‘Helping agents who aren’t compliant, get compliant’ – PropTech firm launches new service

“We are offering this as a way to improve the industry against fraud and lend a helping hand to the hardworking agents who, through no fault of their own, may be at risk of costly fines,” Yazad Bajina, sales and partnership director at Checkboard, said. 

“The Portfolio Review starts this month and it will not present any cost to the agents who request it for the month of February and March. We'll help agents sort out their current/previous instructions and properties sold. Agents won't need to do any manual work as our platform will automate the process.” 

This comes off the back of a highly successful webinar Checkboard ran at the end of January, featuring Yazad and Russell Humphrey – CEO of The Humphrey Group and a non-exec director at Checkboard – where a range of issues concerning property fraud and how to combat this with compliance were discussed. 

The webinar, attended by well over 140 property professionals, focused on data protection, money laundering risk (and what goes into assessing that risk) and how agents and other property professionals can ensure they remain compliant – and what regulations they must be compliant with. 

“The webinar was really well-attended and engaging, and it was great to see so many agents taking their compliance obligations with regards to fraud really seriously,” Yazad added. “We only need to look at the national headlines, from stories in the BBC to the Telegraph, to many others, how much of a growing problem property fraud is, and it’s more important than ever that we stamp down on it.” 

He went on: “Agents have a crucial role to play in this, and are often the first line of defence against fraud occurring. By knowing the signs to spot, the red flags, and also by having the right systems and infrastructure in place, agents can help to limit and prevent fraud from happening.” 

But, he said, even with the best will in the world, things can slip through the net from time to time, or agents could be unaware of their anti-fraud obligations. 

“This is where a comprehensive review becomes worth its weight in gold, giving you that peace of mind that you’re being fully compliant,” Yazad concluded. “That way, the gaps in which the crooks and criminals operate can be closed, or made much more resolute, to prevent the sorts of high-profile fraud cases we’ve been seeing in the press of late.”  

Yazad continued: “Now is a good time to be compliant because this product allows previous/current property dealings to go through AML checks, but also allows agents to be compliant moving forwards through our system. Many agents believe being compliant is expensive, but it isn’t.”build trust in the industry one step at a time.