Land Purchase Receipt In Lagos And How To Avoid Fraudulent Property Document

Posted by Opeyemi Quadri in Land Documents
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Whether a buyer makes part or full payment to the seller (owner) of a property, there must be a document that acknowledges that a person has received payment for such land or building. The document is known as Receipt of Purchase of Property or Land Purchase Receipt.

There must be a document from the owner or manager of a property (the vendor) that transaction has taken place between two parties.

In one of our previous posts on the necessary land documents, we pointed out that in the olden days a witness was enough to transfer ownership of a land to another person (buyer).

Things have changed, a receipt is now needed, which is used in real estate transactions to serve as proof of the transfer of property from the vendor to the purchaser.

In fact, the receipt of purchase is no longer enough to completely claim ownership of a land, I’ll tell you WHY

Other important documents required for a real estate sale and purchase include deed of assignment, the Contract for the Sale among others.

And above all, the buyer MUST keep the receipt for record purposes

Most important, you’ll need the land purchase receipt to process other land document for instance C of O, deed of assignment

Sometimes, the document may be legally required to collect sales tax or VAT from a customer or client, the amount must be added to the receipt and the collection will be made on to the relevant tax authority.

What to include in Receipt of Purchase of Property

Full name of the seller
Address of the seller
Full name of the party making payment
Address of the party that made payment
Description of the land to be sold
Amount paid and balance (if any),
Date of payment
Space to append signature of buyer and seller

Sample Of Receipt Of Payment Of a Property

I, Bayole Adelomi, of No. 13, Idomuoge Street, Idimu, Lagos, Nigeria, hereby acknowledge the recipt of the sum of N2,000,000 (two million naira). The payment was made by Iyanu Ipolagba, of No. 56, Bayuyu Street, Opebi, Lagos, Nigeria as full payment for the purchase of all that property described as follows:

A plot of land measuring 50 by 100FT

Situated at Kasimu Village, Ibeju-Lekki, Ibeju-Lekki LGA, Lagos, Nigeria

The payment was made in cah

Dated this 20th of April 2021

———————– ————————

Buyer Seller

How To Avoid Fraudulent Land Document

The fact that you’ve got a receipt for the purchase of land isn’t a guaranty that the land is legit, we’ve heard ugly instances where property crooks issued receipt for the sale of land that doesn’t belong to them.

Or when one party issues a receipt for the sale of a property that belongs to a family without the consent of other members or head of the family.

1) To avoid fraudulent land receipt, do your due diligence perfectly well before jumping on such deal.

That’s why persons who have got purchase receipt go on to apply for a Certificate of Occupancy.

A certificate of occupancy is generally accepted as a Registrable instrument, it is accordingly registered in the name of the buyer, bearing appropriate Registration Number, given by the Land Registry. (I’ll show you how to apply for C of O in Lagos in my subsequent guide).

Research has shown that some land owners back date receipt so as to beat or mitigate the provisions of the Land Use Decree of 1978.

2) Don’t allow the seller to backdate land purchase receipt, it certainly portends greater danger, to land buyers in certain situations.

3) Make sure that the seller abides by the rules guiding sales of family real estate or property.

For instance, family land has set rules governing its alienation. A purchaser cannot bye-pass the rules and get a good title on the long run.

4) Make sure the head of the family (whom the law regards indeed as an INSTITUTION) or majority of other principal members consented to the sale of such land or property.

You will loose your money irrespective of other titles or documents you have on a land if the issuance of such document is false or is based on misleading information on the part of the seller.

In fact in some states, an endorsement is made on approved plans to the following effect:

“This approval becomes Null and void if it is discovered to have been obtained by false presentation.

5) Don’t assume that a certificate issued under a misrepresentation by the Governor or other appropriate authority, is conclusive of what the Certificate states.

What you should do before buying land in Lagos

To avoid falling victim of fraudulent land purchase receipt, do your research whether it’s family land or not whether the land is genuinely owned by the claimant.

You can also engage the services of property lawyer or real estate consultant to handle the verification of the land for you.

What BuyLandLagos (BLL) Can Do For You

We value our prospective customers, at BLL, it’s service before profit that’s why as a property marketing and management company based in Lagos, we also carry out our due diligence on property before we put them up for sale.

Buying Land in Lagos is a far cry from buying any commodity at Idumota market and we will advise that you don’t take chances with your hard earned income.

Talk to us today.

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