Pitfalls to watch for when buying sub-divided land

I bought a piece of land, 60 by 40ft, in 2010. I then saved and built a home where I live with my family.

The problem is I have tried to get the seller to get me a title deed but all she tells me is to find the other eight guys who bought part of the land.

When I bought my piece, she never told me anything to do with the other buyers.

I recently called her to see whether she had softened only to be told to get at least four guys who bought the other plots.

I don’t know where to start because the lawyer I talked to told me to get the LR number, which I cannot access unless the seller gets me the copy of title deed.

Kamau

We assume that the plot is in an urban area that can be considered for a title deed.

The owner of the land seems to have sub-divided it and sold to the other nine buyers without formally documenting the sub-division.

She, therefore, needs to finalise the sub-division by getting each of the subplots surveyed and assigned numbers.

She will then surrender the original title in her custody to the Land Registrar in exchange of titles for the subplots.

If she has not finalised with the buyers in terms of purchase money, she should process the subplot titles in her name and transfer to each buyer as need will require.

Since you have met part of your bargain, the title deed for your subplot can be transferred to you.

In this case, it will not require the presence of the other eight buyers for the transfer to be done.

She is denying you the right to formally own the subplot and legal action can be taken against her in case she continues insisting on the presence of persons who were not party to the individual agreement between you and her.

Please consider visiting the County Land Management Board for the matter to be settled amicably.

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My father gave me a piece of land in Nyandarua, Mbuyu Settlement Scheme. I moved in and settled on the land.

Later I got a job in Uganda and moved with my family there. My father later decided to sell the land to someone without my knowledge, although the land had no title.

A few months later, he died. We tracked the buyer and as a family we agreed to refund him his money. We all signed the agreement.

Surprisingly after a search a month later, we realised he had acquired a title deed. I am now landless.

David

It is not clear what you mean by “gave me a piece of land” and how long you stayed on the land before going to Uganda.

That said, a settlement programme refers to government action that provides access to land for squatters, persons displaced by natural courses like floods, development projects, conservation or internal conflicts by use of the Land Settlement Fund now administered by the National Land Commission.

A beneficiary of land in a settlement scheme is given the parcel on loan and, therefore, the land is charged until when he offsets the amount in a given period.

He is given conditions on development of the land and it can be forfeited in case of breach.

We appreciate your question, however, according to the new land laws and the Constitution of Kenya, your father did not require your consent to sell his land. He would only require the consent of his spouse.

The applicable law, Government Land Act (now repealed) which we are assuming was in use when your father was allocated the land did not stop anyone from selling land acquired under the settlement scheme.

But according to the law, land acquired in a settlement scheme is not transferable except through succession.

You need to establish from the Land Settlement Fund if your father obtained the discharge of charge.

With the discharge, your father would have applied for a transfer (form) from the government to himself and thus use the document to apply for a title deed (land mapped under settlement schemes is usually under free hold title).

It seems the transfer process had already commenced prior to your father’s death. Some details on the actual process have to be established.

Since you had an agreement with the buyer, it’s upon him to transfer back the title to you, but he will only honour the agreement at his discretion.

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I bought land that was initially allocated to the owner under a settlement scheme.

The owner never followed up to register it in his own name, though he knew that was to be done and the reason he gives is that he didn’t have money.

Upon doing search at the registry, the land is still registered under the government and the ownership is absolute. What do we (me and the seller) need to register the land in my name?

Bernard Muinde

First you will apply to the Department of Land Adjudication and Settlement officer in your county to verify the records on the land.

If the land is not paid for, the officer will do a ground report to see who is occupying it physically.

If no one is currently occupying the land, the officer will write a letter to Director of Land Adjudication and Settlement advising that the new interested person be allocated officially by letter of offer.

Do note that this can only happen if there is no one occupying the land.

If the owner of the land is the one occupying it, the director of land adjudication will send a directive for him to pay any outstanding amount owed. There is a specified time within which the owner has to pay the amount owed.

If it is established, as you have specified in your query that he hasn’t, he will be asked to vacate the land and the officer on the ground will write to director of land adjudication advising that the new interested person be allocated officially by letter of offer.

– Do you have any question on agricultural land? Send to [email protected]

Directorate of Research and Advocacy, National Land Commission