Important Documents
This a brief overview of some important real estate documents that are involved in real estate transactions in Nigeria. Always make use of a qualified legal professional when purchasing property or land.
In Nigeria, the Certificate of Occupancy, or C of O, is the most important document to property buyers and landowners. The document is issued by the state governments in Nigeria and verifies that you own the land or property in question.
The Deed of Assignment, otherwise known as Deed of Conveyancing in other states in Nigeria is the document transferring the sale of land or property from one buyer to another. The names of the parties to a Deed of Assignment are Assignor (the Seller) and Assignee (the purchaser).
Deed of mortgage is used in mortgage transactions to show that land or property 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.
A Letter of Administration 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 After the owner of any property has become late, all the property’s documents of such person are no longer valid to transfer any interest in the assets left behind by him or her.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.
A survey plan is a document that measures the boundary of a parcel of land to give an accurate measurement and description of that land. The survey plan spells out the name of the owner of the land which has been surveyed, the address of the land, the description of the land, the size of the land, the numbers of the beacon, the surveyor’s name, the date it was carried out and a stamp from the registered surveyor who did the work. The survey plan also helps in defining the status of the land.
A Bill of Receipt is a document reflecting the receipt of payment for a particular property 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.
The Contract of Sale 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 documents transferring title in the applicable property.
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.
A floor plan is a two or three dimensional graph drawing that shows the basic layout of a property in scale from an aerial view. The drawing shows the relationship between rooms and how people will move through them.
