PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES PRIOR TO ISSUE OF LAND CERTIFICATE IN CAMEROON

The issue of a land certificate means the official certification of property in Cameroon. As such precautionary measures are very necessary when engaging in land and property transactions in Cameroon. The precautionary measures are engaged in two phases.

  1. PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES AT THE LEVEL OF THE NOTARY PUBLIC

Land transactions in Cameroon are usually engaged with the office of the notary public in Cameroon. The notary public is the recognized official by law to draw up deeds on parcels of lands and properties in Cameroon. Whilst deeds are not titles in themselves, they are instruments of the transfer of titles. As such, the notary public has a duty to ensure that he/she has engaged in the proper due diligence exercise before the deed is drawn up. Failure to do so, the notary public in Cameroon will be held liable for any disputes which may occur on the property on grounds of professional negligence. That said, the various precautionary steps to be engaged by a notary public are as follows;

  • Ensure the seller of the property is the owner of the property or if not the owner, has the mandate to represent the owner for the sale transaction.
  • Ensure that the property is in existence.
  • Verify that the specification of the property vis-a-vis the sale is the same.
  • Verify that no encumbrance exists on the property.
  • Verify that the property is subject to personal ownership or family ownership.
  • Verify that the parties to the transaction are willing to engage.
  • Verify that there is no litigation on the property or boundary matters affecting the property.
  • Verify that the neighbors are known.
  • Confirm the credibility of the documents of ownership through;
  • If a community land, visit the chief of that community for confirmation of the Attestation of Ownership.
  • If the property has a registered site plan, visit the lands and survey bureau to ensure that the site plan is recognized and is established by a known sworn surveyor.
  • If a land certificate is, visit the Land registration office to confirm the authenticity of the land certificate and also ensure there is no encumbrance on the land certificate.
  • PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES AT THE LEVEL OF THE ISSUE OF LAND CERTIFICATE

The land conservator shall ensure that the plans accompanying the deeds must be confirmed by the Survey Service which shall ascertain that they conform in all respects to the initial configuration of the property concerned and that there is no encroachment on the property.

Before converting deeds into land certificates, the land conservator shall further be responsible to verify documents lodged and;

  • Verify the identity and capacity of the parties
  • Verify the availability of the property.
Scroll to Top