Generally, the basic purpose of conducting land search and verifying property titles is to either check if the land has a good root of title or to discover defects in the title of the property if any.

In Lagos state, the relevant means of verifying land is by conducting a search at the Land Registry. This article seeks to clarify the stages involved in conducting land due diligence searches and investigation at relevant places for land transactions. The different means people use to verify land in Lagos includes;

Searching At The Land Registry Alausa Lagos

There are land registries in every state across the country. In Lagos, the Land Registry for Lagos is located at the Secretariat Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos. The registry is in charge of maintaining documents relating to land within its territory. Only properties that have been registered with the government of the state can be verified at the land registry. Therefore, when you conduct a land search at the land registry, the true owner of the land would be revealed and any encumbrance such as government acquisition, mortgages, or any form of leasehold on the property would also be made known. 

Confirmation of Survey At Office Of The Survey-General 

The process of conducting a confirmation of survey at the office of the Surveyor-General involves verifying the location of the land in question through the coordinate as contained in the survey plan. 

How to go about it? You can apply to the office of the Surveyor-General to confirm the registration and availability status of a particular land using the coordinates and survey plan of the land. This stage of the process would let you know whether the land is under government acquisition and if the survey plan of the land is genuine or not.

Searching at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)

Conducting a search at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is for cases where the vendor of land or the land’s previous owners is a company incorporated with the CAC. A search here will reveal whether there is an encumbrance or charge registered in CAC in respect of the company’s assets. This is an important stage as companies often times acquire properties and incorporate them with the CAC. 

 Search at the Probate Registry

Probate registries issue legal documents which give people the authority to deal with the property of someone who has died. Conducting a search at the probate registry is important in disclosing whether probate has been given on any estate, who the administrators of the estate are; or to determine the executors of a testator in a situation of properties belonging to the estate of a deceased.

Unless a grant of probate or letters of administration has been issued, the vendors do not possess the requisite authority to sell or transfer the property of a deceased individual.

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Traditional Investigation

Conducting a traditional search is also important. people do this to verify land when it is being sold and owned by an individual. Here the family of the vendor is investigated alongside the community and area the land is located. In cases where the land is a subject of family or community ownership, one should verify that the consent of all family members including the family head has been obtained and that the family name is neither void nor voidable.

Physical Inspection of the land

This verification is simply done when one goes to inspect the land in question physically. A physical inspection would reveal any defects on the title of the land or property and confirm the physical condition of the land. It would also help to know the boundary of the land while confirming that it corresponds with the coordinate or survey plan and also to know whether it is in possession by any person either by tenancy, leasehold or even by seizure through any anti-corruption agency.

In conclusion, before you purchase a land or property, you must clear any doubts, ambiguities, and confusion by ensuring you do proper and complete thorough research of the land or property to be purchased. It is also highly advisable that you get the services of a property lawyer.