Paul Ajao, an Ibadan-based forex trader, has come forward with an accusation against Headstone Realty, a real estate firm, for dragging its heels over refunding him despite meeting their requirements.

Ajao told FIJ he made a partial payment of N300,000 to Headstone Realty in February 2021 for a property, which he later realised he could not fully pay for because of some financial problems that befell him.

With no other option in sight, Ajao said he applied for a refund to sort out his issues in October 2022. He said he formally requested a refund and had to wait for the company to process his refund within six months.

Ajao said he called the company before April to remind them of his expected refund but this did not spur the company into taking proactive steps to pay him

“In April, I messaged the company, but they claimed to have no money. I told them it was none of my business because per their policy I had to wait for six months for a refund, which I had done,” Ajao told FIJ

“Instead of refunding me, the company came up with nonsense. The company claimed it had to pay some customers who had fully paid for their property.”

Ajao said he had learned that after a customer fully paid for a property and got a landed document, Headstone Realty would no longer have any business with them, and that six months after payment, a customer only needed to give up 30 percent of their money to get a refund.

“I got angry with Olaore’s declaration because the company no longer owes any customer who has fully paid for their property. They could sell it on their own. Olaore has no business with them, so he was telling a fib,” he said

“It makes no sense to pay someone the company has no business with N1.8 million while they withhold my N210,000.”

Ajao said rather than address his concern, Olaore made an astonishing claim, which the company did not apprise him of before he struck a deal with them.

According to Ajao, Olaore stated that he must wait another six months for the company to sell the property for which he made a partial payment.

“I told him his new policy was an illogical stipulation because they did not tell me this beforehand. Also, the company allotted no land to me, so why should I wait? This condition was absent when I paid for the property,” he said.

When FIJ contacted Headstone Realty, Olaore said the company showed every customer a short answer question that contained all the company’s terms and conditions, but he didn’t provide such proof to this reporter. He further said customers only get a refund after the allotted land is sold