How unregulated estate agencies, firms engage in multi-million-naira scams
Fraudsters are exploiting the desperation of prospective homeowners and tenants to have roofs over their heads and secure cheaper accommodation to defraud victims.
With an estimated N20 trillion yearly contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 200 million population and a housing demand-supply shortfall put at over 20 million units, Nigeria’s property market is an attractive investment destination for many.
While major cities like Lagos, Ogun, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, Ibadan and others are becoming a beehive of construction activities and huge demand for housing, the governments in these cities had in recent times been battling with fraudsters, mediated in over 150 petitions/complaints between property developers, landlords and potential tenants.
For instance, it was reported that over 500,000 lands scam occurs every year in Lagos and Ogun States. In Lagos, 50 cases of fraud were adjourned for further mediation in 2021, while 40 were referred to appropriate agencies, with five cases in courts in locations such as Ketu, Ajah, Ikorodu, Gbagada and Yaba. In 2021, more than 500 people were allegedly defrauded of ₦8 million each by a real estate firm at Abijo area of Lagos, after buying a fake plot of land without titles.
The Guardian learnt that a major tactic used by perpetrators of real estate scams is laying claims to be marketing consultants with a mandate to sell property in choice locations such as Banana Island, Ikoyi, Asokoro and Lekki worth millions of naira.
Others market non-existing landed or disputed properties through social media, as well as hand out fake allocation letters to unsuspecting buyers.
Narrating her experience to The Guardian, a Lagos-based resident, Mrs. Tope Adekunle, said she recently bought a landed property at Orile-Igbein area of Ogun State at N850,000 in January 2021. She said one plot was left undeveloped for one year, adding that by January 2023 when she visited the property, some area boys drove her away from the site.
Adekunle said the touts ordered her never to step on the property again because it has been sold to another person. She said it took the timely intervention of some highly placed individuals and friends before another site was allocated to her in a distant location from the initial site.
Similarly, a Federal Capital Territory High Court recently convicted and sentenced a property owner, Mercy Yusuf and her company, T.M Properties Limited to 24 years in prison for fraudulently obtaining $298,000 and N40 million from a property firm under the false pretence that she was the beneficial owner of plot 1721 Jahi District Cadastral Zone B08, Abuja.
Many of such cases still abound in courts, with the police and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Why professional associations have tamed such incidents through their codes and conducts, as well as disciplinary committees, some members are recalcitrant. A case in point is the recent suspension of a valuer by the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) tribunal over alleged professional misconduct for allegedly collecting N3.5 million from one Mrs. Oluwaranti Williams for building construction, which was never done.
Speaking with The Guardian, Mrs. Williams explained that she was forced to report the case to ESVARBON after several attempts were made to prevail on the suspect to either execute the project or refund the money paid but failed to observe either of the two options.
