The
state government has warned landowners and property owners to be wary
of fake and cloned Certificates of Occupancy. Before
you buy any property in Lagos ensure that the documents are genuine. There are
many cloned certificates of occupancy and other titled documents in
circulation.
These
are tricks that scam artists use in luring unsuspecting landowners and property
buyers into their web. One way they do this is by cloning and forging
Certificates of Occupancy. Some of them even go as far as using the fake
certificates to obtain loans from banks and other credit finance organisations.
Many
of those who perpetrate this fraud do it through third Legal Mortgages, which
is executed without the need for the physical appearance of a guarantor. The
end goal of this scam is to obtain bank loans without collateral.
The
Lagos State Police command arrested a 64-year-old man suspected to be specialized
in using fake Certificates of Occupancy to stand as a surety for unsuspecting
accused persons. It was stated that the suspect was arrested after presenting a
fake C of O to stand as a surety for a retired navy captain who was being detained
over an alleged fraud.
There
is, therefore, a need to carry out proper authentication of Certificates of
Occupancy from the authorized government agency. Members of the public are once again reminded
that the Lagos State Lands Registry should always be contacted for searches and
verification to ascertain the authenticity of such Certificates of Occupancy. Deploring
the trend, the government assured that new Certificates of Occupancy would soon
be officially launched to effectively tackle the fraudulent practice.
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