In Nigeria, buying a piece of land that has a small court case is not the wisest choice of action. This is because of the legal doctrine called lis pendis.

What does Lis Pendis Mean?

How Does Lis Pendis Affect the buying of a Property?

A person who buys a property while a court case is on-going over it (that is when the property is under litigation) has bought the court case for himself as well. In other words, he has bought his way into the litigation and his gains, fortunes and ownership of the property will depend on the result or outcome of the court case.

We will quote extensively from a judgment of the Court of Appeal on this issue. Yes we know it might be a mouthful to read but we will explain what it means.

“The doctrine of lis pendens applies in respect of title to property. By this doctrine, when title to property is the subject matter of litigation, all intending sales must abate, pending the outcome of the litigation. It operates to prevent the effective transfer of any property in dispute during the pendency of that dispute. In its application, it is irrelevant whether the purchaser has notice – whether actual or constructive. By the operation of this doctrine, a vendor is deprived of any rights over property in dispute during the currency of the litigation, and, for this reason, a vendor cannot transfer any effective title to a purchaser over the same property. Indeed, the principle of nemo dat quod non habet would apply to defeat any sale or transfer of such property made during the pendency of the litigation.

JUSTICE ONYEKACHI AJA OTISI, JCA (Pp 35 – 36 Paras E – F) in AINA & ANOR v. OMOTADE & ORS (2021) LPELR-56226(CA)