How fraudulent builders defraud home seekers in Lagos

On this report, EDIDIONG IKPOTO writes on how fraudulent property builders who masquerade as reliable property brokers defraud unsuspecting home seekers

A 34-year-old software program developer, Abiodun Oguntade, who now lives in Mende, Maryland, not too long ago fell prey to the antics of a fraudulent property developer.

Oguntade acknowledged that the developer took benefit of his naivety to swindle him of a N300,000 down fee for a one-bedroom flat he had hoped to lease within the Gbagada space of Lagos.

However he isn’t the one Lagos resident to have swallowed this bitter capsule. Actually, when the victims of such scams inform their tales, Oguntade will stand behind a protracted line of people that have misplaced twice or thrice as a lot as he misplaced to fraudulent builders.

Solely final month, a suspected faux developer, Ahmed Ayinde, was arrested by males of the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly defrauding no fewer than 100 potential tenants within the Olowo Ira space of the state.

The PUNCH gathered that the victims paid for various flats in a one-storey constructing on No 5, Ayedun Road, Olowo Ira, being developed by Ayinde.

After receiving funds, it was learnt that Ayinde and his accomplices instructed the possible tenants that they wanted a while to finish renovation works on the constructing.

It was agreed that after the renovation was accomplished, keys to the respective flats could be handed over to the tenants.

Nonetheless, drama began when efforts by a few of the potential tenants to entry their flats proved abortive.

A sufferer, Sunday Akinmoladun, stated he was shocked that over eight individuals paid for a similar flat he paid for, including that plenty of intending tenants have been stranded as a result of folks had occupied all of the flats within the constructing.

He stated, “I paid N300,000 money for a room into one Ibrahim’s checking account. I paid since March 2021, however couldn’t pack in as a result of they stated they have been renovating the home. I’ve been coming to the home nearly every single day and often meet an engineer and bricklayers engaged on the constructing.

“I used to be instructed to come back and gather the keys to my flat right now when every part modified. I’ve been calling Ibrahim, however his quantity is just not connecting.”

This specific remoted incident, which featured many victims is only one out of many comparable tales that come out of Lagos yearly; a actuality which begs the query – what’s it about Lagos that makes it notorious for the seeming proliferation of fraudulent property builders?

The reply to the query is just not far fetched. Dwelling in Lagos is strategic for a lot of, given its comparative benefit with regard to commerce and trade in addition to the nation’s most interesting institutions, which in itself offers some stage of confidence that that is the place ability will meet with alternative.

With over 500,000 folks coming into town yearly from outdoors Nigerian shore or regional migration, the United Nations Particular Rapporteur on housing, Leilani Farha, put the state’s housing deficit at 2.5 million, whereas BBC places Nigeria’s whole housing deficit at about 17 million.

As a matter of truth, the frequent incidence of rental scams in Lagos had propelled the state authorities to supply pointers in the direction of what may represent a pink flag for potential tenants, advising them to watch out for quacks and faux professionals within the state’s rental market who declare to be landlords and real property brokers.

The state within the final 12 months has recorded a spike in lease fraud involving potential tenants, landlords and brokers in circumstances which the Particular Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Housing, Toke Benson-Awoyinka, estimated at over 200 in only a few areas.

The areas embody Alapere, Ajao Property, Akoka, Gbagada, and different areas of the state.

The particular adviser, whereas talking at a stakeholders discussion board for legal professionals in actual property follow, stated the case in Akoka concerned about 113 home seekers who have been swindled of greater than N51m, whereas 66 others have been defrauded of N16m within the Gbagada case.

She additionally cited different circumstances in Alapere and Ajao Property areas of the state, mentioning that these victims paid between N200,000 and N500,000 for a restricted variety of flats, no more than 20.

Benson-Awoyinka implored home seekers and residential patrons to make use of the companies of real professionals like legal professionals for all their actual property companies, stressing that the state authorities had determined to place a cease to such fraudulent actions by enacting the Lagos Actual Property Regulatory Authority legislation.

