BCREA has released a new self-paced online course titled The REALTOR®'s Guide to Suspicious Transactions. While BCREA has other courses on FINTRAC compliance, this is the only course that specifically focuses on ways to identify suspicious indicators of money laundering and terrorist financing in real estate.

In The REALTOR®'s Guide to Suspicious Transactions course, REALTORS® will gain practical knowledge of suspicious indicators (red flags) in real estate related to money laundering, terrorist financing, and fraud. This course introduces the four most common fraud types in real estate to enhance REALTORS®’ understanding of why fraud occurs in real estate and how it can be identified. The course also explains how money laundering occurs and what constitutes reasonable grounds to suspect, which is the minimum threshold for reporting a transaction to FINTRAC.

Given suspicious transaction reporting in the real estate sector is quite low across Canada, this course is designed to enhance compliance and help REALTORS® protect their clients and brokerages as well as safeguard their communities.

(BCREA Access Login Required)

The REALTOR®'s Guide to Suspicious Transactions is worth three accredited PDP hours. This scenario-based course contains videos, infographics, images, handouts, and worksheets to increase learning. Upon completion, learners will be able to:

• notice consumer and client behavioural indicators, consumer and client financial indicators, transaction indicators, and licensee-related indicators of money laundering and terrorist financing, and
• properly document their suspicions and collect the information required to file a Suspicious Transaction Report.

The primary goal of this course is to provide REALTORS® with accessible and practical education on how to detect the most common red flags of money laundering and terrorist financing in their day-to-day practice.

Additional Resources:

Courses

• FINTRAC for REALTORS®: Understanding Canada’s Anti-Money Laundering Laws (3 hours) 
• Mastering Compliance 2.0: Anti-Money Laundering Training for Brokers (9 hours)  

Articles

BCREA also has several articles on identifying and reporting suspicious transactions that can be helpful.

• Help Protect Your Clients from Title and Mortgage Fraud Attempts (February 3, 2023) 
• How REALTORS® Help Prevent Money Laundering in Real Estate: Identifying and Reporting Suspicious Transactions (January 13, 2021) 

Legally Speaking

• The F Word: Protecting Yourself and Your Clients from Fraud #554 (October 27, 2022)