Land fraud in Kenya rarely looks like fraud at the point of sale. The seller is polite, the title looks genuine, and the price is only slightly below market. What separates a safe transaction from a ruinous one is almost always the work done in the two weeks before any money changes hands.
Below is the due-diligence sequence we run on every purchase we act on. If your advocate is not doing all of it, ask why.
1. The official search
An official search at the relevant land registry confirms the registered proprietor, the tenure, the acreage and any registered encumbrances as at the date of the search. It is cheap, it is fast, and it is the single most valuable document in the transaction. [Expand — registry practice, Ardhisasa, timelines.]
2. Is the seller actually the proprietor?
The name on the search must match the identification documents of the person signing. Where the seller acts through an attorney, the power of attorney must be registered and current; where the seller is a company, board and, if required, shareholder resolutions must authorise the sale. [Expand.]
[Remaining sections to be drafted by the firm. This page is the template — structure, typography and SEO markup are final.]