,000,000 Naira, fake surveyplan and fake purchase receipt. the friend has been arrested but he claims to be ignorant about the whole thing and he did exactly what the purchaser wanted him to do, that is find a land, pay for it and obtain the documents.

I went to the land in dispute today and the real owners who are even still in court have plastered the whole fence with 'NOT FOR SALE SIGNS". Who to arrest and who to blame now is still a mystery to me talkless of who to sue      

jydewalker:

DE LAW!

I bought a land in Ofada about 7years ago.

My boss that we bought together is now living on his own.

I want to know, which papers do I ask for. There is no contention on this Land now. and my boss is not having any problem on his own.

I have the survey paln in my name and have even fenced to about 4couches.

What else, apart from receipt do I need to ask for?

mail to jydewalker@yahoo.com

Thx

First thing first. Ofada is in Ogun state so your problem will actually come from the ogun state land registry or ministry if there is any problem in future.

Secondly, you didnt tell me how you bought the land. I am sure it is not through the new mortgage scheme being paraded by agents today to buy in an estate in Ofada. you probably bought it from a family in Ofada. Please if i am wrong correct me.

If you bought it from a family, they will give you a survey plan and purchase reciept. You should take that survey plan to Abeokuta land registry for charting to know whether it is genuine and they will endorse it using the stamp of the ogun state surveyor general. Most survey plans that are not endorsed by the government of that state end up being useless and invalid in a court of law when there is a dispute, so i advise you to get the endorsement.

Also you ought to have been given a deed of assignment or conveyance. This deed of assignment would trace how the property or land arrived in your hand. That means who where the previous owners and who are they transfering it to now.

7 years is quite a while and i doubt if you can trace the descendants of the family that sold it to you. But in case Gbenga daniel's eye is blood red for money and forces all you in ofada or mowe to perfect your title to that land, you have to conjur a deed of assignment unless (I can't shout)

As for now since nobody is disturbing you, you can enjoy your land but try and obtain the C/O of that place. It will save you alot of stress in future. Ogun state is ready to chop from the benefits of Lagosians expanding to Ogun's border and they would soon become very greedy like Alausa, so avoid the mad rush. It costs half the price to get a C/O in Lagos.

Cheers1

De Law,

No bi today u get ur pass mark.God wo bless you with _twins

De day when hypertension wo kill people for omonile wahala,God wo use ur post here take judge people for heaven.Why u na no listen to Lawyer advise for Nairaland ?
Ans: Sir na my wife say make i follow the bro for church,na him direct me go meet the man when direct me go meet the Omonile.
Judgement:OK na so, go to my left hand side because u no dey hear word.

Lawyer,

I have read your post for some time now and I am amazed by the amount of helpful information you post. I live in Los Angeles and own some properties in Nigeria. It will be a privilege to know you. Please send me an e-mail via austinthepresident@yahoo.com. Thank you.

@ austin-o

I be Lawyer agent, please see me first before lawyer O, otherwise nothing go happen.

What a sad story, unfortuanately this happens time and time again.

If other people have more land sad stories that have happened to you or a friend please do tell. It is important we reveal all these nasty things done by some of these unscrupulous agents so that new purchasers wont fall victim of these horrible things and we can learn from them.

My neighbour told me one horrible one tonight about a guy in Sweden who wanted to purchase a land, 2 plots to be exact and he contacted his family back home in Nigeria especially his elder brother to over look the transaction. His brother now sent him details about 2 vacant plots in Ikotun area going for N6Million a piece with a fenced gate. His brother now concluded the transaction through the N12 Million he sent and obtained the reciept and survey plan. His brother now engaged a contractor and architect to design the structure that suited the purchaser and sent him pictures and the architectual design. The purchaser now over the next 2 years sent almost N30 Million to his brother to construct a 4 bedroom block apartment for rent and beside it a 5 bedroom duplex for the purchasers personal use when ever he comes home for holidays.

An extra 2 years went by and his brother kept on sending him pictures of the construction work done and the finishing touch. When the brother decided to come home to see the extent of work done, he arrived at the plots of land in Ikotun and found out that the place was still the same bare plots of land with the fenced gate and over grown weeds covering the place with a large sign placed around the fence 'Not for sale'.

Apparently, the brother had bought another plot of land around the same Ikotun area, constructed a huge building and the documents to the sale were written and drafted in the brother's name and he had actually pursued the perfection of the land to the level of a governor's consent and the plot is now being registered in his brother's name.

He told me that the Purchaser came with his camcorder to record and snap pictures of his new land and property to show his family back in Sweden and he couldn't believe his eyes when he realised he had no money, no land, no document and his brother in conjunction with an agent had swindled him dry. He reported his brother to the police and a huhe fracas ensued in their family. Now the brother's new mansion in Ikotun is now a subject of dispute as to who owns it but from my own legal experience, the swedish guy has no right to reclaim that property from his brother since it has being perfected into the name of his brother and it is boldly written and stamped in Alausa as belonging to his brother. The best the swedish Nigerian guy can sue for is a case of fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation to recover his money and knowning our poor and long winded judicial system it might take ages for him to recover his money.

Moral of the story is to shine your eyes and know who your dealing with. Somebody must always monitor who ever is helping you out to effect a transaction. There must be no sitting on the fence. Even close family can be as devilish as they come.

Please feel free to share more stories. It actually helps us to put us on our toes. God forbid this kind of scenario should happen to us in future. Knowledge gained is Ignorance banished.

Cheers!

na wa o and u wonder y some families have great curses on them?

There are bad roads all over the country not just in Edo State, so make sure that the road that leads to the plots of land you want to buy is not bad .

lawyer, i dey hail o!

may God continue to strenghten you in the crusade you have undertaken.

^{but we miss you for that other place not to small}

Carlosein:

lawyer, i dey hail o!

may God continue to strenghten you in the crusade you have undertaken.

^{but we miss you for that other place not to small}

hey!!! Fi le, take your time Carlos,

hold that side, make lawyer being hold this side

cgift:

hey!!! Fi le, take your time Carlos,

hold that side, make lawyer being hold this side

alright i hear you!!

What should one look out for when buying a land in Lagos. I know that some mortgage banks are selling dome plots at Epe axis.
The truth is am intrested. Am being ask to make instalmental payments that a deed of assignment will be given to me.
Plz advice

Lawyer,

Seems you are a GURU in Land's and Properties, your post's are quite informative (if ther'e a word like that) well I got a brother who is an agent for a hotel sale in Abuja, it would be nice if you could show him the ropes, strictly business you get your own cut, how's that? you can contact him on 08027372825 or by mail: ozisquare@yahoo.com, tell him Nairaland and he'd understand,

Quite a sorry tale.