What personal information do estate agents need from you when you sell your house?

CJ5236

I might be selling my house for the first time. What information does the estate agent get from the seller, to perform money laundering checks and other checks or forms they have to fill in - for example, do they ask for job description, salary, 3 months bank statements, or any other information?

Thanks very much.

user1977

They might want ID to confirm you are in fact the owner. The other types of info are more likely to be asked for from a buyer.

mills112

from my experience, it depends on the agent, but they will want photo ID and proof of ownership, like a mortgage statement and utiltily bills.

some wants to do AML checks, and can use CREDAS like the solicitors.

MEM62

If you are selling what makes you think you are subject to money laundering checks?  You will just need to provide your personal details and some form of ID.  

Flugelhorn

I sold recently - the estate agents just did a "soft search" and we didn't have to produce any documents 

mills112

MEM62 said:

If you are selling what makes you think you are subject to money laundering checks?  You will just need to provide your personal details and some form of ID.  

you need to pass AML checks when it gets to the solicitors stage and some of the bigger estate agent want to do this as well instead of relying on the solicitors.  One EA told me that as estate agents, they are required to do AML but his practice rely on the solicitors to do this and that will cover them, but the bigger agencies will want to do it themselves and that includes charging you fees for them to do this.

CJ5236

Thank you all for your replies.

What are the questions they ask for AML checks, and for CREDAS checks?

@MEM62 - One of the estate agents when I got a valuation said they they do money laundering checks on the seller.

twopenny

Proof that you are who you say you are and that you own the property.
Fortunately for me I had the will and the solicitors held the deeds.

Your main paperwork will come with the sale.
You need to get all relevant paperwork together (if you haven't already) in a folder so you don't have the added stress of not being able to find some details at the time.
This gives you an idea https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-selling/ta6-form/

My buyers wanted the paperwork for a dropped curb 15yrs old. Fortunately the company that did it were local and had an archive.

Bigphil1474

You don't need any anti money laundering checks for selling. That's for the buyer only. If you are selling and buying, you go through AML checks for the purchase. The main thing they check is that the money is coming from a legitimate source. If you are using the proceeds of sale and a mortgage, it's pretty straight forward, if you are adding some savings into the purchase, then you'll need to show where the money came from. The AML checks are done by your solicitor, not the estate agent. 

If the estate agent is doing AML checks on a seller, I'd find a different estate agent.

user1977

CJ5236 said:

What are the questions they ask for AML checks, and for CREDAS checks?

Any particular concern here? The exact info required will vary from agent to agent.

eddddy

CJ5236 said:

...and other checks or forms they have to fill in -

Do you mean other checks and forms relating to you (the seller) or checks and forms relating to the property?

If you mean relating to the property, Propertymark (formerly the National Association of Estate Agents) 'strongly recommend' that their member estate agents ask sellers to fill in a 'Property Information Questionnaire'.

Here's a copy: https://www.propertymark.co.uk/static/14e7c154-98de-4230-957f09bd8d5ddeec/40cd4c03-d8a7-458e-9e47388545398489/property-information-questionnaire-residential-sales.pdf


But I suspect that many estate agents are not that diligent.