Lagos warns tenants as property fraud surges

Lagos State government has raised red flag for prospective tenants, advising them to beware of quacks and fake professionals in the state’s rental market who claim to be landlords and genuine estate agents.

The state in the last 12months has recorded a surge in rent fraud involving prospective tenants, landlords and agents in cases which the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Housing, Toke Benson-Awoyinka, estimated at over 200 in just a few locations including Alapere, Ajao Estate, Akoka, Gbagada etc.

The Special Adviser, who spoke at a one-day stakeholders forum for lawyers in real estate practice, explained that the case in Akoka involved about 113 renters who were defrauded of over N51 million while 66 prospective tenants were defrauded of N16 million in the Gbagada case.

She also cited other cases in Alapere and Ajao Estate areas of the state, pointing out that these victims paid between N200,000 and N500,000 for a limited number of apartments, not more than 20.