Skip to main content

​
Personal RIN — Resident Identity Number

​
The anchor of every person’s identity in the Leja ecosystem

​
What the RIN Is

The RIN is not a role. It is not a user account. It is not a score. The RIN is a person. Every natural person who enters the Leja ecosystem receives a single, permanent Resident Identity Number. It is their anchor across every role they occupy, every property they live in, every transaction they make, and every state they move to. Format: RIN-NG-YYYY-XXXXXXXXXXX Example: RIN-NG-2026-A7B3K9M2Z5Q

​
The Core Rules

  1. One RIN per person — enforced by phone number deduplication at issuance If a matching RIN already exists (phone number match), the new tenant record links to the existing RIN rather than creating a duplicate.
  2. Permanent — cannot be deleted, merged, or reassigned Once issued, a RIN is forever. There is no “fresh start” on Leja.
  3. Portable — follows the person across all 36 Nigerian states + FCT A person’s Trust Graph does not reset when they move cities or states.
  4. Non-resettable — the history cannot be overwritten Events can be added. Incorrect events can be disputed and flagged with a resolution note. They cannot be deleted.
  5. Roles are contexts, not identities The same RIN holder can be a tenant, an agent, a service provider, a landlord, a traveler, and a buyer — sometimes simultaneously. The Trust Graph accumulates across all of these.

​
The Three Tracks (Resident)

A personal RIN accumulates three tracks of identity: Track 1 — Residential Identity Everything the person has done as a resident:
  • Tenancy history (properties, durations, exits)
  • Payment behavior (timeliness, consistency, method)
  • Maintenance behavior (requests raised, resolved)
  • Deposit behavior (paid, held, returned)
  • Dispute history (raised, resolved, outcome)
  • Short-let behavior (Leja Stay bookings and behavior)
Track 2 — Service Provider Identity Everything the person has done as a worker in the residential economy:
  • Jobs completed (category, count, banded)
  • Ratings (weighted average, trend)
  • Repeat hire rate (strongest signal)
  • Response and completion time
  • Trade certifications claimed and issuing bodies
Track 3 — Property Consumer Identity Everything the person has done as a participant in the housing market:
  • Search behavior (areas, price bands — Milestone Wave 3)
  • Viewing attendance and cancellations
  • Application submission and outcomes
  • Short-let bookings (Leja Stay)
  • Milestone Wave 4: purchase inquiries, offer submissions, lease negotiations

​
RIN Issuance — Two Paths

​
Path 1: Self-Registration (Resident or Leja Professional signup)

This is the primary path for anyone who creates their own account. NIN is the first and only field accepted before any registration proceeds. 
Step 1 — NIN collected
  User enters their NIN on the first registration screen
  No other field is shown until NIN is submitted

Step 2 — NIN deduplication check
  System computes SHA-256 hash of the submitted NIN
  Hash checked against all existing ResidentIdentity records
  If match found: user linked to existing RIN — no new identity created
  If no match: proceed to registration

Step 3 — RIN created at NIN_REGISTERED tier
  NIN hash stored (primary deduplication index)
  NIN submitted to NIMC KYC partner for async verification
  RIN issued at NIN_REGISTERED tier
  TrendEvent created: RIN_ISSUED

Step 4 — NIMC verification (async, usually < 24 hours)
  NIMC confirms NIN exists, name and DOB cross-referenced
  On confirmation: RIN moves to NIN_VERIFIED tier
  TrendEvent created: NIN_VERIFIED
This path prevents multiple identities — because NIN is checked before the account is created, a person cannot create two separate Leja identities.

​
Path 2: Silent Issuance (agent adds a tenant)

This path issues RINs without the person’s active participation. The person does not know their RIN has been issued in Milestone Wave 1. 
Step 1 — Agent adds tenant to Leja Professional portfolio
  Agent enters tenant's phone number (required) + NIN (optional)

Step 2 — Deduplication check
  If NIN provided: NIN hash checked first (primary)
    Match found → existing RIN linked to this tenant record
    No match → proceed to create
  If NIN not provided: phone number checked (secondary)
    Match found → existing RIN linked
    No match → proceed to create

Step 3 — RIN created at PROVISIONAL tier
  Phone number stored as secondary identifier
  NIN stored if provided (hash)
  RIN issued at PROVISIONAL tier
  RIN is silent — no notification to tenant in Milestone Wave 1
  TrendEvent created: RIN_ISSUED (silent)

Step 4 — Person claims Resident (Milestone Wave 2 maturity label)
  Person self-registers on Resident
  Provides NIN on first screen
  NIN hash matches their silently-issued RIN
  RIN is claimed — the person now has full Resident access
  Tier moves from PROVISIONAL → NIN_REGISTERED → NIN_VERIFIED (after NIMC check)
Silent issuance rule: The Trust Graph begins accumulating before the person knows about it. When they claim their Resident, they see the history that has been building. This is the mechanism that makes the data flywheel work — every agent onboarded brings dozens of future Resident users into the ecosystem.

​
Verification Tiers

PROVISIONAL
  Trigger: silent issuance by agent, NIN not yet collected
  Verification: phone number only (secondary deduplication)
  Score ceiling: Bronze tier only
  Resident: cannot activate
  Path to upgrade: tenant self-registers and provides NIN

NIN_REGISTERED
  Trigger: self-registration (Resident or Leja Professional signup)
           OR a person claims their silently-issued RIN on Resident
  Verification: NIN collected and hash stored — NIMC verification pending
  Score ceiling: Silver tier
  Resident: can activate (basic view, cannot share data with third parties)
  Path to upgrade: NIMC confirms NIN (usually < 24 hours, async)

NIN_VERIFIED
  Trigger: NIMC KYC partner confirms NIN matches name and DOB
  Verification: NIN confirmed, identity is real and unique
  Score ceiling: Gold tier
  Resident: full view and standard sharing enabled (Consent Types 2 and 3)
  Path to upgrade: upload NIN card + AI document verification

DOCUMENT_VERIFIED
  Trigger: NIN card uploaded, AI-assisted verification, Level 2 biometric
           (facial recognition with liveness — see sovereignty_architecture.md)
  Verification: identity document confirmed, face matched to NIN card photo
  Score ceiling: Platinum tier
  Resident: all features including institutional sharing (Consent Types 4 and 5)
BVN interoperability — Milestone Wave 2: BVN will be added as a secondary anchor alongside NIN in Milestone Wave 2. A RIN will be linkable to both NIN and BVN for users who have both. BVN does not replace NIN as the primary deduplication key — it supplements it for banking integrations.

​
What the RIN Accumulates Over Time

The Trust Graph attached to a RIN grows with every witnessed event. It is not a score. It is a map — a connected graph of events, behavioral signals, and life transitions that paints a picture of who this person is in the Nigerian housing market. See 02_Trust_Architecture/02_trust_graph_lens_matrix.md for the full specification of what each party can see when they look at a RIN.

​
RIN in the Data Model

See 06_Data_Model/02_identity_entities.md for the full Prisma schema for ResidentIdentity, LejaScore, TrendEvent, and Resident.

​
The Professional Record

When a personal RIN holder works at an organisation (BRN), their professional activity at that firm becomes a chapter in their personal Trust Graph. This chapter is called the Professional Record. Key rules:
  • The Professional Record belongs to the individual, not the firm
  • When an employee leaves, the chapter remains in their RIN
  • The firm cannot delete or modify any record from that tenure
  • The firm can add a factual attestation during departure
  • The individual controls whether the firm name is publicly displayed
The Professional Record is the verified, portable career history that makes Leja users more employable across the real estate sector.