We express our profound thanks to our teaming readers that called in to appreciate the usefulness of this current series to them in many more ways than one. A lot requested that my email contact should be included in my details on my article page for easier accessibility. I will ensure this is done in subsequent editions as I have also brought this to the notice of my indefatigable editor. Ingeniously though, a couple of readers were able to dig out my details through Google search and rooted out my social medial details including my twitter handle and email, that shows the relevance of this column and how much impact it is making in our readership that is growing by the day. An online reader far away in Australia called to share his very unsavory experience with me. He recounted his very bitter ordeal on how he lost (momentarily though, as we have commenced a fierce criminal action against the benefactors) two high end Mercedes Benz jeeps of 2010 edition to a self-acclaimed chief in Benin city, Edo state on land transaction. It was a clear case of forgery, conspiracy to steal and obtaining under false pretence. We have already approached the police in that state to arrest and prosecute this unscrupulous chief with his culprits. We have resolved to explore our legal resource to the limit to ensure justice is done in this particular matter to serve as a clear deterrent to others that are feeding fat on the sweat of those working their bone out (mostly out there) to earn very legitimate living. We count on the spirit of CHANGE to achieve this in record time.
Last week, we x-rayed a few more documents that are sacrosantly important as a foretaste to acquiring the Certificate-of-Occupancy of a landed property. A reader from South Africa called me on Wednesday to passionately appeal that I should illuminate a bit more on the SURVEY PLAN and its usefulness in the chain of events leading to building and the acquisition of the Certificate-of-Occupancy. I have therefore culled this segment from the last edition to do a further illumination thus:
SURVEY PLAN: The survey plan is very important. It should be one of the first documents to be sighted when commencing the process of a land transaction. Such survey should have been drawn by a registered surveyor and the survey plan itself should be registered. Unfortunately, over 70 percent of Surveys peddled by land vendors or traditional land sellers are either drawn by quacks or not registered. An unregistered survey plan is akin to carrying a gun without bullets in a hunting game. If you desire to buy a land without a survey plan, ensure this is promptly done by the family before you make any serious financial commitment. This saves you a lot of headache. If you must wave this or resolve to do it yourself, factor it into your negotiatiation, a Certificate of Occupancy may be impossible without a registered survey plan. This document shows all possible demographic characters that are present in the land and all other ownership details that will be of immeasurable use at the level of acquiring the Certificate-of-Occupancy. Once you are shown an existing survey plan, quickly give it to your lawyer for a check with the relevant authorities for authentifications before you take further steps.
The usefulness of the survey plan can not be underestimated in the building chain. Before a property owner starts a structural development, he is expected to do a survey plan of the piece of land. This survey shows the size of the land on which he intends to build, the nature; it shows if it squared, round, triangular or unusually shaped. It shows other peculiarity of the piece of land. This helps the Architect do a professional evaluation and come up with a suitable building drawing for the land taking into consideration the statutory parameters that will make such design pass Approval test from the various building approving authorities of the state. Approval is salient before building. The approving authorities take a lot into consideration. In states like Lagos state that has recorded a huge number of building collapse, approval is as important as the building itself. Structures without statutory approval are either partly or fully demolished in several cases. The land survey is indeed a fore-runner to the building plan and its subsequent approval. This is one of the factors that make it an important document in the requirents for the acquisition of the Certificate-of-Occupancy.
The reader from South Africa wanted me to give an idea of the approval cost for some certain building types in Lagos and Benin City. Unfortunately, this varies from state to state and from building type to building type. Certain demographic features may also influence the building approval cost. It is therefore somewhat difficult to come up with a figure on a public medium like this. Suffice to say, in addition to what your consultant may have done for you, we will make some enquiries and communicate such to you, taking into consideration some other specific information you have sent to me. With respect to your question on the possibility of erecting a structure first, then seeking statutory approval at a latter date; I will advise that it is a very illegal step to take. Besides getting your structure demolished, you may open yourself up for prosecution by the authorities where such structure has very glaring violations of approving parameters in such a state. It is not a practice to seek approval before building as such step could be seriously counter-productive. The first stage is your drawing, then approval before building. Some states even appoint supervisors now to monitor such approvals to ensure every state conforms with the approval type mostly where such structures are high-rise or located in some form of lands with unique demographic features. It is always the best to carry the approving authorities along when on a structural development.
One Dr. Adams engaged me in some form of chat on one of the social media platforms in the course of the week. A few issues came up during our conversation. He said he bought a housing unit from one of the numerous developers in Lagos though the Estate is located somewhere in Ogun state. He was charged a percentage of the cost of the building as the processing fee in the course of the transaction. The doctor said he was shocked when a demand was latter placed on him to make the some of ten percent of the total value of the building available for the Ratification of the building Title with the relevant Housing Authority in the state. He said this sparked-off some level of controversy as he insisted that the fifty percent he was charged at the early state should take care of this so called ratification cost. He now wanted my opinion on the veracity or otherwise of this additional demand from the Developer.
My first reaction is; professionals, particularly a property lawyer should be engaged in such transactions. Such professional are specially trained to vet such processes and guide the clients against adverse practices from unscrupulous Developers. Delving into such transactions using rule-of-the thumb ends up very catastrophic either at the short or long run. For my doctor friend, the question is; what was contained in the Offer letter. An offer letter should contain what you are to expect in an Offer. If the company charges a Processing Fee and such is contained in an offer letter, it is also expected that the Title to be conveyed to the buyer is contained in the same offer letter. If the offer letter does not spell out what ‘Processing’ is; then, such could be subject to abuse against the client by unscrupulous developers who are out to explore the ignorance of their unsuspecting inexperienced client. This reader said upon further enquiries, he has been told that the ten percent will be used to procure a Deed-of-Sublease for him as he would require this to get a Certificate-of-Occupancy. It became clear to me that such an Agency is out to reap off our good doctor friend. The company wants him to pay for fuel and petrol differently! My advice here is; he should brief his lawyers to take it up from there or better still; get in touch with us for a Brief. In our next edition, we are going to critically examine these two important Titles-Deed-ofConveyamce and Deed-of-Sublease. Again, do not get into that property transaction without a professional that has his hands on deck in experience to do this; you could just be putting your hard-earned money at risk!
Akhigbe Dominic
