Why is proof of funds requested, and what should you send?
Because on a confidential property every viewing spends the owner’s goodwill, which is finite. Proof of funds is how a buyer shows the purchase can be supported: a bank letter confirming availability, a recent statement with balances visible and the rest redacted, or — where financing is involved — a formal approval rather than a simulation. It is sent before the viewing, not after, and anything not bearing on capacity can be redacted.
What counts as proof, strongest first
A bank letter
On letterhead, recently dated, confirming availability up to a stated amount. The strongest form, because the bank puts its name to it, and the easiest to obtain where the relationship is established.
A bank statement
Balances visible, everything else redacted: institution, account holder, date and available amount are enough. Individual transactions are nobody’s business.
A mortgage approval
Not a simulation and not a quote: a formal approval stating the bank has agreed. This is the distinction most often missed, and discovering it late moves a completion by months.
Company documents
, where buying through a company: the company record and confirmation of who can sign. Without the latter the negotiation stalls at the offer stage.
What you can redact
Essentially anything not bearing on capacity. A redacted document is not a suspicious one: it is a properly prepared one.
You may cover individual transactions, unrelated accounts, investments not involved, the full account number, addresses. What must remain legible is the institution, the holder, the date and the available amount.
A document in a language other than Italian is fine: what matters is that it can be verified. Sworn translations are for completion, not for this step.
How the document should be handled
It states how much money you hold and where. Whoever receives it has obligations, and it is reasonable to ask how it will be handled before sending it.
What you should expect: that it is used only for this transaction, that it is not forwarded to the owner without your consent, that it does not sit in an inbox or on a phone, and that it is deleted if the matter does not proceed.
What you can do: send it recently dated and referenced to the transaction, so that if it surfaces elsewhere its origin is clear.
Why the law asks for it anyway
Checking the funds are there is market practice in the prime segment. Checking who you are and where the money comes from is a legal obligation, and it applies to everyone.
Customer due diligence
Italian legislative decree 231 of 2007 requires estate agents and notaries to carry out customer due diligence: identify the buyer, identify the beneficial owner where a company is buying, and establish the source of the funds. It is not the agency's choice and it is not negotiable.
What changes for buyers from abroad
Tax residence and traceability of transfers are added. These are the same checks the notary will run again at completion: running them first means finding out now, rather than three months later, whether the deal can close. Suspicious transactions are reported to the Financial Intelligence Unit at the Bank of Italy, and the report is never disclosed to the person concerned.
Where the obligation ends and excess begins
Due diligence covers identity, beneficial owner and provenance. It does not authorise anyone to ask for a breakdown of your wealth, nor for movements unrelated to the purchase: whatever goes beyond the obligation you may redact, and anyone insisting is asking for more than the law gives them.
When refusing is reasonable
Not every request is legitimate, and telling them apart saves time.
It is reasonable to refuse when you do not yet know what you are looking at: if you have not been told the area and the price bracket, the request is premature. First establish the property exists and fits, then demonstrate capacity.
It is reasonable to refuse when whoever asks cannot show they hold the mandate. Verification runs both ways: if you are asked to prove you can buy, you may ask for proof that the property is sellable, and by whom.
It is not reasonable to refuse as a matter of principle on a confidential high-value property: there, verification in advance is the rule, and those who decline are simply not shown in.
How Realux works
Buyers entering the Realux network are verified up front for identity, requirement, budget, timing and availability of funds: the check happens once, on entry, rather than being repeated by every agent for every property.
For requests from abroad the anti-money-laundering checks are added — tax residence and source of funds — which are the same ones the notary will run. Doing them first means finding out now, not three months in, whether the transaction can close.
Tell us what you are looking forFrequently asked questions
- Is it safe to send a bank statement to an agent?
- Properly redacted, yes. What is needed is institution, holder, date and available amount; everything else can be covered. An agent insisting on the full document with transactions visible is asking for more than the task requires, and you can say so.
- When exactly should it be sent?
- Normally alongside signing the confidentiality agreement — so before receiving the address and photographs, and before a viewing is arranged. Where owners are particularly exposed it may be requested earlier, in order to receive even the detailed description.
- What if I am buying with a mortgage?
- A formal approval from the bank, not a simulation or an online quote. The difference is substantive: a simulation says what you might obtain, an approval says it has been granted. Many negotiations collapse because this is clarified too late.
- Will the seller see my document?
- They should not, and you can ask that it is not forwarded. Correct practice is for the agent to verify and confirm to the owner that capacity has been established, without passing the document on. If you are told the owner needs it, ask why.