Acquiring a Property in Nigeria: How to Identify a Fraudulent Set-up (ii)
( Estate Management Graduate & Chartered Accountant)
Continued from part 1
There is no complete step-by-step guide to identifying a fraudster. The under listed points are meant to arouse you and to make you aware of things to note. You may discover other things yourself as you progress with your dealings.
1. Environment: Office setup is one of the things you need to observe. Here you will be given two extremes. One is the office you enter and you really don’t see the sign of any serious work going on, for example, proper staffing, files, computers (desktop or laptop). Most often, it is a blackboard with properties listed on it written in chalk that leads to such offices. It is not unusual for the purported office owner to bear a title aimed at impressing like Chief, Alhaji, Elder, Apostle or Doctor. When you do meet the Chief Executive, he is not dressed in a proper office-like manner and would be dressed traditionally. Be careful of such people, you may need to ask around as there must be people who can speak up for their reputation.
The second situation reviews a situation where you enter an office which looks so posh and appears to be telling you “you are the one we have been waiting for.” This is not very common. Everything looks so organized and practiced, including the way they are talking to you. No sweaty looking junior staff. No one comes in saying “I just came back from that Gbagada duplex house, oh the landlord is difficult.” If it is tea and biscuits they are serving, you need to be wary. They might just be after your money. In Nigeria, estate practice is a lot of hard work and easily you will see it in the offices and the speech of those around the office.
There is the middle line of a proper estate office which oftentimes is a little untidy because of activity and phone calls for enquiries. There is usually a secretary and other staff who conduct themselves in a proper office-like manner. Sometimes there is an information board within the premises with typed brochures, photographs etc. introducing properties to let and for sale. That oftentimes is the right office for you.
2. Character: As a matter of fact within thirty minutes in an office you should be able to catch the spirit of their dealings. How educated are they? Do they seem honest and dependable? Are the staffs already asking for money one way or the other? Are they dressed in a way suggestive of irresponsible people? All these can let you into the type of agent you have come to and these things have serious implications here in Nigeria.
3. Inconsistency of Speech or Information: You may observe that the things you are told either by the manager or his staff are untrue or that they are constantly making mistakes and trying to cover them up. For instance you are taken to a property for inspection and within a few hours you are told that you were shown the wrong property or perhaps you were told the landlord lives in Lagos only to learn that the landlord actually died three years ago. Beware!
4. Pointing out Buildings without Any Depth of Knowledge about the Owner: This is closely related to the above only that it is more pointed. In your discussions, you might find the agent just reeling off the various addresses of properties from his list but knows nothing about the owner(s) or the details of the property as in the house type, street number and details of ownership documents. In other words, the agent is not convincing.
5. Strange Relationships: This also makes reference to the office. You may note that there is no coherence in office activities. Perhaps the person introduced to you as the Chairman does not seem familiar to the person introduced as manager. Again you might have observed that there are too many whispers here and there between staff each time glancing at you or being pretentious. You may need to back out quietly of such relationships.
6. Hurry: This is another strong point you need to watch. If everything about the people you are dealing with is hurry; hurry for payments; hurry and hurry; you are under pressure to perform or the agents exert a sense of compulsion in the things they want you to do. Wait to think so you can operate with a clear mind or else you might have agreed to do things you may never be able to reverse.
Lastly, a result of some of the above is the inscription you often see in many of our cities today: “This house is not for sale.”If you are offered such a house, be suspicious. Ask questions; make sure you see the owner. In fact it is commonsensical to say that the inscription should be taken off or covered with a good coat of paint if the landlord approved of the sale. Most of the time, the house has been advertised by fraudulent agents without the owner’s consent.
