Where your money sits
Ecoterra never holds your money.
An independent, regulated organisation holds it — the escrow provider you choose, not one we assign. It moves out of their account only against a stage's acceptance, and we cannot release it on our own.
The path of one naira
You
pay in to the organisation you picked — never to Ecoterra.
Your escrow provider
holds it under their own regulator, in an account that is neither ours nor the developer's.
The developer
is paid for a stage after that stage is accepted. Never in advance.
Ecoterra is not a step on this line.
The organisations you can choose from
No organisation is currently able to take on new clients.
Firms apply per service and Ecoterra approves them per service. Approved firms appear here with what they may do, who regulates them, and what they charge.
The five services a firm can be approved for
Escrow
Holds your moneyEvery project needs one
Holding your money and releasing it against work that has been done. They confirm every deposit and must counter-authorise every release — Ecoterra cannot move a naira on its own.
Title verification
Independent expertiseEvery project needs one
Establishing that the title is what it is said to be — the registry search, the survey charting, the physical inspection — and reporting on it.
Project management
Independent expertiseOnly if you want it
Running the build on your behalf — the programme, the contractors and the phase-by-phase account of what has actually been done.
Site inspection
Independent expertiseOnly if you want it
Attending site and reporting what is actually built, independently of whoever is building it.
Survey
Independent expertiseOnly if you want it
Perimeter survey and beacons — the coordinates a charting search is run against.
Questions
Can Ecoterra take the money without my agreement?+
No. The funds are never in our account. A release exists only against an accepted phase, needs a second Ecoterra officer who did not sign the work off, and only your escrow provider can execute it.
How long do I have to review a phase?+
Each phase states its own review window — typically fourteen days, twenty-one for handover on a purchase. Raising an objection stops the clock until it is answered.
Who checks the title documents?+
A firm you engage for title verification. Their confirmation of the title pack — C of O, survey plan, building approvals — is a condition of the first release.
What do these firms charge?+
It varies by organisation and by service, and the fee and who pays it are stated before you choose. An escrow fee is never taken out of the money held for your project.
What if Ecoterra goes under?+
Your money is not ours and is not in our account. It is held by the escrow provider you chose, under their own regulator, against your project.
Do I have to use the same firm for everything?+
No. You engage a firm per service — a bank for escrow, a law firm for the title search, a surveyor for the survey. That is your choice and never a condition of anything.