For estate agents and conveyancers
Property sale checks: buyer, seller and the property in one place
Open a Property sale transaction, add the buyer, the seller (and anyone paying or acting for them) and the property, and Certaby shows which checks the sale needs and what they cost before anything runs. Run them together and keep one signed certificate for the matter file.
Everything the money laundering rules require for a sale
£2.78
- £1.39 a person for the buyer and the seller: sanctions, PEP and adverse media, the ID and risk records, and monitoring until completion (6 weeks included)
- +£2.99 for each company buying or selling
- Property risk pack, optional: +£1.29
You see the exact price for your people and property before anything runs.
Doing several a month? Membership from £24 a month covers 5 lets or sales and 15 people.
What you can check
Each check says whether the law requires it. When you start a sale, the required ones are ticked for you, so the default is the compliant one.
Required by lawUK financial sanctions
Sanctions screening
Screen a party against the official UK, UN, EU and US (OFAC) sanctions lists.
99p a person
Required by lawMLR 2017 reg 35
PEP and adverse media
Also checks whether the person is politically exposed (a PEP) and for serious adverse news. Sold only as an add-on to the sanctions check: 40p more per person, £1.39 in total. For a company, it also checks each director and owner the company check finds, 40p a person.
+40p a person
Required by lawMLR 2017 reg 28
ID check (you check, we record)
Certaby doesn't verify identity documents. You check the customer's passport or driving licence yourself, then record the document, date and who checked it here, so it sits in the same file as the other checks and is kept with them for 7 years. No charge.
No charge
Required by lawMLR 2017 regs 28 and 33
Risk and source of funds record
A short record for each customer: what the transaction is for, where the money comes from, where they live, whether they are a politically exposed person, and your risk rating. Certaby flags what makes the risk high (a PEP match, a FATF high-risk country) and then asks for source of funds evidence, which you upload here. Kept with the other checks for 7 years. No charge.
No charge
Required by lawMLR 2017 reg 28(11)
Monitoring until completion
Everyone in the transaction is screened every day against the UK, UN, EU and US sanctions lists, from when you run the checks until you mark the transaction complete, and you are emailed if a new match appears. The first 6 weeks are included; if the transaction runs longer, extend it for 10p a person a week.
6 weeks included
Required by law when a party is a companyMLR 2017 reg 28
Company and owners check
The Companies House record for a company party, all its current directors and officers, and its owners through every layer of companies, each person screened against the UK, UN, EU and US sanctions lists (up to 30 people). With PEP and adverse media ticked, those people are checked for it too.
£2.99 a company
Optional
Property risk pack
Postcode geography, Police.uk crime and Environment Agency flood risk, combined with the EPC certificate for the property.
£1.29 a property
How it works
- 1
Add everyone
All the people and companies involved, and the property, in one transaction. Add more later: only the new checks are charged.
- 2
Pick the checks
We recommend the ones that apply and show the price for each before anything runs.
- 3
Keep the record
Results in seconds and one signed certificate with a verification link, kept for 7 years.
What it doesn’t do yet
- Certaby doesn't verify identity documents yet: you check the passport or driving licence and record it with the other checks. A digital ID check is coming.
- Source of funds is recorded with the evidence you upload; automatic Open Banking checks are not available yet.
- No Land Registry ownership check yet, and the property risk pack is not a regulated environmental search.
No tool makes a firm compliant on its own: the regulations also ask for your own risk assessment, policies, training and a nominated officer. The AML compliance system covers those records.
Common questions
Does each buyer or seller need a separate transaction?
No. Everyone involved goes in one transaction, and one certificate covers them all. If someone joins later, add them to the same transaction: checks already done are kept, and only the new ones are charged.
Which checks does the law require?
For a sale, the money laundering rules require you to verify the identity of the buyer and the seller, find out whether either is a politically exposed person, record the purpose of the transaction and your view of the risk, check the source of funds when the risk is high, and keep monitoring until completion. UK sanctions apply to every sale. Each check on this page is labelled, and the required ones are ticked for you when you start a sale. Your firm also has its own duties, such as HMRC registration, a risk assessment, policies and training.
Is there a subscription?
No. You pay per check from a credit balance (the smallest top-up is £5 and credit never expires). Monitoring and the AML compliance system are optional monthly plans.
How long are the records kept?
Seven years. Each check is saved with its date, the lists screened and the result, and the certificate has a verification link anyone can open to confirm it has not been changed.
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