9 PROPRIETY RIGHTS ENJOYED FROM LAND AND PROPERTY OWNERSHIP

Owning land and/or landed property is one of the fundamental ideologies behind man’s existence on earth. This is largely due in part to it been used as a yardstick in determining one’s level of success, influence, status and socio-political power among family members and relatives, peer groups, colleagues and the society at large.

However, there are some certain types of propriety rights that are enjoyed from owning land and landed properties which I will explain to you today. But before I go on with my explanations, let me briefly define Estate Management as a course of study in order to ignite your enthusiasm and curiosity on the topic.

Thorncroft, M (1965) defined Estate Management as “the direction and supervision of an interest in landed property with the aim of securing an optimum return. This return need not always be financial but may be in terms of social benefits, status, prestige, political power or some other goals or group of goals”

From the definition above, you will realize that it is through directing and supervising the various interests inherent in land and landed property ownership that brings about the study of estate management to assist and guide the property owner in achieving their identified goal or group of goals.

Propriety Rights and Interests are the Bundle of Rights which an owner of land and/or landed property has and enjoys from its ownership. 

Some of this bundle of rights includes:

·         Right to lawful possession

·         Right to alienate of transfer

·         Right to lease

·         Right to sell

·         Right to income accruing from land and landed property

·         Right to develop and/or redevelop

·         Right to mortgage it

·         Right to claim possession and ownership

·         Right to grant lesser interests and rights

1.      RIGHT TO LAWFUL POSSESSION

One of the rights which an owner of land and/or landed property enjoys from its ownership is the right to lawful and actual possession. 

An owner of land and/or landed property who has acquired a land and/or landed property legitimately from the appropriate source, has an exclusive right to take actual and lawful possession without any fear of been ejected or dispossessed from doing so. 

In the event of any government acquisition exercise, the owner of such land and/or landed property will be entitled to adequate compensation for the exclusive right of lawful possession which has been taken from him/her in such circumstance.

2.      RIGHT TO ALIENATE OR TRANSFER

Another right which an owner of land and/or landed property has over its ownership status is the right to alienate or transfer the land and/or landed property to his children, wife/husband, immediate family or any other person he/she so desires to alienate or transfer the land and/or landed property to.

What is only required from the owner of such land and/or landed property in transferring or alienating the land and/or landed property in question is a well written, signed and stamped document which specifically spells out who the land and/or landed property is been transferred or alienated to by the right owner. 

3.      RIGHT TO LEASE

This is one of the most common types of rights which an owner of land and/or landed property enjoys from its ownership. It is commonly found among property investors who owns residential and commercial land and/or landed properties that are leased out to prospective clients in need/demand of such class of land and/or landed property.

What the right indicates is that an owner of land and/or landed property has the exclusive right to lease out his land and/or landed property for tenancy or leasehold purpose in consideration for money paid in form of rent.

In exercising his right to lease the land and/or landed property, the owner usually employ the services of a professional real estate agent who is given the mandate and instruction to manage the land and/or landed property as well as accept rent paying tenants with good characters/beaviours into the property. 

4.      RIGHT TO SELL

Another right which is synonymous to the right to alienate or transfer land and/or landed property by the owner is the right to sell such land and/or landed property which he/she enjoys absolute ownership and possession anytime he/she wishes to do so.

An owner of land and/or landed property having absolute possession of the land as well as legitimate/genuine title documents on the land and/or landed property has the sole right to sell the land and/or landed property anytime he so desires to do asuch. 

The owner of the land and/or landed property can as well sell at any price he desires or as been advised by the professional Estate Surveyor and Valuer whom he has consulted for his/her expertise.

5.      RIGHT TO INCOME ACCRUING FROM LAND AND/OR LANDED PROPERTY

An owner of land and/or landed property also has the exclusive right to streams of income accruing from the land and/or landed property which he has absolute possession and ownership claim of. 

The streams of income accruing to owner of the land and/or landed property may be in form of leasehold, sales or development of the land and/or landed property.

6.      RIGHT TO DEVELOP AND/OR REDEVELOP

What an owner of land and/or landed property can also do from owning land and/or landed property is the right to develop or re-develop the land and/or landed property anytime he/she wishes to do so.

An owner of a bare land can for instance develop such land into different classes of built-up structures based on the need and demand for that type of structure. Such developed built-up structures may be in the form of residential accommodations, commercial and recreational structures.

Another scenario is a situation whereby the owner of land and/or landed property due the right he has on the ownership of such land and/or landed property redevelops it either to enable it meets up with the current building standard or modifies it into something different entirely.

7.      RIGHT TO MORTGAGE

The owner of land and/or landed property also has the exclusive right to mortgage his/her land and/or landed property with a mortgage or financial institution in consideration for loan advancement.

