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Legal IssuesAdvertising rules: Part III
There are no published regulations in Pennsylvania to give guidance on what is acceptable — and not acceptable — in promoting your team. The Real Estate Commission has offered some guidelines that it believes comply with both the spirit and the word of the existing regulations. These guidelines are intended to, in part, parallel a third rule of advertising: avoid any advertising that could be considered false, deceptive or misleading.
The Commission has offered these guidelines to follow when advertising your team:
To avoid false or misleading advertising, the team name must be either the licensed name or registered nickname of one of the team members. Fictitious names, unregistered nicknames or other individualistic expressions do not comport with the Commission’s perspective on how a “team” should be named. The Commission has also taken the position that all licensed members of the team must be listed on all forms of advertising except business cards. This extends to pictures; all licensed team members should be included in all forms of photographic or digital advertising, except on business cards.
All team members must be affiliated with the same broker of record. This restriction makes good sense and is in accordance with the recent amendments to the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act (RELRA), in which members of a qualified association must be affiliated with the same employing broker. Notably, the Commission frowns on including unlicensed assistants in any advertisements, whether written, electronic, digital or photographic. Of course, these restrictions and limitations are in addition to the requirements that the broker’s name and telephone number be included in each advertisement and given equal prominence to the licensee’s name or in this instance, the team’s name.
Complying with these regulations and guidelines is not necessarily enough to protect you from the “long arm” of real estate law. There are other limitations and restrictions of which you should be aware, particularly when advertising prizes, contests, bonuses or your own success.
Shall I remind you again? Before embarking on any advertising campaign, make sure your broker (and perhaps legal counsel) has reviewed the advertisement and offered her blessing.
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About Brett: Brett Woodburn, Esq. is an attorney with Caldwell & Kearns and serves as general counsel to PAR. A substantial portion of his practice is dedicated to providing advice and counsel to real estate licensees and representing and defending real estate salespersons and brokers in civil lawsuits and licensing claims across the Commonwealth. He routinely counsels employers on employee relations issues as one of the voices of the PAR Legal Hotline. |
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Additional information on advertising regs/guidelines is on the PAR Website at http://www.parealtor.org/content/IssuesResourceCenter_main.htm (click on “Advertising Resources”)