Renting a House or Buying Land in Nigeria??? Legal Advice on Basic Points to Note before Parting with Your Money 1

In Nigeria today, there are some very basic points to note in the process of renting a house or when one wants to buy a landed property or house in Nigeria.
Below are some of the basic steps, which include but are not limited to the following modalities, which must be taken to avoid lapses or falling into the hands of fraudsters and criminally minded personalities when proposing to buy or rent a property.

                 When attempting to Lease a property:-

1)    The First Step is to engage the services of a Lawyer and a certified Real Estate agent for appropriate guidance.

2)    The second step is to inspect the property, taking a very close look at the property and inspect the basic items that make a house/apartment tenantable and confirm if they are functional: they include:-doors, windows, ceiling /roofs, plumbing works-taps, toilet and bathroom, Gates, electrical sockets, and other fees like service charge for generator, cleaning, security, elevator, waste disposal, etc.

3)    The third step is to request from the Landlord; all the terms and condition of renting the house and also the price to be paid for tenancy fees, if the person claiming to rent is NOT the owner, a power of attorney to rent/lease the property must be requested and immediately request your lawyer to draft a formally written offer /expression of interest to the Landlord/landlady and get an acceptance letter, for your lease/rent of the apartment or building.

4)    Once the property has been inspected, if the house is co-tenanted, a few investigative or interrogatory questions could be asked from neighbours and those  occupying nearby houses or offices or trading  around the vicinity to discover the true owner of the property as well as modalities being operated in that building. This should be done to avoid identity fraud and fraudulent collection of rent by some agents and even imposters acting as landlord/landlady, when indeed he/she/they  are NOT  the bonafide owners and do NOT have a power of attorney to do so.

5)    Prior before payment for the rented apartment, a draft tenancy agreement to be given by the landlord’s lawyer, should be read carefully and also given to your lawyer to peruse, thereafter on payment, a receipt should be granted acknowledging the receipt of the tenancy fee by the landlord and the tenancy agreement duly signed and the Key of the house or apartment must be collected, if possible, upon payment, some reasonable bit of personal effects, furniture or fixtures should be moved into the apartment to take possession.


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