Harcourts Rata & Co and First AML

Harcourts Rata & Co is one of Victoria's leading real estate groups and a prominent local powerhouse operating primarily across Melbourne's northern and western suburbs. Founded in 2011, the agency has grown from humble beginnings into a major multi-office network with over 120 staff members.

Driven by its core mission statement, "Authenticity is Everything," the group focuses on combining cutting-edge technology and structured high-performance systems with genuine, long-term client relationships. The AML reforms presented an opportunity to partner with a leading technology provider.

The situation

Real estate runs to dates. A campaign has a launch, a vendor has a settlement they are planning their life around, a buyer has finance with an expiry on it. But under the AML reforms, none of it moves until the checks are done, which puts verification inside the listing timetable rather than alongside it.

"For a lot of people, this is the largest and most important transaction of their lives. We need to be able to move quickly [during AML checks] to support their personal and financial goals."

For Rata & Co that is a service question before it is a compliance one. "For a lot of people, this is the largest and most important transaction of their lives," said Tony Lombardi, Executive Director & Auctioneer at Harcourts Rata & Co says. "We need to be able to move quickly to support their personal and financial goals."

Every day a verification stalls is a day a sale cannot progress. Speed to listing is not only a sales performance measure at Rata & Co. It is part of what makes the firm who it is.

Tony had already chosen an AML provider but the arrangement did not work out. Cases sat unactioned for days. The platform glitched. The team was left working out how to use it without anyone to ask, and with no escalation path when a case needed a person rather than a system. Verifications stalled, and transactions stalled behind them.

What Tony needed was an AML platform that worked, allowing listings to retain their speed and one place where the records sit ready for an audit.

The solution

"The breaking point was simple," Tony says. "We couldn't get hold of anyone when we needed help." By this point the delays had stopped being an inconvenience and had become a business risk. He went back to market looking for a platform that offered fast verifications, workflows built for real estate rather than adapted to it, integration with the systems the agency already used and local, knowledgeable support from people who would pick up the phone.

"The main thing that stuck out to me about First AML was how supportive their team has been from day dot." Tony explained.

"The First AML team is committed to our success, and it shows in the support they provide us. They are responsive and knowledgeable, which makes a big difference to our business."

The team was trained through a broad onboarding programme rather than handed a login. Everyone in the Rata and Co team had the chance to ask questions before using it on a real transaction and the First AML platform is the single source of truth for AML: document collection, screening and records held in a state where an AUSTRAC audit could be answered.

The results

The verification process Tony needed is what the agency runs today. "With First AML we don't have to deal with any lags or downtime, the platform produces fast results so we don't experience delays." Nothing sits waiting on a system that is not responding, which was the thing standing between a verification and a sale.

The integration with the agency's other systems has let the team build internal efficiencies with First AML's support rather than working around the gaps.

And when there is a question, someone answers, and the person answering knows the platform. "The First AML team is committed to our success, and it shows in the support they provide us. They are responsive and knowledgeable, which makes a big difference to our business."