Land title
Why a copy of a land title is not enough
The copy someone sends you on WhatsApp shows the title as it was on the day it was made. The land register shows it as it is today. In between, the property may have been sold, mortgaged or passed to heirs.
A land title lives in a register
In Cameroon, ownership of titled land is recorded in the land register (livre foncier), kept by the Land Registry office (Conservation foncière) of the department where the property sits. Each title has its own page. The owner is recorded there, followed by everything that happens next: sale, subdivision, inheritance, mortgage, seizure, objection.
A right over titled land can only be enforced against third parties once it has been entered in the register. In practice, a deed that was never registered cannot be used against someone who buys later and registers the purchase.
A copy of the title reproduces that page on a given date. It does not update itself.
What the copy won’t tell you
Even a genuine copy can be out of date. Since the day it was made:
- the property may have been sold, in whole or in part after a subdivision;
- a mortgage may have been registered in favour of a bank;
- the owner may have died, with a transfer to the heirs under way;
- a court notice (prénotation judiciaire) may flag a lawsuit over the property;
- someone may have lodged an objection claiming a right.
And not every copy is genuine. Forged titles circulate, sometimes carrying the real number of a different plot. A well-printed, stamped and signed document proves nothing until it has been checked against the register.
What the register doesn’t say either
The land register tells you who owns the land and what is charged against the title. It doesn’t tell you who lives on it, whether the boundary markers are still there, whether the neighbour built his wall a metre too far, or whether the house has a building permit. Nor will it show that an heir disputes the sale until the matter reaches court.
That is why a proper check happens in two places: in the registers and on the ground.
What we do
Before any offer, on the properties we list and on any property a client asks us to look at, we check the current state of the title at the relevant Land Registry office. We compare it with what the seller says and with what we see on site.
You get a written answer: what is in order, what is a problem, and what has to be resolved before you sign.
Before you pay a deposit
One simple rule: no deposit, not even “to hold the property”, until the title has been checked against the register. A serious seller has no reason to object. If the seller insists on being paid first, that tells you something already.
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.