RULES OF CONDUCT CHAPTER 1260-02 (Rule 1260-02-.12, continued) : (c) Any advertising which refers to an individual licensee must list that individual licensee’s name as licensed with the Commission. (d) No licensee shall post a sign in any location advertising property for sale, purchase, exchange, rent or lease, without written authorization from the owner of the advertised property or the owner’s agent. (e) No licensee shall advertise property listed by another licensee without written authorization from the property owner. Written authorization must be evidenced by a statement on the listing agreement or any other written statement signed by the owner. (f) No licensee shall advertise in a false, misleading, or deceptive manner. False, misleading, and/or deceptive advertising includes, but is not limited to, the following: 1. Any licensee advertising that includes only the franchise name without including the firm name; 2. Licensees who hold themselves out as a team, group, or similar entity within a firm who advertise themselves utilizing terms such as “Real Estate,” “Real Estate Brokerage,” “Realty,” “Company,” “Corporation,” “LLC,” “Corp.,” “Inc.,” “Associates,” or other similar terms that would lead the public to believe that those licensees are offering real estate brokerage services independent of the firm and principal broker; or 3. Any webpage that contains a link to an unlicensed entity’s website where said entity is engaged or appears to be engaged in activities which require licensure by the Commission.
TREC has reported the highest number of violations they see annually are within the Advertising section. Locally, we get calls as well regarding potential Article 12 violations, which we call the “True Picture” article.
Please make sure you review the following and that, especially watch who you advertise on a team, as this has been a sore spot apparently. If you advertise with people who are not licensed, it must say what they do on the team specifically, and all of the team are not licensed, then you must identify them accordingly. (i,e, Transaction Processor, Receptionist, Clerk, Photographer, Loan Processor, Home Inspector, ect.)