9-Red Flags To Identify Fake Property Lawyers.



1. A lawyer who tells you about a property for sale without having a proper power of attorney from the direct owner should be avoided like a plague. It is your duty to ask him/her to show you the power of attorney to sell that property and if he refuses and starts lots of story telling, leave asap.

2. A lawyer who says he/she is an affilated to the direct agency (Not direct owner ) of the property and does not have any offer letter in writing from the said agency in person or through their company is just trying to play tricks with you because he/she is only after commission for "finder's fee". Ask if they have the offer letter signed by the direct agency & if they refuse, know what their game plan is.

3. A lawyer that takes you for inspection to a property and is just as puzzled as you when you discover either the land is defective in some way or some amenities in such property is not as advertised to you, really that's not the kind of lawyer you should deal with. They ought to know everything about the property they intend to sell.

4. Always ask the lawyer at first before inspection whether the property is free from defect and if he/she says yes, ask for the search report & if they tell you to go and confirm it yourself, then know they could probably be telling you the truth & you should still go do the search personally through your own lawyer but if they continue to beat around the bush & tell you they are giving you an assured gurantee that the property is free from defect, flee please. The lawyer is not the land registry and in the absence of a search report, he/she cannot unilaterally give a guarantee about a property they don't own.

5.When a lawyer introduces you to a family land without the requisite CofO or minimum basic like a survey plan or allocation letter, ask him/her to trace the title of the property through traditional family evidence. this is very important because family lands like the ones in Epe, Ajah, Badore or Deep Badagry have been partitioned by the family a long time ago. Sometimes the partition agreement could state that the property cannot be re-sold until the head of the family and other members of the family have given their consent, while others might just give it to their family heads.

If the lawyer is content with dealing with either a local native of the area claiming to be either the head of the family or a member of the family, the lawyer is not doing his/her job properly because that local native is just interested in selling the said property quickly so as to get free money and later on put you in trouble with the real owners and authorities. as a serious buyer it is your duty to always demand to see the head of the family to clarify things or direct your lawyer to do so. If not you'll be on your own when Ambode's bull dozer machinery comes running.

6. The rule of conveyancing states that it is the seller's lawyer who drafts the deed of assignment. He is only entitled to 10%, nothing more. If he ends up charging you above that scale of fees, flee please. The 10% covers his professional fees, the drafting of the conveyance and little inspections here and there excluding the search fees at the registery. If he demands for extra fees, please tell him to behave himself. 10% only nothing more!

7. The buyer's lawyer can also draft the deed of conveyance as long as the seller gives him a go ahead. He is only entitled to the above 10% only. If he doesnt draft it himself, his 10% could be negotiated to below 10% because he is only doing the search and negotiation to drop down the price of the property that's all.

8. As a buyer, always be wary about a lawyer who advises you to buy a property at the exact amount it was listed. For example, if a property was listed for N100,000,000 million asking and a lawyer says it's a good deal without attempting to beat the price lower through a counter offer, know that he is only thinking of the 10% of the N100 million not your interest.

9. If you tell your lawyer to help you perfect the title of your property through a CofO or Governor's Consent, he/she must periodically send you statement of activities including the photocopies of receipts paid to the government for what ever that was paid for on your behalf. This is important because it is your money and your property and at anytime, this statements and proof of reciepts, bank drafts or documents could actually come in handy much later for instance after a fire out break, loss or theft of the CofO. Those reciepts could actually help you validate the existence of such a previous CofO.

If he/she just brings the CofO, challenge them. It is your right to have everything with you and for you to know the price of the reciepts paid. It is better for them to say "The CofO costs N1,000,000 and their professional fee is N5,000,000 than for them to collect N8,000,000 at a go and just hand you a Cof0 after 7 months. That is stealing.



Courtesy: Bokima Cyril Homes Ltd (BCHL-Lagos)
Instagram: @bokimacyrilhomesltd
Twitter: @BokimaCyrilHomz

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