The French Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and the Fight against Fraud (DGCCRF) has focused its attention on 440 real estate agencies in 2025 as part of its efforts to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. This follows similar actions in the previous years, with a little over 400 agencies targeted in 2024 and 296 in 2022. More than half of the 440 agencies inspected in 2025 had at least one issue, according to the DGCCRF’s annual report. Romain Roussel, the deputy director of the DGCCRF, outlined a three-year action plan for the Senate in April 2025, emphasizing the need to improve the methods of investigators, target professionals most at risk, and increase the deterrent effect of sanctions. The inspections are unannounced and often last an entire day. During these visits, investigators open multiple files and review the agency’s compliance with anti-money laundering rules. The DGCCRF has limited resources—only 18 full-time equivalents—to cover nearly 130,000 real estate professionals. As a result, the agency focuses its efforts on professionals and regions with the highest risk of money laundering. The DGCCRF also collaborates with the AMLA, the European anti-money laundering authority, which aims to standardize compliance practices across the European Union by 2027. France’s overall anti-money laundering system will be evaluated by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2028, with inspections in 2026 and 2027 playing a key role in that review. During inspections, investigators check whether real estate agencies have properly identified their clients, including the beneficial owners of companies, and documented the source of funds. In June 2026, the National Sanctions Commission highlighted a case in Colmar where an agency failed to meet these requirements. Out of eight files examined, two lacked client identification, three failed to identify beneficial owners, and none documented the origin of funds, even for cash purchases. The agency was fined 10,000 euros, and each of its two managers received a 1,000 euro fine and an eight-month ban on practicing their profession. In 2024, 71 professionals were sanctioned, with an average fine of about 9,588 euros. The most common issues found during inspections across all sectors include failure to identify and assess risks (22%), incomplete client information (20%), and lack of proper verification of identities, including beneficial owners (20%). About 15% of the problems found were linked to insufficient training. All documents must be kept for five years after a business relationship ends, meaning that records from mandates concluded in 2021 can still be requested during inspections. In 2025, real estate professionals submitted 662 suspicious activity reports, a 29% increase from the previous year. The sector continues to be classified as high risk, and agencies are expected to be fully prepared for any inspection, as the process is thorough and leaves no room for improvisation.