Article · Fraud Alert
REMCAN Communications Office · June 2026 · 5 min read
There is a number that every Nigerian looking to buy, rent, or invest in property needs to sit with for a moment.
₦270,020,500.
That is the exact amount the Lagos State Government has recovered from fraudulent estate agents and property developers on behalf of residents who were scammed. The figure was disclosed by the Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, at the 2026 Ministerial Press Briefing held in Alausa, Ikeja and it represents only the money that was successfully recovered. It says nothing about the losses that were never reported, never traced, and never returned.
This is not a Lagos problem. This is a Nigerian problem. And it is getting worse.
The Numbers Behind the Crisis
The Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority known as LASRERA is the government body responsible for regulating real estate agents and developers in Lagos State. Between 2025 and 2026 alone, LASRERA received 505 petitions from members of the public over disputes arising from real estate transactions. Of those 505 cases, only 39 were resolved. Three properties were recovered for affected residents.
Read that again. 505 complaints. 39 resolutions.
The gap between those two numbers tells you everything about the scale of the problem and the limits of what government enforcement alone can achieve. For every victim who gets their money back, there are many more still waiting or who have given up entirely.
Meanwhile, in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory Authority cancelled 485 Area Council land documents in February 2026 across Bwari, AMAC, and Kuje all confirmed fake, all held by buyers who paid in good faith believing they were legitimate. A 2025 industry analysis estimates that real estate fraud costs Nigeria approximately $4 billion every single year.
This is the market that many Nigerians are navigating without any protection.
How Fraudsters Are Operating
The Lagos crackdown has shed light on exactly how these schemes work. LASRERA, in collaboration with the Lagos State Task Force, sealed the office of Demeny Ventures in Owutu, Ikorodu in March 2026 an operator allegedly posing as a registered LASRERA agent without any licence or authorisation.
This is the most common pattern. A person or company presents themselves as a legitimate real estate professional. They may have a social media page, a professional-looking website, business cards, and all the appearance of credibility. They collect deposits, sign agreements, and then disappear or deliver nothing close to what was promised.
The victims are not naive. They are hardworking Nigerians many of them saving for years to afford a first home, or diaspora investors trusting someone on the ground to handle a transaction on their behalf. The fraud works not because buyers are careless, but because the system has made it far too easy for unverified individuals to operate as real estate professionals.
What Lagos Is Doing About It
To its credit, the Lagos State Government is not standing still. Beyond the ₦270 million recovery, LASRERA has:
Conducted sensitisation forums across all 57 Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas in Lagos State, educating residents on safe property transactions.
Mounted billboards in Surulere, Ikorodu, Epe, Badagry, Marina, and Alausa warning residents against dealing with unregistered agents and developers.
Intensified enforcement of the 10 percent agency fee cap protecting renters from agents who charge arbitrary and exploitative commissions.
Supported a new Tenancy Bill before the Lagos State House of Assembly that would mandate agent registration, strengthen rental regulation, and fast-track dispute resolution.
Announced plans for a pilot monthly rental scheme aimed at reducing the burden of annual rent payment, particularly for low-income earners.
These are meaningful steps. But enforcement after the fact recovering money from fraudsters who have already spent or hidden it will always be harder than prevention. The more powerful solution is ensuring that Nigerians can verify who they are dealing with before any money changes hands.
What This Means If You Are a Property Seeker
Whether you are renting an apartment in Lagos, buying land in Abuja, or investing from the diaspora, the lesson from this story is simple: verification is not a formality. It is your first and most important line of defence.
Before you engage any real estate agent, marketer, or developer, ask the following questions and demand verifiable answers:
Are they registered? Every legitimate estate agent operating in Lagos should be registered with LASRERA. In other states, check with the relevant regulatory authority. An agent who cannot produce their registration details is a red flag not an exception to overlook.
Can you verify their identity independently? Do not rely solely on documents they hand you themselves. Use an independent verification system to confirm who you are dealing with. A name, a phone number, and a social media page are not verification.
Are payments going through official channels? As Lagos has now mandated for building approvals, legitimate transactions in real estate should be documented and traceable. Be wary of any agent pushing for cash payments with no paper trail.
Is the property documented? Title documents, surveys, and certificates of occupancy should be verifiable with the relevant land registry. If a seller or agent resists document verification or creates urgency around payment before documentation is complete, stop the transaction.
REMCAN's Position
The ₦270 million recovery is a sign that the government is paying attention. REMCAN commends LASRERA and the Lagos State Ministry of Housing for taking enforcement seriously and for being transparent about the scale of the problem.
But we also want to be honest with the Nigerian public: government enforcement will always be reactive. By the time LASRERA is recovering your money, you have already been defrauded. The goal must be to stop the fraud from happening in the first place.
That is the purpose REMCAN was built for. Our verification platform exists so that any Nigerian whether in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, or London can independently confirm that the real estate professional they are dealing with is who they say they are, holds the credentials they claim, and is accountable to an association that takes professional conduct seriously.
The fraudsters operating in Nigeria's real estate market survive because of anonymity. Remove the anonymity, and you remove their power.
Before your next property transaction, verify the agent or developer you are dealing with at remcanrealers.com/verify. It takes less than a minute and could save you everything.
Real Estate Marketers and Consultants Association of Nigeria (REMCAN)Protecting our members. Professionalising our sector. Building Nigeria's future.