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Case Study

Verifying an Agent's Authority to Sell Property in Lagos

A first-time buyer was pressed to pay same-day for a flat priced below expectation. The seller-side agent could not evidence any authority to dispose of the property, which was held as a rental.

Case study details

The Situation

A first-time buyer working in banking was offered a three-bedroom flat at ₦150,000,000, presented as materially below market. The agent applied time pressure across several days, telling him another buyer was arriving that evening to pay. He was close to transferring the full amount.

We asked for the chain of authority rather than the property documents. The agent could not evidence any instruction to sell, and the property was held as a rental. He had no power to dispose of it.

Our client did not pay.

Deadline pressure from a seller-side agent is not a market signal, because a genuine competing buyer does not require you to skip verification. The check that answers it is narrow. Ask who instructed the sale, and ask to see the instrument that says so.

What HIDD prevented

Risk before commitment

Payment of ₦150,000,000 to an agent who held no authority to sell, in respect of a property being let rather than offered for sale.

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Move before payment or signing, while the transaction can still be shaped.

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