Boniface Adebayo, a civil engineer and property supervisor, who expressed fear in regards to the rising fee of rental scams, stated such vices have been sure to spring up in megacities reminiscent of Lagos, which often skilled annual urbanisation fee that was larger than common.

“This can be a state the place, in line with a report, there’s a housing deficit that’s in extra of three million. That’s not all; the identical report says the state has essentially the most lively rental market in Nigeria the place over 60 per cent of its 20 million inhabitants reside in rented lodging,” Adebayo stated.

“It is usually stated that, every day, over 600 folks come into Lagos and greater than half of that quantity don’t return, that means that, at any given time, you will have people who find themselves on the lookout for homes to lease. That never-ending demand for homes to lease is fueling the actions of those fraudulent brokers and landlords,” he stated.

In Lagos, these faux builders have completely different modus operandi, which makes it considerably troublesome to inform if one is coping with a reliable agent or a charlatan. Nonetheless, there are few indicators that would function hints to a potential tenant that he/she is coping with a fraudulent particular person.

A few of these pointers could embody the lack of the developer to indicate correct follow licence or documentation to again up his claims, insistence on having funds routed via private financial institution accounts, incapacity of the developer to reply sure basic questions in regards to the property, amongst others.

A rental rip-off sufferer within the Fadeyi space of Lagos, who merely gave her title as Mary, shared an attention-grabbing perception on a well-liked tactic employed by a few of these unscrupulous components.

She stated, “I met this agent who works mainly with college students in Yabatech and UNILAG. It’s in line with how a lot you will have, how a lot you may afford, and he provides a shared condo. He stated there was a three-bedroom condo and that if I pay my cash, he would search for two extra folks after which, as soon as the cash is full, he can collect the cash and provides it to the owner earlier than we will transfer in.

“So I paid the cash, after a month he hadn’t discovered the 2 different occupants to affix me and I used to be asking for my cash, so he stated he had used my cash to renovate the place. He instructed completely different tales round how he can’t simply refund the cash, that I ought to simply maintain on, that he would discover some folks to affix me to reside within the three-bedroom condo and all that. That was over three years in the past. He by no means refunded the cash. Apparently, I wasn’t the one one he had carried out that to.

“I later heard that he was arrested and we have been requested to come back to the station and write our statements in order that we will declare our cash. As at the moment, the cash he was owing was a lot, and due to my job I didn’t actually have time to pursue the man. Others had time, as a result of most of them have been college students. I solely received about N50,000 out of the cash that he took from me. Out of just about N200,000, I solely received N50,000.”

Whereas avoiding the lure of those shady quacks is just not notably a precise science, an skilled and President of Nigerian Establishment of Builders in Services Administration, Dr. Akinsola Olufemi, believes if authorities has been extra concerned in offering reasonably priced housing for the low and middle-income earners, as was in style throughout the Jakande and Otedola eras, incidents of rental scams could be considerably decreased.

Olufemi stated the frequency of those scams was additionally traceable to the inflow of migrants who come into Lagos every day.

He stated, “After we discuss of builders, we’ve to outline it. There are identified builders who will take a property and say, allow us to develop it for you. In two years, after the event, we’ll come again and handle it for 15 years, and after 15 years it would revert to you.

“These ones are particular person builders. These are those that at all times fall into the class of scammers. What they do is that they don’t have funds to execute their initiatives, they use the lease to develop and full, and by the point they’re constructing, the lease can’t cowl the price of building, so that they gather cash from so many individuals.

“They end the constructing and discover a option to pay again after the property has been allotted. People who find themselves on the lookout for lodging ought to be very cautious and diligent of their search.

“So far as I’m involved, I received’t be on the lookout for a home after which contact these type of builders, as a result of I do know 70 per cent of them are concerned on this scamming problem. There was a narrative of 1 in Alapere someday in the past who defrauded 300 folks. How lengthy will it take to pay again the cash?”