RevolutionPlus sets record straight on land allocations, others

RevolutionPlus Property, a leading real estate firm, has set the record straight on its activities and relationship with customers, particularly on land allocation.

The company, which will celebrate 10 years of its existence this year, has built a strong image over the years and has developed several housing estates for people in Nigeria and beyond. The firm in 2022 has developed over 40 estates and sold to clients across the world.

In February, 2022, one of their customers who was yet to be allocated land went on social media to cast aspersion on the company’s inability to allocate to him his land. This video went viral on social media.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of people bought landed property from the company, with RevolutionPlus selling and allocating more than 10 estates. Out of these estates were Dallas, Miami and Houston Estate. Out of the many people who bought from these three estates especially, only a few of them couldn’t get allocations. This is because during the course of allocations, some of the land were encroached by land grabbers (Omoonile).

These are land they had sold to different customers. One of the directors of the company complained bitterly. “This is not a matter of over-selling or carelessness. When we bought for example 100 hectares of land and we paid Omoonile. We carried out due diligence on the land. We also secured necessary documents of the land before we start selling to our esteemed customers who have been buying from us over the years and after some months we realised that part of the land had been sold to other developers. The land that meant to cater for over 200 subscribers may not even serve 100. So you start running from pillar to post in order to allocate the remaining people.
“I have bought a landed property for over three times the amount just to satisfy my customers. This runs into billion of naira.”

Before every purchase on any of their estates, prospective clients are given a subscription form to fill which contains frequently ask questions (FAQ) and terms which bind both the company and the client. The clients are expected to read the terms and conditions, fill the form and duly execute before making payment for any of the estates. One of such terms is a 90 days deadline in which the client is required to pay for other stipulated charges, failure of which would lead to loss of allocation with the option of a refund or relocation to another estate.

Clients are allocated in batches. They may experience slight delay in allocation when a specific number required to be sent to the surveyor for processing has not been completed.

Default In Payment

This is common practice among real estate investors. Some of the issues Revolutionplus encounters are those who default in payment but claimed they hadn’t been allocated.

Speaking on this challenge, one of the directors of the company, said, “RevolutionPlus Property has provided various flexible payment plans to enable subscribers pay at ease when purchasing a property from the company. These payment plans can range from a period of three months to 18 months. Clients are expected to pick the plan most convenient for them and this is reflected in the Contract of Sale duly executed by both parties.

“The realtor or agent who brought in the client has an obligation to ensure the client pays within the stipulated period. But if payments are not made within the said period (without any request for a payment extension) such a client will be out of contract and he will be asked to either move to another estate with all previous payment transferred to the new estate or he/she can request for a refund with a 40 per cent deduction. This deduction is borne out of the breach of contract by the purchaser as this is the usual practice.

Why the 40 percent deduction? The company responded that, when they were selling some of those estates, incentives and gifts were given free of charge, this include bag of rice, some were given Air Conditioning etc. And also, they could have even sold that property to other person and move on to another estate rather than wait.

Delay In Allocation

Despite the possible faults of some clients, there are those who have subscribed and fully made payments for both land and statutory fees and have not been allocated land within the said allotted timeframe.

These are some of the estates the firm have sold and delivered to thousands of their subscribers: Flourish Residence, Eluju, Lagos State, Houston Park, Lagos State, Dallas Court, Lagos state, Lekki Sunrise, Lagos State, Champions Court, Lagos State, Grandeur1, Lagos state, Dallas Court, Lagos State, Flourish Residence 2, Lagos State, Royal Haven Garden, Mowe, Emirate Seaview, Lagos State, Royalty Garden, Shimawa, Lagos State, Royal Haven, Ikorodu, Lagos State, Grandeur, Lagos State Dallas Court, Victoria Court, Richmond Court, Caleb’s Court, Hillcrest, Royalty Park and Garden, California City, Manchester Park and Garden, Manchester Park and Garden, Ogun State (Abeokuta), Manchester Park and Garden, Ogun State (Abeokuta), Oxford Park and many other estates they have just launched. In all these estates, only about three to four estates have issues and they are resolving them by the fact they presented.

The company has refunded over N900 million to their clients in the last 20 months. They have this to say on the refund: “First, RevolutionPlus is a known brand and we value our customers. We are still one of the big players in the sector. We have offices around in Lagos and other states in Nigeria. We have three major offices in Lagos alone and we are all over the south west states. Where are we going?”

