LAND RETENTION IN CAMEROON

It is a legal principle that “Human beings have the right to repent” that is to say to withdraw from a commitment; thus, in the event of a change of mind, the correction remains a permitted alternative. Aware of this truism, the legislator considered the possibility of withdrawing an action that an applicant would have brought and in which he would no longer have any interest. Even more interesting in the field of real estate or more specifically land, the question of withdrawal refers to a waiver of rights to a plot of land previously acquired. The explanation is very simple: a buyer has initiated a purchase procedure on a piece of land; having followed our advice to the letter (read our article on the procedure for buying real estate in Cameroon), he decides to have a technical file drawn up to finalize the deed of sale at the notary; two hypotheses are then possible: either he has had the technical file drawn up (set of documents having the nature of demarcation reports and sketches of plans having the interest of linking the land to the geodetic network by updating ), on an unspecified or erroneous parcel, or he wishes to resell to someone else without finalizing the procedure of fragmentation or total transfer as the case may be. In each of these hypotheses, it will first be necessary to proceed with a withdrawal before pursuing any action. PROCEDURE FOR PROPERTY WITHDRAWAL The withdrawal is in principle notarized, i.e. must be made before the territorially competent notary, but can also be made at the police station before the police commissioner. It is in fact an attestation or a letter of withdrawal which reveals the applicant's intention to manifestly renounce his rights to a specific plot for the benefit of a new purchaser or for the benefit of the basic rights holders, i.e. say initial sellers. In any case, the withdrawal is always for the benefit of X or Y person; which is practically the quick sale technique of some land buyers who want to limit the expenses related to the procedure for obtaining a land title and sell quickly using the technical file. In addition, a deliberate or unintentional error may occur in the assembly of a buyer's technical file. Instead of parcel X being the subject of the file signed in the cadastre, it is rather parcel Y: we are talking about lot confusion. The solution obviously lies in a withdrawal in order to start a new procedure aimed at obtaining the technical file on the correct batch. If, on the contrary, it is accepted that the beneficiary of such an erroneous technical file refuses to withdraw voluntarily, the party with an interest may bring an action before the competent judge for land fraud combined with a breach of trust, which will of course open right to criminal sanctions. Key words Land disclaimer Applicant Notary Police Commissioner Judge