Five checks, in order, before a property is published.

The Lagos market is full of listings that were never real. The Girard list is short because every property on it has passed the checks below. If one fails, the property is not published.

1. Title

The title document itself, a Certificate of Occupancy, a registered deed of assignment or a governor's consent, matched to the name of the person listing.

2. Ownership

The person listing must be the owner on the title or hold the owner's written authority. Where a listing comes through an agent, the owner is confirmed before anything is published.

3. Identity

A government identity document for the owner, matched against the title and, for payout, against the bank account through a verification service. Rent goes to the verified owner's account and nowhere else.

4. Condition

The property's condition is checked before publication and the description says what was found, including what is wrong with it.

5. The record

Every enquiry, viewing, application, signature and payment on the property is kept on the platform. Owner and tenant see the same record.

What it costs you

Time. A property takes days to verify, not minutes. That is the trade: a shorter list, every entry of which is real.

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