7 STEPS TO MAKE SURE YOU OWN A LAND IN LAGOS, NIGERIA
At the Land Registry in Lagos State, there are several steps that must be taken to search for and verify a land title. Verifying a landed property means finding out if the land has a good root of title and if there are any problems with the title. During these stages, searches and investigations are done in the following places, as well as many others that may be important to a particular land deal:
- Getting information about someone’s title at the Lagos State Land Registry. A land registry is set up in the state by the Lagos State Land Registration Law. For this article’s purposes, the Lagos State Land Registry is at the Secretariat in Alausa Ikeja, Lagos. The Land Registry is responsible for keeping records about the land in its area. At the land registry, you can only look up properties that have been registered with the state government. A search at the Land Registry will show who the real owner of the land is and if there are any liens on the property, such as a mortgage or a leasehold.
- The office of the Surveyor-General of Lagos State is where survey results are checked. Using the coordinates from the survey plan, this step involves making sure that the land in question is in the right place. This step is very important in the process of verifying land in Lagos State. The applicant goes to the Surveyor-office General’s with the lands coordinates and survey plan to find out if the land is registered and if it is available. The purpose of this process is to find out if the land is being bought by the government and if the survey plan for the land is real.
- Searching at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Companies often buy land in Lagos State and sign up with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). When the vendor of land or the previous owner of land is a company that is registered with the CAC, a search is done with the CAC to see if there is a charge or encumbrance on the company’s assets. To find out about a piece of land in Lagos, a search must be done at the CAC.
- Search at the Probate Registry. In Lagos, you have to do a search at the probate registry to find out if probate has been granted on any estate, who the administrators of the estate are, or who the executors of a testator are if the land is part of the estate of a person who has died. If the vendors don’t have a grant of probate or letters of administration, they don’t have the legal right to sell or give away the property of a person who has died.
- Investigations in the past. In Lagos, where the land that is going to be sold is owned by one person, it is important to do a traditional search. This is done by looking into the family of the vendor to find the main family members and the community in the town where the land is located, especially if the land is owned by the family or the community. It is very important to make sure that all family members, including the head of the family, gave their permission and that the family name is not void or can’t be void.
- The land or property site will be looked at in person. Visit the property in question to complete this step of the land verification process. The goal of a physical inspection is to find out if there are any flaws in the title of the land or property, to confirm the land’s or property’s physical condition, to find out where the land’s boundary is, to see if it matches the coordinates or survey plan, and to find out if it is in the possession of anyone, whether through tenancy, leasehold, or seizure by an anti-corruption agency.
CONCLUSION
When buying land or property, it’s important to do a lot of research and do your homework to clear up any questions, doubts, or confusion. The only way to make sure that the land or property to be bought in a transaction has a good title is to do a thorough search in all of the above places and many others that may be relevant to the transaction.
Lastly, it is important to hire a property lawyer to do the search and help with the rest of the process when buying property in Lagos State or anywhere else in Nigeria. This will make sure that the owner gets a real property with a good title.
