Lagos State Government has advised residents seeking for accommodation to engage only registered estate agents/developers.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing, Mr Wasiu Adedamola Akewusola, stated this at Alapere, Lagos.
He spoke against the backdrop of what happened in Ketu where a fraudulent property developer collected money from over 262 prospective home buyers for only 15 units of studio rooms.
Akewusola said: “Residents of Lagos State should desist from patronising quacks and criminals when scouting for accommodation and homes to buy.”
He decried the rate at which illegal estate agents/developers swindle innocent people.
“Lagos State Government is greatly concerned about the rise in the criminal and callous activities of some dubious estate agents who lure unwary individuals to purchase non-existent parcels of land or rent one flat out to hundreds of tenants,” he said.
He declared that it is the responsibility of Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department (LASRETRAD), a directorate under the Ministry of Housing, to register and regulate activities of estate agents and developers.
He advised intending tenants to ascertain that they transact business with only registered agents who can be recognised by the government estate agent registration banner.
He seized the opportunity to ask the people to continue to have confidence in the government’s ability to fulfil the mandate of accessible, affordable qualitative housing.
He said: “Lagos State is a responsible government and will not relent in its efforts of ensuring that the well-being of the people is upheld.”
Also, the Director, LASRETRAD, Ajayi Adeyeye, described dubious estate agents as “not only criminal and illegal, but also an offence punishable under the Lagos State tenancy law of 2003 formerly known as Rent Control and Recovery of Residential Premises law (Vol.7 Law of Lagos State 2003.)”
Adeyeye said the law that governs the rental of property is the basis of the legal contract that defines the relationship among the landlord, developer and tenant.
He stressed that the government was poised to curb the excesses of swindlers, and quack estate agents through prosecution.
He urged the public report any unscrupulous estate agent to LASRETRAD .
He said a secured society could only be achieved if unscrupulous elements were restrained. He appealed to the registered estate agents to imbibe the culture of trustworthiness. Nation
