Welcome back dear Reeders!, I hope you all enjoyed my last piece on the Importance of Survey. If you haven’t read it yet, don’t worry, it is just a click away.
That being said, this week I have another need-to-know topic for my curious reeders, especially the soon-to-be landowners.
Below, I will briefly explain 7 relevant documents for land or house transactions in Nigeria. Note that without these documents to prove that you are the owner of a land/house it means that you have legit been scammed!!!!. If you do not want that to happen, reed carefully.
LAND PURCHASE RECEIPT
A land purchase receipt is a normal receipt or document reflecting the receipt of payment for a particular house or land. Usually, vendors issue a receipt to the buyer upon the sale of a property. However, the receipt may be exempted where the clause for receipt is contained in the document transferring the land.
CONTRACT OF SALE OF LAND
The contract of sale of land is used by parties to agree on some terms before the finalization of the transaction. It is relevant when any property is to be purchased by anyone. It is not a registrable instrument and must be preceded with other document transferring title in the applicable property.
SURVEY PLAN
A survey plan is used to show the location and size of landed property. With the descriptions and coordinates on the survey document, it is easier to check or search from the office of the Surveyor-General whether the land is actually under any government acquisition or not.
DEED OF ASSIGNMENT
Deed of Assignment is used in sales transactions to permanently transfer a landed property from the seller (also known as assignor) to the buyer (also referred to as assignee). It may be drafted by the assignor and reviewed by the assignee or vice versa.
CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY (C of O)
C of O is usually issued by the state government, indicating that a person owns a parcel of land or property. It is issued to individuals that have held a piece of land after 1979. State governments also give it to the allottees of the government’s land. An Individual who subsequently takes over land by way of sale does not require a new certificate of occupancy but rather a deed of assignment with the governor’s consent.
DEED OF MORTGAGE
Deed of mortgage is actually used in mortgage transactions to show that land or house has been transferred from the mortgagor (borrower) to the mortgagee (lender). It is a temporary transfer in the sense that the mortgagor shall be entitled to retrieve this property back from the lender when the total loan amount, together with the accrued interest, has been paid.
DEED OF GIFT
It is a document that proves that land or property has been gifted from one person (donor) to another (Donee). A deed of gift can be used to transfer interest in a landed property permanently.
GRANT OF PROBATE
A grant of probate is a document derived after proving the will of a deceased person through inheritance by will in the probate registry. The document vests all the assets contained in the will into the executors of the estate, who are now recognized legal owners of the property in law. After the owner of any property has become late, all the property’s documents of such person are no longer valid to transfer any interest in the assets left behind by him or her. The Probate will now be the only recognized legal documents to prove the title to such property.
So guys, hope you’ve been able to learn one or two things above to avoid being ridiculed on the streets of Lagos or anywhere else for that matter. Also, do not forget to check in next week for our next interesting piece. Bye for now!!!
