Avoiding Rental Scams: What Every (Lagos) Tenant Needs to Know

 I’ll just get right into it. Nigeria is a low trust society. Everyone is trying to get one over the other and rip you off. There are thousands of attempts daily in this country to “play smart”.

This is a list of things to look out for before you say yes to your apartment of choice.

• Landlord’s location: One of the worst things that can happen to you is living with your landlord. I almost fell into that trap in another city once. Thankfully, the agent informed me that all residents had curfews and could not entertain people of the opposite sex. The landlady was a Deeper lifer and apparently would not allow even the appearance of iniquity in her home. I quickly ran o.

• Water colour: See, this one will burst your mind. Places where the colour of water is muddy is a no no. You don’t want a place where you must use pure water to cook ALL meals. Picture your skin breaking out just because you took a shower. Wetin go come do your steeze? Ehn, idan?
• Seasons: Do your house hunting at the height of the rainy season. What this does is show you just how bad things get in that area. There are houses in Lagos where people move to the upper levels once it starts raining because the ground floor is for the water during that time. There are also places that are completely cut off from the main roads during rainy season. We’ve seen people swimming in the flood to get home. If you don’t want that to be you, please shine your eyes o! If you need a place in a hurry and cannot wait for the rainy season, check the walls of the fence and that of the building. There would be water damage, lines, or patterns at the height the water usually gets to. You should be able to tell.
• Electricity bill:  Most people will tell you that once the house has a prepaid meter, you’re safe. Walahi, you’re not. Ask for the most recent bill they have before the meter. The truth is, these discos often give debtors prepaid meters so they will be taking a percentage of the units loaded as payment. If you rent one of such spaces, you will be servicing your landlord’s debt every time you buy units for your meter. If they don’t have meter, you must request for their most recent bill too. The highest debt I’ve seen a residential building have is over 900k and I am sure there are several with even more. Make sure that the debt on the bill (if any) is something you can manage.
• How complete the building is: This one ehn, the way the building is the day you pay, is likely to be how it will be till you move out. If the building doesn’t have anything you consider important, I HIGHLY recommend that you look somewhere else. Them go whine you say “it’s your rent we will use to fix [insert damage/absent feature]” If you fall for it, you’re on your own o.
• Serviced: If you are renting a serviced apartment anywhere in Nigeria, please clarify what their “serviced” covers.  There are a lot of things it could/should cover. Be sure to confirm specifics.
• Trash disposal: You wouldn’t know that trash can give you a headache until you live in a house where you can only dump your trash at night or something like that. Recently, LAWMA blocked off a house in Lagos because they disposed their trash in the flood in front of their house. While I don’t know if they can legally do so, I’m sure it was a major inconvenience for the residents of that house. So, don’t be a cautionary tale. Ask
• Location of the generators: If you value silence at night, you should ask about this. If your neighbor puts their generator behind your window at night, I don’t need to tell you how bad that would be for you when you’re in there.
• Proximity to typically noisy places: If there is a church/mosque/school literally next door, that would definitely be a problem for you.
• General state of the security in that area. This might need you to come back alone to get the truth. If that area is always getting robbed, please just leave it.

I hope these few tips of mine help you along further in your house-hunting journey. If you find that perfect apartment eventually, please tag