Nigeria’s property market is booming — and so is agent fraud. The Lagos real estate market alone sees hundreds of billions of naira in transactions every year, and a growing middle class is investing in property at rates never seen before. Yet the infrastructure of consumer protection — verified agent directories, mandatory licensing, public complaint registers — is still catching up with the pace of that growth.
The result? Buyers who hire the wrong agent can lose deposits, miss legitimate properties, get locked into unfair contracts, or in the worst cases, lose everything to outright fraud. The most dangerous part is that most of these situations begin with warning signs that were visible early — and ignored.
This article covers the five most critical red flags that every Nigerian property buyer should know before engaging a real estate agent. If you encounter any of these, stop, verify, and protect yourself before proceeding.
Red Flag 1: The Agent Demands Full Payment Before Documentation is Ready
This is the single most common entry point for real estate fraud in Nigeria. The scenario plays out like this: you find a property you love, the agent is enthusiastic and responsive, and then — before the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), Deed of Assignment, survey plan, or approved building plan can be produced — you are asked to pay a “commitment deposit” or even the full purchase price or rent in advance.
The justification will vary:
- “The landlord needs to see you are serious before he releases the documents.”
- “Another buyer is ready to pay — you will lose it if you wait.”
- “The legal process takes time, but your payment secures the property now.”
None of these are acceptable. In a legitimate Nigerian property transaction, documentation comes before significant money. The sequence should be:
- Property viewing
- Title document verification (by your own solicitor)
- Land registry search
- Agreement of sale or tenancy agreement reviewed by a lawyer
- Payment upon signing of verified agreement
Any deviation from this sequence — particularly any request for large upfront payments before title documents are verified — is a serious red flag that warrants immediate caution.
Legitimate agents understand that buyers need to verify documents. They will actively facilitate title searches and provide documentation willingly. An agent who obstructs or delays document access is either hiding something or operating beyond their knowledge of how the process should work.
Red Flag 2: No Verifiable Office Address or Registration Number
In the social media age, it is easy for anyone to create a professional-looking Instagram page, WhatsApp Business profile, or even a basic website — and present themselves as a functioning real estate agency. Many fraudulent operators do exactly this, cycling through new phone numbers and social media handles after each successful scam.
A legitimate real estate agent in Nigeria should be able to provide — without hesitation — all of the following:
- A physical office address that you can visit during business hours
- A CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission) registration number for their company (verifiable on the CAC portal)
- A LASRERA registration number if they operate in Lagos, or evidence of NIESV membership for other states
- A SCUML certificate of registration
- A valid ID tied to the same name on their business registration
If any of these are missing — especially the physical office address and regulatory registration — you are dealing with either an unregistered operator or someone actively hiding their identity. Either situation should give you serious pause.
To verify CAC registration yourself, visit search.cac.gov.ng and search for the company name. This search is free and takes less than two minutes. If the company does not appear, or if the registered name does not match what the agent is presenting, investigate further before proceeding.
You can also search for the agent on RateMyAgentNaija to see if they have a verified profile and what past clients have said about their professionalism and reliability.
Red Flag 3: The Agent Represents Both Buyer and Seller (or Landlord and Tenant) in the Same Deal
This is one of the most misunderstood red flags in Nigerian real estate, because it is so common that many buyers do not realise it is a problem. In a typical property transaction, the agent you engage should be working for you — representing your interests, negotiating on your behalf, and advising you on whether the asking price is fair.
When the same agent is simultaneously being paid by the vendor or landlord, their loyalty is divided at best, and firmly on the other side at worst. This situation — known as dual agency — creates several specific risks:
- The agent will not negotiate the price down on your behalf because the vendor pays their commission based on the final sale price
- Material defects in the property may not be disclosed to you
- The agent may steer you away from competing properties that would better suit your needs
- In fraud scenarios, the agent and vendor may be working together to deceive you
Before engaging any agent, ask directly: “Are you also representing the seller or landlord in this transaction?” If the answer is yes, you have two options: negotiate that the agent’s fees come entirely from one side only, with full written disclosure of the arrangement, or engage your own independent agent to represent your interests exclusively.
In formal markets — Lagos Mainland, Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki Phase 1, Abuja GRA — established agencies increasingly maintain buyer-agent and seller-agent separation. In informal markets, dual agency is endemic. Know the difference and protect yourself accordingly.
Red Flag 4: No Written Agency Agreement
In Nigeria, verbal agreements are legally enforceable but practically useless. If something goes wrong in a verbal agency arrangement — the agent loses your deposit, fails to secure the property they promised, or fails to disclose material information — you will have almost no recourse. The agent will simply deny your version of events.
A professional real estate agent should present you with a written agency agreement before any money changes hands. This agreement should clearly specify:
- The agent’s full legal name and company registration number
- The specific property or properties being transacted
- The agreed commission rate or fixed fee (typically 5–10% for sales, 5–10% of annual rent for lettings in Nigeria)
- The agent’s specific obligations — what they are responsible for delivering
- The timeline for the transaction
- Conditions under which fees are refundable
- A dispute resolution clause
If an agent declines to put anything in writing — or provides a one-sided, unsigned WhatsApp screenshot as the “agreement” — this is a major red flag. No legitimate professional avoids written agreements unless they have something to hide or expect to later dispute their obligations.
