Forms Of Deeds

A deed is usually any written legal document that transfers, affirms, or confirms the interest, rights, property etc .A valid deed requires that the, the original owner of the land conveys his interest to the guarantor , the recipient of the title. Historically, all lands belong to the indigenous families dwelling on such lands . But the Land Use Act enacted in1978 vested all urban land within a state in the state governor to hold, on behalf of the people and as such the governor is therefore responsible for allocation of the land in all urban areas to individuals resident in the state or organizations.
There are quite a good number of deeds operational in nigeria , some of which are ; deed of conveyance,deed of assignment, deed of gift, deed of mortgage etc. In this write up ,I will concentrate on the deed of conveyance and deed of assignment. A deed of conveyance is a written instrument through which title in property is passed on from the owner of the property to the buyer. There are important things to note about a deed of conveyance;
1. The seller is required to certify that the property is free of any legal encumbrance
2. If a loan is taken against the property in question, the mortgage must be cleared before the deed is signed.
3. The conveyance deed should state the exact date which the property will be handed over to the buyer.
4. Upon execution of the deed, all original documents related to the property need to be registered.
5. The deed is required to be signed by at least two witnesses.
A deed of assignment is one of the very important land documents to acquire if ownership of land is to be authentic. Also the deed of assignment for land has to be recorded in the land registry to show legal proof and bring to the notice of everyone that the property has been transfered from the seller to the buyer. The significant difference between a deed of conveyance and deed of assignment is that a deed of conveyance can transfer the legal title of property’s ownership from one individual to another in the form of a mortgage , gift or other real estate transaction while a deed of assignment is primarily based on transferring ownership through sales from one person to another. It is also used to assign a right of occupancy in land in accordance with section 4 of statute of fraud, which provides that every transaction relating to land must be made by deeds. A deed of conveyance is primarily the preliminary document that transfers previously unregistered or undocumented title of a buyer. However unregistered land can still be registered by the owner of a deemed right of occupancy where the owner so applies, either to the local or state government subject to location.
A deed of conveyance makes a title registrable, upon payment of stamp duties and application for consent or certification. When it is registered the title is certified and labelled certificate of occupancy for a term of 99years . In order to transfer a title under C of O a deed of assignment is utilized to transfer the unexpired residue of the term granted under the C of O. Indeed a deed of assignment grants exclusive title to the buyer.

By: Nkechi Bright-Ewere