Extra care is needed when you are buying or leasing a property owned by more than one person (jointly owned property). You need the consent of all the property owners in any transaction involving the property if you want to avoid any future litigation. Under no circumstance should you deal with only one or some of the owners of the property in any transaction involving the property. Whatever assurances you get from one or some of the owners should not suffice. To avoid any problems, you have to make sure you have obtained the consent of all the parties who are listed as joint owners of the property.
For practical purposes, one or two of the joint owners may lead the negotiations for any transaction involving the property. If this is the case, then make sure that before you sign unto any transaction, you obtained a properly executed letter of consent from the ‘absentee’ owners saying that they have consented to the transaction. The letter of consent from the absentee owners must not be just a general letter of consent. It must specifically speak to the transaction under consideration. The letter must also state clearly that payment can be made to those persons leading the negotiations for disbursement to all the owners.
For total peace of mind, engage the services of a qualified lawyer to lead you in any transaction especially when it involves landed property.