The land and/or landed property which an owner has mortgaged will serve as collateral for the loan advancement which he/she is seeking from the mortgage or financial institution.

The mortgaged land and/or landed property will revert back to the rightful owner once the loan instrument has been offset with the mortgage or financial institution by the owner.

8.      RIGHT TO CLAIM POSSESSION AND OWNERSHIP

The owner of land and/or landed property also has an exclusive right to claim possession and ownership from illegal occupants of such land and/or landed property.

In claiming possession or ownership of the land and/or landed property back from illegal occupants, the rightful owner will need to tender all his title documents legally tenable in any court of law which specifically indicate and reveal that the claimant is the rightful owner of such land and/or landed property in question.

9.      RIGHT TO GRANT LESSER INTERESTS AND RIGHTS

The other right which an owner of land and/or landed property also enjoys from such ownership is the right to grant lesser interests and rights on his/her land and/or landed property with some specified restrictions indicating the obligations of enjoying such rights and interests for whom it is granted by the actual owner.

Some of the lesser rights and interests which can be granted by an owner of land and/or landed property are: easement, license, profit aprendre, way leaves, covenants, etc.

I hope with all these explanations above, you are in a good position to know the various propriety rights you can enjoy from owning land and/or landed property.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adeniyi Akinjiyan is a Higher National Diploma (HND) holder of Estate Management from the prestigious Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos state, Nigeria. He possesses a Professional Practice Certificate in Estate Surveying and Valuation from the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV).

He is the principal consultant of Aakient Consultants Ltd, a highly progressive and consolidated property and construction project management company, which is committed to providing the highest level of professional services in meeting clients’ real estate needs.

Feel free to contact him at: aakientconsultants@gmail.com

15 EVENTS THAT CAN TERMINATE A LEASE/TENANCY CONTRACT

Today, I will be writing on the various events that can lead to termination of a lease or tenancy contract in relation to land and property leasing as an aspect of estate agency practice.

Three things prompted me to write this particular post and they are; 

(1)   To assist all those aspiring to sit for and/or write the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers’ Professional Qualifying Examination stage 3 (PQE 3), as well as all students of estate management study and those practicing in the real estate and surveying profession.

(2)   To also enlighten and broaden the knowledge/understanding of everybody that has a particular relationship with land and landed properties either as a property owner/investor or tenant/occupant.

(3)    Most importantly, I want to reveal to tenanted occupants as well as landlords/property owners alike, the various ways by which a particular lease/tenancy contract can be terminated other than the usual and/or normal eviction notices which is always served on the occupant of such leased property whenever the lease/tenancy contract is to be terminated.

Before I continue with the write-up, let me briefly explain to you the meaning and distinction between a lease contract and tenancy contract as it relates to estate surveying and valuation practice in Nigeria even though they are both used interchangeably in the profession. 

Lease contract refers to the legal agreement whereby an owner – Lessor - of a property permits somebody else – Lessee – to use his/her property for a particular purpose and for a definite/stipulated period under certain terms and conditions as agreed by both parties in a lease agreement. 

Preparation of a lease contract/agreement between the lessor (Property owner/landlord) and lessee (tenant/occupant) is usually done by lawyers to the parties involved in the lease transaction as there are some legal terms in the lease document as well as general duties/obligations that will need to be explained to all the parties to the lease contact in other to guide and protect their interests during the lease period.

The length of a lease contract in relation to land and landed properties’ leasing transaction is usually from 3 years upwards.

Tenancy contract on its own part is described to mean the exclusive possession of occupation which a person – usually referred to as a tenant – enjoys on another person’s – landlord – property (residential or commercial property) based on an agreed rent paid to the landlord. 

Tenancy contract/agreement which spells out the duties and obligations of the tenant and landlord during the tenancy period can be prepared by the professional estate agent employed by the landlord/property owner of the tenanted property. 

In preparing the tenancy agreement/contract, the professional estate agent engaged by the property owner/landlord will partner with the legal department of his/her estate surveying and valuation firm in drafting such tenancy agreement/contract for the tenant and landlord.

The length of a tenancy contract in relation to land and property leasing ranges between 1year and 2years.

The following 15 circumstances are events that can terminate a lease and/or tenancy contract:

1.      Expiration of Lease or Tenancy Contract: A lease or tenancy contract can be terminated after the expiration of the lease/tenancy period and whereby the lessee/occupant of the leased/tenanted property decides not to renew his/her lease/tenancy with the property owner/lessor.

There are so many reasons why a lessee/tenant may not want to renew their tenancy/lease contract after its expiration, some of which they may voluntarily or involuntarily explain to the property owner/lessor.

