The Lagos State Government has condemned the actions of legal practitioners who parade themselves as agents and obtain agency fees on behalf of property owners from clients and persons who rent different types of properties.
The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Housing, Barrister (Mrs.) Barakat Odunuga-Bakare condemned practice yesterday at the continuation of the stakeholders’ engagement with practitioners in the built industry.
She emphasised that the role of legal practitioners is to prepare contractual agreement between a property owner and a prospective client, which covers a specific period and for an agreed amount.
She emphasised that the collection of agency fees falls only within the purview of commission agents, and not lawyers.
Odunuga-Bakare stated that Lawyers who indulged in usurping the role of commission agents would be sanctioned through the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
The Special Adviser restated the commitment of the Lagos State Government to restore sanity in the built sector, warning quacks and unregistered individuals who charge arbitrary fees from tenants and unsuspecting persons to desist from doing so.
