Buyers Beware…

Although Psalm 24: 1 says: The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof… man’s appetite for acquiring land has become voracious overtime that one man has over 200 landed property while another has an illegal lease on the streets of cities and towns across the world.

While this article is neither aimed at condemning the have nor the have not; it purposes to analyse the steps to legally acquiring land for investment purpose or for personal use.

By virtue of Section 1 of the Land Use Act LFN 2003, all land comprised in the territory of each State in the Federal Republic of Nigeria are vested in the Governor of that State and such land shall be held in trust and administered for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Although the Land Use Act and the Property and Conveyance Law has seem to be strict on fraudulent land deals, however, dubious vendors have perfected the skill of selling the same piece of land successfully to various unsuspecting prospective buyers. Hoodlums who parade themselves as ‘omo oniles’ trespass upon and take possession of land in which they have no trace of interest, challenging the owner and asserting their absolute rights to it.

PROCEDURE TO FOLLOW BEFORE BUYING A LAND

 

 

• INVESTIGATION OF TITLE:

To investigate title, the purchaser must approach the Registrar of Title with the following documents:

1. A letter of consent or authority from the proprietor or a sworn declaration by the solicitor showing that he has consent of the proprietor to investigate the title. The reason for this is that the registry is a private registry not opened to the public. There must hence be authority given to an ‘outsider’ to have access to the registry.

2. A copy of the land certificate which contains the particulars by which the property will be identified at the lands registry. The particulars the certificate usually contains are:
3. a)      Title number;
4. b)      District; and
5. c)      The property.

2. A declaration in court by the purchaser to the effect that the proprietor of the title actually granted the permission to conduct searches of the register. This is a requirement imposed in practice to prevent fraud by those who may claim that they have consent of the proprietor when in fact they do not. A declaration may make such persons liable to be charged for perjury.

In the case of registered land, the purchaser can discover from a mere inspection of the register whether the vendor has the power to sell the land and whether or not there are encumbrances on the land that may be investigated. As such, waste of time and resources is avoided since from an inspection of the register, a purchaser would satisfy himself of the title of the vendor and if the vendor has the power to sell the property – Onagoruwa v. Akinremi & Ors (2001) 13 NWLR (Pt. 729) 38.

Once the investigation has been carried out and the property is not encumbered, the purchaser may go ahead with the transaction. Upon acquiring the landed property, the buyer must take every necessary step to register his title.

REGISTRATION OF TITLE

The system of registration of title operates in large parts of Lagos state. The regulating legislation in the state is Registration of Titles Act of 1935,now Registration of Titles Law of Lagos State CapR4,2003.This law was introduced to correct the inadequacies in the Registration of Instrument Act of 1924, now known as the Registration of Instrument Laws of various states. The basic principle of the Registration of Titles Law is that ownership of title to land is based on the fact of registration, that is, it operates to register dealings and transactions over titles in land when such titles have been registered.

The Governor of the State may by order apply the Law to any area in the State. Any such area is referred to as a registration district. The Governor may also from time to time by order, alter the boundaries of any such registration district or may by order, abolish any such district – section 2 of Registration of Titles Law (RTL).

The object of the law is to substitute a single established title guaranteed by the state for the traditional title which must be separately investigated before purchase. And, must be proved by several documents of title each time the title is in issue. Transactions in respect of registered land such as leases, creation of charges, and transfer of interest in land are also required to be registered.

The law requires that all titles to land within a registration district shall be registered either compulsorily – section 5 of RTL, or voluntarily – section 6 of RTL.

Application for first registration must be made by the grantee within 2 months of the execution of an instrument. Failure to register would render the instrument void with regard to the legal estate granted – Onoshile v. Idowu (1961) 1 ANLR 3.

It should be noted that the registry is private and confidential in the sense that apart from the proprietor or a person authorized by him, other persons do not have the right to investigate the register containing entries on any title except with the express permission of the registered proprietor of the title authorizing them to do so – section 74(2).

The register under section 69 is divided into three namely the property register, proprietorship register, and charges register.

 

PROPERTY REGISTER

This contains detailed description and gives other information of the property that is registered. There are also specific contents which are required under property register. They are:

1. Description of the title with reference to a map or field plan;
2. Notes relating to ownership of mineral;
3. Any exemptions from overriding interests; and
4. Easements, rights privileges, conditions, and covenants for the benefit of the land and other similar matters.

