Is this broker licensed?
Film, 1 min 13 s
The licence has a short name you'll see printed on it. What it is, is simple: the official permit to carry on real estate activity.
Updated 22 January 2026
What the film says
There is a public register
Is the person selling you a flat in Makkah actually allowed to sell you a flat in Makkah? There's a public register, and anyone can search it.
What a FAL licence is
The licence has a short name you'll see printed on it. What it is, is simple: the official permit to carry on real estate activity, and only within the capacity written on it.
What one permit covers
One permit can cover brokerage and marketing, property management, facility management, auctions, consultations and advertising. So check that the one you're shown covers what this person is actually doing.
Search by number, not by name
The search takes two fields, and neither of them is a name: the licence holder's identity number, or the establishment number. Ask for one of those before you pay anything.
5% reservation cap
If the deal is off-plan, there's a second number worth knowing. A developer may not take more than five per cent of a unit's value as a reservation.
SAR 10 million
And deliberately false information in an ownership application carries a fine of up to ten million riyals — and a court can order the property sold.
Check the licence before you send money
Two minutes on the register before you transfer anything. It's free, it's public, and it's the cheapest check you will ever do.
Drawn from the sources on this site and narrated by a synthetic voice. Information, not legal or financial advice.
Sources
REGA — Inquiring about real estate broker / broker licence
Anyone can check a real estate broker's FAL licence through REGA's public broker inquiry service, searching by broker licence number, brokerage contract number or ownership document number, via the Inquiries service at eservicesredp.rega.gov.sa/auth/queries.REGA — FAL Real Estate Brokerage platform
REGA defines the FAL licence as an official permit that allows individuals and establishments to conduct real estate activities within the capacity of the licence, covering brokerage and marketing, property management, facility management, auctions, consultations and real estate advertising.REGA — enquiring about the FAL licence
REGA's public FAL-licence enquiry has two search fields, the licence holder's ID number and the establishment number, so checking a broker needs one of those and cannot be done by name or by licence number.REGA — Wafi off-plan sales and lease platform
Under Wafi's marketing licence conditions a developer may not receive more than 5% of the value of each real estate unit as a reservation amount.REGA — law text · 25 Jul 2025
Deliberately false information in an ownership application can lead to a fine of up to 5% of the property value (max SAR 10 million) and a court-ordered sale (Law Art. 12).
Where each fact above comes from, with the source’s own date where it gives one.