Where this kind of event arises, the lease/tenancy contract between the property owner/lessor and the tenant/occupant expressly comes to an end.

2.      Surrender and Acceptance of Existing Lease/Tenancy Contract: Another circumstance that can terminate a lease/tenancy contract is a situation whereby the tenant/lessee surrenders (give up) his/her existing lease/tenancy yet to be expired to the landlord/lessor and the landlord/lessor upon receiving such notice accepts it from the tenant/lessee.

In this particular event, I want you to know that the tenant/lessee in question still has an unexpired lease/tenancy term on the leased/tenanted property but goes ahead to surrender his/her existing lease/tenancy contract with the landlord/lessor who in turn also accepts it.

The lease/tenancy contract will automatically come to an end once the landlord/lessor accepts the written notice of the tenant/lessee to surrender his/her existing lease/tenant contract.

3.      Breach of Lease/Tenancy Conditions/Terms: In the course of preparing a lease/tenancy agreement/contract, there are some certain duties and obligations to be observed and adhered to by both the landlord/lessor and tenant/lessee during the period of the lease/tenancy contract. A breach of any of these lease/tenancy agreement conditions on either part of the landlord/lessor or tenant/lessee may warrant the lease/tenancy contract been terminated.

This is why it is always important for both landlord/lessor and tenant/lessee in any lease/tenancy contractual relationship to always observe their obligations which serves as a condition for the lease/tenancy relationship they enjoys if they don’t want such to be terminated.

4.      Actual Eviction of Lessee/Tenant From The Leased/Tenanted Property: Another major event that can terminate a lease/tenancy contract between a landlord/lessor and tenant/lessee is actual eviction of the lessee/tenant from the leased/tenanted property.

Actual eviction of a lessee/tenant from a leased/tenanted property plays a critical role in terminating a lease/tenancy contract and one of the major reason for this, is that just mere serving of a Notice to Quit to a lessee/tenant on a leased/tenanted property may not in some cases be enough to terminate a lease/tenancy contract most especially when such lessee/tenant is a recalcitrant person.

A recalcitrant lessee/tenant served a Notice to Quit may still be occupying the leased/tenanted property for some months or even years after such notice to quit has been served on him/her and this act will make his/her lease/tenancy contract to still be running even without paying any form of rent until after such a tenant is finally evicted through a court order or other lawful means that the lease/tenancy contract will cease to exist.

5.      Destruction of The Leased/Tenanted Property: There are series of destructive events that can terminate a lease/tenancy contract between a landlord/lessor and tenant/lessee.

Some of these destructive events are; Fire Outbreak, Acts of war, Building collapse, and Force Majeure (landslide, ocean surge, earthquake, flooding, hurricane etc). A leased/tenanted contract will be terminated in a situation where any of these destructive events takes place.

While some of these destructive events are manmade, others may be uncontrollable by

human effort.

6.      Foreclosure of The Leased/Tenanted Property Through Mortgage: Another circumstance which can terminate a lease/tenancy contract between a landlord/lessor and tenant/lessee is a situation whereby the landlord/lessor used the leased/tenanted property as a collateral/instrument to secure a loan for mortgage purpose from a mortgage institution but defaults in paying back the loan at the stipulated period thereby forfeiting the leased/tenanted property to the mortgage institution through foreclosure.

Whenever a leased/tenanted property is foreclosed due to non-payment of loan received from a mortgage institution by the landlord/lessor who has used the subject property as collateral for a loan advancement, the lease/tenancy contract currently existing between him/herself and the tenant/lessee will be terminated because the mortgage institution will want to take possession of the leased/tenanted property used as collateral to secure the loan advancement through foreclosure.

7.      Frustration of Lessee/Tenant By The Landlord/Lessor: This is another situation where a lease/tenancy contract can be terminated. It may be a situation where the landlord/lessor tries everything possibly legal or not to evict the tenant/lessee without any success.

The landlord/lessor may then embark on different kinds of acts either to the tenant/lessee or on the leased/tenanted property so as to frustrate the tenant/lessee in quitting the leased/tenanted property.

Acts of frustration in other to terminate a lease/tenancy contract is in most scenarios usually carried out or embarked upon by the landlord/lessor who wants to forcefully evict the tenant/lessee because he/she wants to terminate the lease/tenancy contract between them.

8.      Notice To Quit: This is one of the most easiest scenario to terminate a lease/tenancy contract. It involves the landlord/lessor of the leased property writing a Notice To Quit to the tenant/lessee occupying the leased/tenanted property.

The notice to quit letter is usually written to the tenant/lessee some months prior to the expiration of the existing lease/tenancy contract by the professional estate agent/property manager to the landlord/lessor who has been given such instruction by the landlord/lessor.

