Your agency can require that anti-money-laundering (AML) checks are complete before a listing is published to portals. When this is switched on, Rex stops a listing from publishing until its listing owners have passed their AML checks, and tells you exactly what is missing. This means no listing goes live before the people involved have been properly verified.
This article covers how an administrator turns the setting on and chooses which listing types it applies to, how a listing passes the AML check, and what an agent sees and does when a publish is blocked.
How Does the AML Publishing Requirement Work?
The AML publishing requirement is an account-level setting that is off by default, so nothing changes for your account until an administrator turns it on. It applies to the whole account, and it can be switched back off at any time, which removes the AML publishing requirement immediately while leaving your other publishing rules in place.
❗ Please Note: The check only runs at the moment you publish. A listing that is already live on portals is never affected by AML, so turning the setting on will not pull down or unpublish any of your existing listings.
How Do I Turn On the AML Publishing Requirement?
🔒 This setting can only be changed by an administrator.
- Go to Settings > Portals and Publication Defaults.
- Select AML from the list on the left.
- Tick Require AML verification before a listing can be published.
When the setting is off, publishing works exactly as it always has. When you turn it on, the requirement applies to all listing types until you choose otherwise (see below).
❗ Please Note: The setting applies to one Rex account. If your group has several office accounts, turn it on in each account that needs it.
How Do I Choose Which Listing Types It Applies To?
AML obligations don't apply to every kind of listing, so you can limit the requirement to the listing types that need it. When you turn the AML setting on, an Apply to listing types checklist appears.
- By default, all listing types are ticked, so the requirement applies to every listing type until you change it.
- Untick any types that don't require AML, for example Residential Rental, Commercial Rental or Holiday Rental. Use Deselect all if you'd rather clear the list and tick only the types you need.
- Click Save Changes to apply.
The listing types shown match your region:
- AU and NZ: Business, Commercial Rental, Commercial Sale, Commercial Sale or Rental, Holiday Rental, Land, Residential Rental, Residential Sale and Rural.
- UK: Commercial Rental, Commercial Sale, Land, Residential Rental and Residential Sale.
❗ Please Note: Review the checklist before you save. If you turn the setting on and save without unticking anything, every listing type, including rentals, will need AML before it can publish.
❗ Please Note: At least one listing type must stay ticked while the requirement is on. Unticking every type isn't a way to switch the feature off, and Rex won't save it. To stop the requirement entirely, untick Require AML verification before a listing can be published instead.
Listings of an unticked type publish as normal, with your other publishing rules still applying. Listings of a ticked type follow the AML rules below.
How Does a Listing Pass the AML Check?
Once the setting is on, a listing of a ticked type can only be published when its listing owners have completed AML. How that's satisfied depends on how your agency does AML.
If You Use an AML Integration (First AML or APLYiD)
The listing can be published once its AML status shows Verified, meaning every submitted contact on the listing has been verified through your provider. If the status is anything else (Not Added, Pending, Needs Review or Failed), publishing stays blocked.
For what each status means, see - First AML Integration - Results & Statuses.
If You Complete AML Manually (No Integration)
For the listing to publish, you need to:
- Relate every listing owner to the listing as a related contact.
- Make sure each of those owners has both ID verified and AML check complete recorded in their contact record.
All listing owners must be complete. If even one owner is missing a check, publishing stays blocked. The "To be substantiated" step isn't required.
❗ Please Note: Australian agencies doing manual AML need to add a Proof of Address ID type first. 🔒 An administrator can add it in Settings > ID Verification > ID Types. This only needs to be done once.
If You Use a Mix of Both Methods
Some agencies verify some owners through an integration and others manually. In that case, each listing owner only needs to be verified by one method, either through the provider or through a completed manual check in their contact record. The listing publishes once every owner is covered by at least one method.
What Will I See When a Listing Is Blocked?
If AML isn't complete when you try to publish, Rex shows an AML check required error in a few places:
- In the Publish Listing window and the Listing Validation Errors list, with instructions on what to fix. The Publish button stays disabled until it's resolved.
- In the Portal Settings area of the listing, where it counts toward the "publishing blocked" message.
The wording of the error tells you which path to follow:
- Integration: "AML check required. Ensure all submitted contacts are verified through your AML provider so the listing's collated AML status is Verified before publishing."
- Manual: "AML check required. Relate all listing owners as related contacts with ID verified and AML check complete. Complete the check in the contact view before publishing."
❗ Please Note: The block applies to the whole publish. A listing can't be published to some portals and held back from others because of AML.
How Do I Fix a Blocked Publish?
- Open the listing and check the related contacts, making sure every listing owner is related.
- Complete AML for each listing owner:
- Integration: complete verification through First AML or APLYiD until the listing's AML status reads Verified.
- Manual: open the contact, go to ID Verification, and complete ID verified and AML check complete.
- Return to the listing and publish. The AML check required error clears once all owners are done, and publishing then goes ahead as long as the listing's other checks pass.
What Else Should I Know?
- Owners need to be related on each listing. Every new listing needs its owners related to it, even if they're already related to another listing.
- Manual verification is reused until it expires. A contact stays verified until their verification expires, so an already-verified owner just needs to be related to the new listing. They don't need to be verified again unless their verification has expired.
- After publishing, later AML changes don't pull a listing down. For example, adding a buyer after publication, or a verification expiring later, won't remove the listing from portals.
- Only listing owners are checked. Other related contacts, such as solicitors, don't affect the check.
- The requirement only applies to the listing types you've ticked. Listings of an unticked type publish without the AML check.
❓ FAQs
Will turning this on unpublish my existing live listings?
No. The check only applies at the moment you publish. Listings already live aren't affected.
A listing owner is verified but the listing still won't publish. Why?
Check that every listing owner is both related to the listing and verified. A single owner who isn't related, or who is missing ID or AML, will keep the listing blocked. If you're on an integration, confirm the listing's AML status reads Verified.
Our rental listings are being blocked. How do I stop that?
An administrator can untick the rental listing types in Settings > Portals and Publication Defaults > AML and click Save Changes. You don't need to turn the whole setting off.
Can I switch it off again?
Yes. Turning the setting off removes the AML publishing requirement straight away. Your other publishing rules still apply as normal.
Does it work with AML Hub?
No. The requirement works with the First AML and APLYiD integrations and with manual identity checks in Rex.