Do real estate agents need to verify both sides of a transaction (buyer and seller)?
Yes, both the buyer (on engagement) and the seller (when contracts are signed) must be verified, unless a reliance arrangement is used between the buyer's and seller's agents.
Overview
Yes. When a real estate agent acts in a transaction they provide a designated service to both parties - to the buyer on engagement and to the seller when the contract is signed. Both must be verified, unless reliance arrangements are used to share CDD between the buyer's and seller's agents. This applies equally to a buyer's agent, who provides a designated service to the buyer from engagement and to the seller once the contract is signed.
For the full timing detail - the separate treatment of seller's agents versus buyer's agents, when the obligation attaches for each party, and how the reliance provision works - see the canonical entry "When does a real estate agent need to CDD a counterparty?".
Related articles
- What are the critical limits on using Deemed Compliance provision?
- Does Tranche 2 apply at contract signing or at settlement for property transactions?
- When does a real estate agent need to CDD a counterparty?
- How does delayed diligence apply to conveyancers, lawyers, and settlement agents (Rules s 6-15)?
- When a buyer nominates someone else to take settlement, what are the CDD obligations? Does the original buyer's CDD transfer?