AML & KYC Software for Real Estate
A single property deal can move a large sum in one go, often through a company or trust. Estate agents, developers and conveyancers are now AML-regulated in most major markets, and in Australia since 1 July 2026. One Constellation helps you verify buyers and sellers, find out who owns corporate purchasers, screen every party and keep the records.
Property Is a Proven Route for Laundering Money
FATF Recommendation 22 requires real estate agents to carry out customer due diligence when they act in buying and selling property, and its interpretive note covers both purchasers and vendors. National rules now extend similar duties to developers, conveyancers and, in some markets, letting agents.
Buyers Behind Companies and Trusts
A corporate or trust purchaser can hide the person who really owns the property. You need to identify the beneficial owners, not just the entity named on the contract.
Large Payments, Little Visibility
Deposits and settlement money can come from third parties, overseas accounts or cash. Where the risk is higher, regulators expect you to understand where the money came from.
Two Sides to Every Deal
In Australia both the buyer and the seller are customers of the agent, and the EU AML Regulation will require agents to apply due diligence to both parties. In Singapore, agents must also check unrepresented counterparties.
Due Diligence on Every Party to the Sale
Verify buyers, sellers and the people behind them in one workflow, and keep the evidence against each transaction.
Customer KYC
Document, biometric and data checks to identify and verify individual customers, with PEP and sanctions screening in the same flow.
KYB & UBO Discovery
Verify corporate and trust purchasers, their directors and trustees, and trace layered ownership to the natural persons behind them.
Sanctions, PEP & Adverse Media Screening
Screen customers and related parties against sanctions, PEP and adverse-media sources, with re-screening when lists change.
Enhanced Due Diligence
Structured EDD for higher-risk buyers and sellers, including source-of-funds and source-of-wealth capture for deposits and settlement money.
Customer Risk Assessment
Multi-factor customer risk scoring that sets the level of due diligence and the review cycle.
Compliance Portal & Audit Trail
Risk assessments, periodic reviews and audit-ready records for every customer in one place.
Real Estate AML Rules by Jurisdiction
The position as of October 2026, including recent changes in the US, the UK and the UAE.
Australia. Since 1 July 2026, AML/CTF obligations apply to agents who broker a sale, purchase or transfer of real estate for a client, including buyers’ agents, and to businesses that sell property without an independent agent, such as developers selling off the plan. Conveyancers and lawyers are covered under the professional services. A business must enrol with AUSTRAC within 28 days of first providing a designated service, and on 28 August 2026 AUSTRAC began issuing notices to businesses that had not enrolled. Property management and most leases are excluded.
United Kingdom. Estate agents and letting agents are covered by regulation 13 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and supervised by HMRC, and must register before they trade. Letting agents are in scope for lettings with a monthly rent of £10,000 or more. From 30 June 2026 that threshold is set in sterling, replacing the earlier €10,000.
Singapore. Estate agents and salespersons have AML/CFT duties under the Estate Agents Act 2010 and its regulations, supervised by the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA). They include due diligence on customers and beneficial owners, checks on unrepresented counterparties, sanctions screening, suspicious transaction reports to STRO and keeping records for at least five years. Housing developers have their own AML rules under URA’s Controller of Housing, strengthened from 1 July 2025.
UAE, Hong Kong and the EU. The UAE replaced its 2018 AML law with Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025. Real estate brokers and agents are supervised by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism and must file a Real Estate Activity Report through goAML for freehold deals paid in cash of AED 55,000 or more, or paid wholly or partly in virtual assets. Hong Kong estate agents have had AMLO due diligence and record-keeping duties since 1 March 2018, supervised by the Estate Agents Authority. In the EU, the AML Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 applies from 10 July 2027.
United States. FinCEN’s Residential Real Estate Rule would have required reports on non-financed transfers of residential property to entities and trusts. A federal court in Texas vacated the rule on 19 March 2026, and FinCEN says reporting persons are not required to file while that order is in effect. The ruling is under appeal, so check FinCEN’s current guidance.
For Every Kind of Property Transaction
Residential Sales
KYC on buyers and sellers, with screening and a risk rating before contracts are exchanged.
Off-the-Plan and Developer Sales
Verify each purchaser of a unit or lot, including corporate buyers, and keep the records against every sale.
Corporate and Trust Purchasers
Identify the directors, trustees and beneficial owners behind an entity buyer, and screen each of them.
High-Value Lettings
Due diligence on tenants and landlords for lettings at or above the regulatory rent threshold.
Real Estate AML FAQ
- AUSTRAC: real estate designated services
- AUSTRAC: notices to non-enrolled businesses
- Money Laundering Regulations 2017, regulation 13
- HMRC: money laundering supervision for letting agency businesses
- CEA: preventing money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing
- URA Circular COH25-01
- UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism: AML
- Estate Agents Authority Circular 23-01 (CR)
- FinCEN: Residential Real Estate Rule FAQs
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1624
- FATF: Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach, Real Estate Sector (2022)
General information, not legal advice. Requirements change — check the current rules with your regulator.
Know Who Is Behind Every Property Deal
See how agents, developers and conveyancers can verify every party, trace ownership and keep inspection-ready records in one place.
