It's no news that real estate agents and property owners are in the habit of preparing legal documents such as a deed of conveyancing, a deed of assignment, a contract of sale and a tenancy agreement for unsuspecting members of the public.

Most people don't see the dangers this poses until the agreement becomes a subject of litigation, and then it is too late to turn back the hands of time.

These agents, in some instances, duplicate existing agreement without considering how existing covenants contained in such agreement will affect the new agreement.

Some vital clauses are usually omitted during this process, and this might not be discovered until there is a disagreement between the parties. But the parties can prepare a corrigendum to avoid irreparable damages if the error is discovered early enough.

While it is always cheaper to have an agent or a property developer prepare your legal instrument, what are the disadvantages?

1. It is prohibited by law.

By the provision of section 12 of Lagos State Estate Agency Regulatory Authority Law 2015, a licensed real estate practitioner shall not prepare any legal document concerning any transaction handled by him. Such document must be prepared by a Legal Practitioner, and the fees shall not be more than 12.5 per cent of the total consideration.

This section expressly forbids any person to the inclusion of a License Estate agent from preparing any agreement.