A long lease on state land in Cameroon confers on the lessee a real property right that may be mortgaged. It is granted for periods between 18 and 99 years with a condition in the form of a resolution that the property shall be developed within a given period and on the following main conditions;
- The rent shall be payable in advance and subject to revision.
- The lessee shall be required to;
- To maintain the property in a clean and proper state,
- Bear all charges relating to the property and in particular to pay all property taxes and accessory taxes,
- To allow authorized state employees to visit the property and check whether the lessee is fulfilling his obligations.
On the expiry of the lease, the state may exercise its rights of preemption over the amenities, buildings, or installations existing on the property.
A lessee who has a long lease may be authorized to assign his lease or to sublet part of the property under the same conditions on which he contracted the lease.
The state may terminate a long lease without compensation for the non-fulfillment of the lessee’s obligations. The termination shall be made by order of the Minister in Charge of Property, Surveys, and Land Tenure three months after a formal notice is sent by registered mail or served by a bailiff, provided that should the lessee have encumbered the property with any charges whatsoever, the lease may not be terminated until the parties have been informed of the intention of the administration.
Such beneficiaries shall then be entitled according to their rank to make over the obligations of the defaulting lessee. Otherwise, the order terminating the lease shall extinguish with effect from the date of its publication all mortgages on the property as well as other rights that the lessee may have granted, hence the lessee will be required to vacate the property within three months of the day he was notified of the termination of the lease.
Any agreement engaged by the lessee in violation of the terms of the lease shall be automatically null and void and shall entail the immediate termination of the lease without compensation. The lessee and all tenants authorized by him shall be evicted.