The contents of the notice to quit letter will indicate the stipulated time frame which the tenant/lessee should give up possession of the leased/tenanted property after the expiration of the lease term or tenancy period, as well as the reasons why the tenant/lessee should quit the tenanted/leased property after its expiration.

The lease/tenancy contract will eventually be terminated the moment the tenant/lessee vacates the leased/tenanted property after the stipulated time frame given to do so in the notice to quit letter.

9.      Surrender And Renewal Of Existing Lease/Tenancy Contract: This is another scenario that can terminate a lease/tenancy contract between a landlord/lessor and tenant/lessee. It involves the tenant/lessee on the leased/tenanted property surrendering his/her unexpired lease term (unused years) to the landlord/lessor in other to immediately renew such lease/tenancy contract for a new one.

This refers to the situation whereby a tenant/lessee on a leased/tenanted property gives up his/her remaining lease term through termination of the existing lease/tenancy contract with the landlord/lessor and at the same time creating a new lease/tenancy contract on the same leased/tenanted property with the landlord but on improved terms and conditions.

Unlike surrender and acceptance of existing lease to terminate a lease/tenancy contract, surrender and renewal of existing lease/tenancy contract is instigated by the tenant/lessee to the landlord/lessor who is not under compulsion or force to accept the surrender notice and also grants a new lease/tenancy contractual agreement on improved terms and conditions with the lessee/tenant.

10.  Compulsory Acquisition of The Leased/Tenanted Property By Government: Government do acquire different classes of land and landed properties for various purposes which will be of great benefit to the generality of the citizens. If during the course of carrying out a compulsory acquisition exercise, some certain leased/tenanted properties are affected, the consequence of this is that the lease/tenancy contract between the landlord/lessor and tenant/lessee will be terminated.

The landlord/lessor of the leased/tenanted property may be compensated by government before, during or after completion of the compulsory acquisition exercise but this will not have any changes to the terminated lease/tenancy contract.

11.  Court Order:  This is another event that can terminate a lease/tenancy contract between a landlord/lessor and tenant/lessee.

In the case of a land dispute between two or more parties laying claims to the true ownership of a particular lot/portion of land where a leased/tenanted property is lying and situates.

If the party with whom the court grants its ruling in his/her favour is not the landlord/lessor of the leased/tenanted property, then the lease/tenancy contract will be terminated as the court will grant an order of possession to the party who won the case in court to take over the leased/tenanted property.

12.  Breach of Statutory Building Codes And Property Laws: This is another event that can terminate a lease/tenancy contract. It arises when a leased/tenanted property falls short of various applicable building codes and property laws as been stipulated and spelt out by the government and/or its agencies.

Action that can be taken by government or its agencies as a form of punishment may be to seal up the leased/tenanted property thereby terminating the lease/tenancy contact been enjoyed by the landlord/lessor and tenant/lessee.

13.  Renovation And Improvement Works: A lease/tenancy contract can be terminated when there is the need to carry out renovation and improvement woks on the leased/tenanted property by the landlord/lessor.

Think of a situation where the landlord/lessor of a leased/tenanted tenement property (Face Me; I Face You) decides to carry out renovation and improvement works on the said tenement property by converting same to units of mini-flats or two bedroom apartments.

When the event occurs, lease/tenancy contract currently enjoyed by tenant/lessee from the landlord/lessor will seize to continue.

14.  Property Demolition: Under this circumstance, there are so many ways which lease/tenancy contracts can be terminated.

Property demolition exercise for infrastructural development programmes that is been embarked upon by the various tiers of government can terminate lease/tenancy contracts.

15.  Total Wear And Tear (Obsolescence): Events which results in total wear and tear of a building components and its physical appearance can also terminate a lease/tenancy contract between the landlord/lessor and tenant/lessee occupying the leased/tenanted property.

The act of total obsolescence resulting in adverse wear and tear of a leased/tenanted property will terminate the lease/tenancy contract been enjoyed as the property becomes inhabitable for people.

A perfect example of this particular scenario is some residential properties (Jakande estate-type buildings) around Adeniji Adele area of Lagos Island, Lagos state which are totally obsolete and not suitable for human habitation again due to adverse effect of total wear and tear on them.

Hope I have been able to do meaningful justification to those reasons I said prompted me in writing this post.

Kindly drop your comments in the box below!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adeniyi Akinjiyan is a Higher National Diploma (HND) holder of Estate Management from the prestigious Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos state, Nigeria. He possesses a Professional Practice Certificate in Estate Surveying and Valuation from the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV).

He is the principal consultant of Aakient Consultants Ltd, a highly progressive and consolidated property and construction project management company, which is committed to providing the highest level of professional services in meeting clients’ real estate needs.

Feel free to contact him at: aakientconsultants@gmail.com