At a glance
- Who it's for
- Car dealers checking a buyer or co-buyer before a sale. Anyone who needs a quick sanctions look-up can use it.
- Lists searched
- The SDN list and the consolidated (non-SDN) lists
- Free searches
- 5 a day signed out, 25 with a free account
- Keep records
- 10 years (31 CFR 501.601)
On this page
What an OFAC search checks
OFAC is the Office of Foreign Assets Control, part of the U.S. Treasury. It publishes lists of people, companies and vessels that Americans may not do business with. The best known is the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list, the SDN list. OFAC's consolidated lists cover other sanctions programs.
U.S. persons must not deal with anyone on those lists and must block their property. OFAC's own FAQs say all U.S. persons must comply. Selling a car is a transaction: OFAC's reporting rule defines transactions to include "sales or purchases of goods or services" (31 CFR 501.604).
An OFAC search is not a credit check, a criminal record check or an ID check. It only tells you whether a name matches, or comes close to, a name on the lists.
Do car dealers have to run OFAC checks?
OFAC requires no specific screening method; screening is how dealers avoid prohibited deals.
OFAC's FAQ 124 says its regulations "do not explicitly require any specific screening regime." What the law prohibits is the deal itself: selling to a blocked person. Violations can be penalized even without intent, and OFAC's enforcement guidelines (31 CFR Part 501, Appendix A) treat a risk-based compliance program as a reason to reduce a penalty.
That is why most dealers check every buyer and co-buyer, and the business when a company buys, before the deal closes, and keep the result in the deal jacket.
What to do with a possible match
Treat a score as a lead, not a verdict
Common names match often. A high score means "look closer", not "this is the person".
Compare the details
Open the list entry and compare date of birth, nationality, address and ID numbers with your buyer's license and credit application. Most possible matches clear here.
Write down why you cleared it
Note what you compared, who checked it and when. Print the result for the deal jacket.
If it may be a true match, stop
Don't finish the deal. Contact OFAC through its website before you do anything else. If you reject or block a transaction, OFAC expects a report within 10 business days (31 CFR 501.603 and 501.604).
OFAC deadlines and records
| What | When | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Report a rejected transaction | Within 10 business days | 31 CFR 501.604 |
| Report blocked property | Within 10 business days of blocking | 31 CFR 501.603 |
| Yearly report of blocked property | By September 30 | 31 CFR 501.603 |
| Keep transaction records | At least 10 years | 31 CFR 501.601 |
The record period is now 10 years. Older guides that still say five years are out of date.
Where the data comes from
From OFAC's Sanctions List Service, which publishes the SDN and consolidated lists as free downloads. We pull the files every day and match names with their aliases, spelling variants and word order, then score each result.
OFAC also runs its own Sanctions List Search. Ours searches the same lists, shows why a name matched and prints a dated result you can keep.
Rules checked and limits
Rules checked October 31, 2026. We read every rule on this page in the eCFR or on the agency's own site, and each is linked in the sources below. We re-check them every quarter.
This search is a screening aid. A match or a clear result is not a legal determination; OFAC decides who is on its lists.
Templates and tools, not legal advice. CarShots is software, not a law firm. For a question about your own dealership, ask your attorney or your state dealer association.