Another Perspective

One of the top directors also pointed out another reason why some clients are bent on tarnishing the image of the company. He said few years ago, the Group Managing Director of the firm, Dr. Bamidele Onalaja was made Chairman of Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Lagos State Chapter, the position which he still holds till date. But as Chairman of REDAN, Lagos Chapter, he noticed how some realtors who weren’t qualified to play in the industry flooded the real estate sector. So he called a meeting among developers to regulate the activity of every realtor and developer. At that time, some realtors had been demanding 25-30 percent to sell a product. And they would also collect sign-on fee. Their activities were becoming unbearable for many developers. In trying to regulate them, they ganged up against him and threatened to bring him down. All the people who hadn’t been allocated, some of those realtors ask the clients to go online to tarnish the image of the company. Almost all the big real estate companies have the same problem today.

“Do you know it’s not easy to buy large expanse of land, develop it and provide infrastructure? So, if you are doing all these, you can’t still pay over 20 percent commission to anybody. You will run at loss. But many estates which are being sold today don’t have infrastructure, whatsoever,” he lamented.

In a separate chat with Mrs Onalaja (GED of the company), said: “The issue is majorly buying land twice or thrice from Omo onile, issues arising after you have sold. Miami Court issue has to do with Omoonile. Someone in the society came out with another evidence that the land belongs to him after we had done due diligence from Alausa. We had to get court injunction and the clients are impatient that they have paid for over two, three years without allocation.

“We have spent over N30 million trying to resolve the issues till date and we are now trying to get another land free of issues to move them to. That’s Miami. Some clients have been refunded.

For Dallas and Houston, we are clearing all that is left. Before the middle of this year, we should get it sorted. So out of 48 estates, three are the only ones we had issues with.”

A few weeks back, Lagos State also did their own findings through the office of the Ministry of Housing. They also certified them as a worthy business people.

Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Housing, Barr. Barakat Odunuga-Bakare called the management of RevolutionPlus and Mr. Kayode Oladipo, who made the viral video, to a meeting in Alausa. You will recall that before the video there had been some concerns raised by members of the public about the conduct of RevolutionPlus Property Limited to some of its subscribers.

The members of the investigation team reiterated the resolve of the state government to investigate the allegation against RevolutionPlus Limited in line with LASRERA Law 2022.

The Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of the real estate firm, Dr. Bamidele Onalaja, affirmed that Oladipo subscribed for 20 plots of land from RevolutionPlus Property Limited at Dallas Court, Lekki and Royalty Gardens, Ajah, in Lagos State.

Onalaja explained that two out of the original 20 plots were fully paid for by the client, while the necessary documentation has been completed and handed over to him.

He added that the remaining 18 plots of those land have not been fully paid by Mr. Kayode Oladipo as he flouted the payment agreement on the contract.
He said that property not fully paid for with its associated costs will not be processed based on contract conditions because, in case of non-compliance, the company policy requires the relocation of such subscriber to another site upon completion of payment or refund of the deposited sum less 40 per cent.

He noted that having defaulted in his payment pattern, the firm relocated him to another land site at Amazon Estate, Epe, which he declined while the option of refunding the sum advanced was also rejected by Oladipo, the complainant.
However, in the course of the committee’s investigation, Oladipo who was contacted on the phone, maintained that he paid as deposit N18,606,000 to RevolutionPlus Property Limited in 2017.
He added that along the line, he lost his job and couldn’t continue with the payment as he initially agreed.

Onalaja said that the company has finalised the allocation of five plots to Oladipo at Amazon Estate based on the payment made with necessary documents forwarded to him.

The company asked Oladipo to do another video, to state clearly that the company didn’t dupe him but he defaulted and the Lagos State Government also alluded to that.

Why Revolution Plus is still going strong

Due to delay of allocation which has become an issue, the company has embarked on a 48 hours land allocation.
Speaking on this innovation, Group Executive Director of the company, Mrs Tolu Onalaja, described instant land allocation as a lasting solution to major real estate challenges that may create doubt in the minds of prospects.

She said the idea was borne out of an intense brainstorming sessions that lasted for many weeks considering all the bottlenecks in acquiring landed documents from the government.

She stated, “We have all our estates on layouts right now, buyers will get allocation immediately once payment is complete.
“Innovation and creativity is the hallmark of RevolutionPlus Property. We have upgraded our mode of operation so going forward once any of our client completes his/her land payment they are allocated instantly on the layout with their plot and block number, any client that pays all fees with the land immediately gets physical allocation instantly within 48 hours and clients also have up to 90 days to complete the payment for survey, deed of assignment and development levy after paying fully for land.

“However, for clients that complete payment for land and statutory fees (Survey, deed of assignment and Development levy) outrightly, their physical allocation is instant within 48 hours while the Survey documents and Deed of Assignment will be received by the client who had already taken physical allocation within 30 days.”