Counsel Corner: New Lagos Tenancy Law … ‘sitting’ tenants concerns
Share certificate: Why indemnity letter and affidavit?
Please, kindly advise me on what to do on this issue. I bought Fidelity Bank’s ordinary shares public offer of November 2007. Till date, I’ve neither received my share certificate nor any dividend whatsover. I’ve visited the bank’s office at Airport road Warri where I bought the shares on several occasions to lay complaints.
There, I was asked to swear to an affidavit and write a letter of complaint along with letter of indemnity. Sir, my questions now are whether I should swear to an affidavit for what I did not receive, what is an indemnity and the implications on me?
Paul.
IF you bought shares from the bank since 2007 and you have not received your share certificate or any dividend notice till date, I would advise that you go to the bank’s registrar to formally complain. The registrar would be in a position to tell you why you have not received your share certificate and dividend notice. He should also have information if the documents have been dispatched to you.
From the tone of your question I have an impression that you had seen the bank’s registrar and he was the one that asked you to write a letter of indemnity and depose to an affidavit.
A letter of indemnity in the eye of the law excludes the bank from any liability in case another claimant turns up in future over the same share certificate. The affidavit you are also asked to swear to will serve as your own averment that you are indeed the rightful owner of the share certificate.
So, the bank is in order by asking you to write the letter and swear to an affidavit. These days, people hijack other people’s share certificates and fraudulently convert it to their own. It is because of this that the bank would indemnify itself from any liability if the true owner eventually surfaces.
That you are also to depose to an affidavit is quite in order.
The affidavit is not to claim that you have received the share certificate and dividend notices.
Rather, it is to affirm on oath that you are the bonafide owner of the said shares and that you have not received your share certificate as you claimed.
If your deposition on oath turns out to be false, then that is a criminal offence known as perjury, that is, lying on oath.
The offence is provided in Section 117 of the Criminal Code and the punishment is 14 years imprisonment as providedin section 118 of the code.
By Dayo Benson
Before Governor Babatunde Fashola signed the new Lagos State Tenancy Bill into law after it was passed by the State House of Assembly, some readers who had read about it had asked questions relating to the legislation. Some of the questions were answered.
But a recurring question was the status of a sitting tenant on advance rent payment. The provisions of the copy of the bill which we relied on then was silent on the nature of advance rent payable by a sitting tenant. For avoidance of doubt, the new law as signed by the governor makes such provision. Sections 4 and 5 of the law which deal with a sitting tenant provide that :
Section 4
Advance Rent
(1) It shall be unlawful for a landlord or his agent to demand or receive from a sitting tenant rent in excess of three (3) months in respect of any premises.
(2) It shall be unlawful for a sitting tenant to offer or pay rent in excess of three (3) months in respect of any premises.
Any person who receives or pays rent in excess of what is prescribed in this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine of one hundred thousand Naira (100,000:00) or to three (3) months imprisonment or any other non-custodial disposition.
Section 5:
(1) As from the commencement of this Law, all landlords of premises shall upon payment of rent by the tenants, be obliged to issue a rent payment receipt to their tenants in respect of such payments.
(2) The receipt shall state themselves
(a) date on which rent was received;
(b) name of the landlord and the tenant;
© location of premises in respect of which the rent is paid;
(d) amount of rent paid; and
(e) period to which the payment relates.
(3) Any landlord who fails to issue a rent payment receipt to his tenant as prescribed under this Section shall be liable to a fine of ten thousand Naira (N10,000:00) payable to the court.
Share certificate: Why indemnity letter and affidavit?
Please, kindly advise me on what to do on this issue. I bought Fidelity Bank’s ordinary shares public offer of November 2007. Till date, I’ve neither received my share certificate nor any dividend whatsover. I’ve visited the bank’s office at Airport road Warri where I bought the shares on several occasions to lay complaints.
There, I was asked to swear to an affidavit and write a letter of complaint along with letter of indemnity. Sir, my questions now are whether I should swear to an affidavit for what I did not receive, what is an indemnity and the implications on me?
Paul.
IF you bought shares from the bank since 2007 and you have not received your share certificate or any dividend notice till date, I would advise that you go to the bank’s registrar to formally complain. The registrar would be in a position to tell you why you have not received your share certificate and dividend notice. He should also have information if the documents have been dispatched to you.
From the tone of your question I have an impression that you had seen the bank’s registrar and he was the one that asked you to write a letter of indemnity and depose to an affidavit.
A letter of indemnity in the eye of the law excludes the bank from any liability in case another claimant turns up in future over the same share certificate. The affidavit you are also asked to swear to will serve as your own averment that you are indeed the rightful owner of the share certificate.
So, the bank is in order by asking you to write the letter and swear to an affidavit. These days, people hijack other people’s share certificates and fraudulently convert it to their own. It is because of this that the bank would indemnify itself from any liability if the true owner eventually surfaces.
That you are also to depose to an affidavit is quite in order.
The affidavit is not to claim that you have received the share certificate and dividend notices.
Rather, it is to affirm on oath that you are the bonafide owner of the said shares and that you have not received your share certificate as you claimed.
If your deposition on oath turns out to be false, then that is a criminal offence known as perjury, that is, lying on oath.
The offence is provided in Section 117 of the Criminal Code and the punishment is 14 years imprisonment as provided in section 118 of the code.
