# How to verify land documents in Nigeria before you pay

If you have ever been sent a neatly scanned Certificate of Occupancy on WhatsApp and felt that flush of relief, this article is for you. A document can look perfect and still be the wrong document, an old document, or a document for a different plot. The work that protects you happens before any money leaves your account, not after the alert.

I founded Xavorian, a Nigerian property marketplace, so I will say that at the top. What follows is a practical checklist, not legal advice. For a purchase of any size, use a lawyer who already works with the relevant state lands registry.

# Start with the story the papers tell

Ask the seller, in writing, which document they are selling on. In Nigeria that is usually one or more of the following:

• A Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), issued in the name of a holder, for a defined parcel.
• Governor’s Consent, which is often required when a holder of a C of O transfers an interest.
• A Deed of Assignment (or deed of transfer), which records that the interest moved from one person to another.
• A registered survey plan, with coordinates, beacons and the surveyor’s details.
• An allocation letter or Right of Occupancy (R of O), common on some federal or layout allocations, especially in the FCT.
• Community approval, receipts and family or palace papers, which appear more often on customary land. These can be part of a genuine history. They are not, on their own, the same thing as a registered title.

A serious seller can tell you which of these they have, in whose name they stand, and how the name on the paper connects to the person you are talking to. If the story changes, or if the only “proof” is a photograph of a document, pause.

# Then check the story against official records

This is the step many buyers skip because it is slower than a transfer.

1. Give your lawyer copies of every page, including the survey.
2. Ask for a lands registry search in the correct state (or the FCT authorities, for Abuja). You want to know whether the title exists, in whose name, and whether there is a mortgage, caveat, court process or prior transfer that the seller did not mention.
3. Ask a registered surveyor to relate the survey to the ground: size, beacons, overlaps, and whether the land you were shown is the land on the plan.
4. For excision, gazette or layout claims, have the lawyer explain what has actually been recorded, not what the brochure implies.

Xavorian’s own listings show how differently papers can be declared. A 500 square metre plot in Ijebu Imodi, Ogun, listed at ₦1,000,000 declares a Certificate of Occupancy. A plot at Koka by Jeff, Asaba, listed at ₦18,000,000 declares a Deed of Assignment and a registered survey, and describes the size as 50 by 100. A 600 square metre plot at Aseyori Estate, Mowe-Ofada, listed at ₦5,000,000 declares a registered survey and a deed, not a C of O. Those are the sellers’ declared documents. They are a starting point for a search, not a reason to skip one.

If a listing does not state a title type at all, treat that as a question, not a minor omission. For example, a 50 by 100 feet plot in Suncity Garden Estate, Avu, Owerri, listed at ₦18,000,000 does not name a title document on the public record I reviewed. Anyone interested should ask to see the papers first.

# Look at the land, not only the file

Forged or recycled paperwork is only one of the usual problems. Others are ordinary and expensive: the plot floods, the access road is not what was described, the beacons do not match, or someone else is already using the land.

Walk the site with a surveyor and, if you can, with a person who lives nearby. Confirm drainage, the road, and who is on the land today. Some Ogun and Ikorodu plots currently listed on Xavorian, including land at Papa Ifo and Imota, use a seller line that the land stays dry in the rainy season. That is a claim to test in person, preferably in or just after the rains, not a fact to take on trust because it appeared in a description.

# Pay only the person who was actually identified

A large share of losses happen at the point of payment, not at the point of paperwork.

• Pay a bank account whose name matches the person (or lawful attorney) identified as the seller.
• If you are asked to pay a “partner,” “manager,” “company accountant” or “cousin” because “the main account has an issue,” stop.
• Be slow about inspection fees paid to people you have not met, for offices you cannot find, for a property you have not seen.
• Keep the conversation and the documents somewhere you can later retrieve them.

On Xavorian, a lister is supposed to pass a government ID and liveness check, and the payout account is supposed to match that name, before a listing goes live. Documents are also checked. That is a filter against anonymous listings. It is not a promise that the land is perfect, and it is not escrow: payments made through the platform are routed by Paystack to the seller’s account. Our terms are clear that buyers must still inspect and search the title. There is a longer walk-through of the four checks on How Xavorian works and a buyer-facing note in How to avoid property scams in Nigeria.

# A simple order of operations

1. Ask for the document list and the name on each document.
2. Align that name with the person you are dealing with, including any power of attorney.
3. Instruct a lawyer to search, and a surveyor to visit, before a deposit.
4. Only then discuss payment, to the matching account, against a written agreement.
5. Complete consent and registration steps your lawyer sets out, on a timetable you both understand.

If a seller is in a hurry to collect money before any of those steps, the hurry is the message.

You can browse current land and homes, with the title type each lister declared, at marketplace.xavorian.com. If you are buying from abroad, read the companion piece in this series on doing that without handing your money to a stranger, and the existing guide Buying property from abroad.

Ezeani Chukwuebuka Damien is the founder of Xavorian, a Nigerian property marketplace. This article is for general information and is not legal advice.