Real estate agents will need to know their clients a bit more with new regulations coming into effect today.
New federal laws and regulations to prevent money laundering and terrorism-related financing requires real estate agents to collect and verify more personal information from buyers and sellers.
The law requires realtors to require proof of identity from all parties in any real estate transaction, even if one side of the in a deal is not represented by a real estate agent.
If a buyer or seller is a corporation, agents must now include corporate documentation, the names of all corporate directors and identification of any other third party involved in a deal.
Realtors will also be required to complete a report on the receipt of all funds received during a real estate transaction.
As part of the new rules, Realtors will be required to keep all identification and receipt of funds report on file for at least five years and provide it to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, the federal agency enforcing these new rules.