PROPRIETORSHIP REGISTER

This contains the particulars (name, address, and description) of the registered owner (proprietor) of the property. It also contains cautions, inhibitions and restrictions affecting the right of the proprietor to dispose the title.

CHARGES REGISTER

This contains particulars of any charge, mortgage, and encumbrance that may have been created over a particular property. It also contains:

1. Encumbrances subsisting at the date of first registration;
2. Subsequent charges and other encumbrances including notices of leases and other

           notices of adverse interest or claims permitted by law;

1. Notes relating to covenants, conditions, and other rights adversely affecting the land;
2. Dealings with registered charges and encumbrances which are capable of registration.

The registrar is not under obligation to file any document brought to him but he is entitled before making an entry in the register, to require such evidence of the authenticity of the document to be filed, its due execution, the identity of persons and of the documents or facts giving occasion for the entry as he may think necessary – section 70(1). There is priority of registration and to guarantee priority, the registrar makes note on the date of the receipt of each application, numbers the application serially and if the application is in order, deems it to have been received in numerical order – section 72(1). The registrar on a first registration and on subsequent changes of ownership wherever practicable should enter on the register the declared value or the price paid of the transaction – section 73.

PROCEDURE FOR FIRST REGISTRATION

1. A person is requested to make an application to the Registrar to be registered as first owner using Form 1 in the Schedule to the law. A declaration on oath may be demanded in Form 3 by the Registrar to the effect that the applicant has made a full disclosure of material facts respecting the land and any sketch of the land.
2. The title to the land is then investigated by the Registrar – Bucknor-Mclean & Anor. v. Inlaks Ltd. (1980) ANLR 184; Owumi v P. Z. Ltd (1974) 1 All NLR (Pt. 2) 107; section 8(1). The Registrar is entitled to accept and act on legal evidence or evidence ordinarily required by conveyances – section 9. The power of the Registrar here is confined to the acceptance or refusal of the application for first registration and he is not expected to decide the question as to ownership of title – Majekodunmi v. Abina (2002) FWLR (Pt. 100) 1336 at 1357.
3. The application must then be advertised by the Registrar at least one in the State Gazette and if he thinks fit, in one or more Nigerian newspapers – section 8(2).     Many applications may be included in an advertisement. The Registrar may also serve on any person he deems fit, each occupier of the land and all owners of adjoining land, the application made for registration. Such application may be made in Form 2.
4. The Registrar waits for a period of two months for any objection to the application for registration. Where an objection is received, the registration will not be made until the person objecting has been given an opportunity of being heard – section 8(4).
5. If the Registrar is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to be registered after investigation, an applicant will be registered accordingly. Where an interested person fails to object to first registration before the registrar proceeds to register the title his objection is foreclosed – Balogun v Salami (1963) 1 ANLR 129.

Where the Registrar of Titles is not satisfied with the evidence of title, he will dismiss the application for registration.

Grounds for upholding an application for registration are:

1. The successful proof that the land is family land under customary law or that the applicant has no right or interest in the land – Dania v. Soyenu 13 NLR 143;     section 10(1); or
2. That although not family land, the land is subject to customary law for which the objector has rights of interests, contingent or otherwise in respect of the land – section 10(2).

CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY

The C of O as it is commonly called is a document issued by a State Government which transfers the ownership of the land to the buyer as proof of ownership for 99years.

The C of O complements a building permit, a document that must be filed by the applicant with the local authority before construction.

When buying land directly from the government, a copy of the certificate of occupancy along with a letter of allocation may automatically come with the purchase documents.

It is pertinent to note therefore, that the duration for the application of a certificate of occupancy depends largely on the time of publication of the individual’s application in the Lagos state Government’s Public Notices (for land/property in Lagos state) various applications are usually compiled and published at intervals of average of three months for any objection from members of the public.

It also most advisable to get a lawyer to help you with the filing and processing to ensure your transaction stays authentic.

STEPS TO TAKE IN APPLYING FOR A CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY

• Lands information (to be obtained upon an application to the office of the surveyor General and payment of #10, 000 )
• Application form (#5,000)
• Duly stamped purchase receipt
• Tax clearance (evidence of payment of current tax assessment)
• Capital contribution (to be calculated based on the size and location of the land)
• Four passport photographs of the applicant
• Publication fee(#10, 000)
• Sketch of the location-this is a graphic description of the location of the property