Always have any agreement reviewed by a solicitor before signing. The cost of an hour of legal advice is nothing compared to the cost of a failed property transaction. Learn more about how verified agent engagement works on our platform.
Red Flag 5: The Agent Rushes You to Sign Without Title Verification
Title verification is non-negotiable in Nigerian property transactions. The history of land ownership in Nigeria is complex — overlapping family land claims, multiple sales of the same parcel, forged government consent documents, and survey disputes are common. A property with a questionable title is not just a financial risk; it can result in you owning a property you cannot legally occupy or sell.
The full range of title verification that should occur before any property purchase includes:
- Land Registry Search — confirms who is registered as the current owner and whether there are any encumbrances, mortgages, or caveats on the title
- Survey Plan Verification — confirms that the physical coordinates of the property match what is being sold to you
- Probate or Family Consent Verification — if the property was inherited, confirms that all legal heirs have consented to the sale
- Governor’s Consent Search — for properties sold under Lagos or FCT allocation, confirms that the required government consent was obtained
- Physical Inspection — to confirm that the property on the ground matches the documents being provided
An agent who tells you that title verification “can be done after you sign” or “after you pay” is either naïve about the process or actively trying to prevent you from discovering a title problem before you are committed. Neither scenario is acceptable.
The standard rule in Nigerian property law: never sign a deed of assignment, sale and purchase agreement, or tenancy agreement for a significant term without first receiving independent confirmation that the title is clean.
Your solicitor — not the agent’s solicitor, your own independent one — should conduct the title search. The agent’s job is to facilitate access to documents, not to provide legal opinions on them.
What to Do If You Suspect Agent Fraud
If you have encountered any of these red flags, or if you believe an agent has already defrauded you, do not ignore the situation. Here is what to do:
Stop All Payments Immediately
If you have not yet transferred money, do not do so until the red flags are resolved to your satisfaction. If payment is already in process, contact your bank immediately to see whether a transfer can be recalled.
Document Everything
Collect all WhatsApp messages, emails, receipts, transaction records, and call logs. Photograph any agreements, property listings, or documents the agent has provided. This evidence will be critical for any complaint or legal action.
Report to Regulatory Authorities
In Lagos, file a formal complaint with LASRERA. Nationally, you can report to the EFCC or the Nigerian Police Force’s cybercrime unit (if the fraud involved digital transactions). You can also report to the Consumer Protection Council if the agent was operating as a business entity.
File a Dispute on RateMyAgentNaija
Use our dispute reporting feature to put your experience on record. Even if you cannot recover your losses immediately, a public record of agent misconduct protects other buyers from the same fate. The property fraud ecosystem in Nigeria survives partly because victims are embarrassed and stay silent. Breaking that silence is a public service.
Consult a Property Solicitor
Before taking any legal action, consult a solicitor with experience in property law. In many fraud cases, civil remedies are available even when criminal prosecution is slow. A lawyer can advise on whether to pursue recovery through the courts and what evidence will be needed.
The Value of Checking Agent Reviews Before You Hire
Prevention is always better than cure, and the easiest form of prevention is checking what other people have experienced with a specific agent before you engage them. This is exactly what RateMyAgentNaija makes possible.
Our platform hosts verified reviews from real buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants across Nigeria. Unlike general review platforms, every review on RateMyAgentNaija is specifically tied to a property transaction — which means the feedback is directly relevant to the kind of experience you can expect.
When you search for an agent on our platform, you can see:
- How many clients have reviewed them and the overall rating
- Specific feedback on professionalism, transparency, communication, and follow-through
- Any dispute records or complaints that have been filed
- The agent’s areas of specialisation and geographic coverage
An agent with consistently positive reviews from multiple verified clients is, at minimum, someone whose past clients chose to return and say something good. That is a meaningful signal in a market where the default experience is uncertainty.
Conclusion: Your Best Defence is Due Diligence
Nigeria’s property market offers genuine opportunity — but that opportunity belongs to buyers who approach it with their eyes open. The five red flags covered in this article — upfront payment demands, lack of verifiable credentials, dual agency, no written agreements, and pressure to skip title verification — are all preventable problems.
The tools exist: LASRERA verification, CAC registry searches, independent solicitors, and platforms like RateMyAgentNaija. The question is whether you use them before signing, or discover their importance after something has gone wrong.
Take ten minutes before your next property engagement. Search for your agent, check their reviews, and verify their credentials. If they are legitimate, they will pass the check and you will proceed with confidence. If they are not, you will have saved yourself from a potentially devastating mistake.
And if you have recently worked with a Nigerian real estate agent — good or bad — leave a review on our platform. Your experience could be exactly the information another buyer needs to make the right decision.
