Buying safely
Double sales: how the same plot gets sold twice
Many diaspora buyers have heard a story like this from family or friends. Yet the rule that protects the buyer is simple: for titled land, what counts is registration in the land register.
How it happens
A seller signs with a first buyer and takes a down payment, then signs with a second buyer who pays more, or faster. Or a family member sells a plot the owner had already sold. Or two people each hold a copy of the same title and each believes they own it.
The rule: registration in the land register
For titled land, the sale must be made by notarial deed, and it is the entry of that sale in the land register, the transfer (mutation), that makes the buyer the owner in everyone’s eyes. Between two buyers of the same property, the one whose purchase was registered first is in principle protected, barring fraud, even if they signed after the other.
A buyer who only has a receipt, a private agreement or a promise that was never registered can still go after the seller to get the money back. As a rule, that buyer no longer has any right to the land.
What actually protects you
- Have the title checked against the register shortly before you pay. A check done three months earlier says little on the day of payment.
- Sign at the notary’s office, not over a receipt on a corner of a table.
- Pay through the notary or by bank transfer, never in cash to the seller or a middleman.
- Get the transfer registered without delay. Between signing and registration, the property is still exposed.
Warning signs
- A seller in a hurry who wants a down payment “to hold the plot”.
- A price well below what the neighbourhood usually fetches.
- A seller who won’t go through a notary.
- A blurry copy of the title, “because the original is back in the village”.
- A middleman who can’t put you in touch with the registered owner.
Our role
We check the title at the Land Registry before any offer, we make sure payment goes through the notary, and we follow the file until the transfer into your name is registered. Until that entry is made, the file isn’t closed.
Have a land title you want checked? Send us a clear photo of it, the property’s location and the seller’s name. We’ll tell you what needs checking and how long it will take.
This article gives general information. It does not replace advice from a notary or a lawyer on your own file.
Manfred Gabriel Njoh
Founder of Henser Group, consultant in Douala since 2011. He follows each file himself, from the first visit to signing at the notary’s office.