Guidance Document on
Advertising Do's and Don'ts
The Commission’s regulations regarding advertising and real estate teams went into effect July 1, 2017, the Commission still gets questions and complaints regarding advertising, this article is intended to explain the rule in more detail, the Commission has adopted rules and regulations which further define advertising continuing education requirements relating to ALL advertising whether team related or not as further explained below.
Broker Prominence LB678 (2016) requires the name the broker does business under to be prominently displayed in all advertising. The changes adopted in Title 299, Chapter 2, of the Nebraska Administrative Code require the broker name to be displayed in a way that is “conspicuous, discernable, and easily identifiable by the public”. While there are no specific size requirements, the broker name should stand out in all advertising, and be easily identifiable.
Affiliate and Team Advertising NAC Title 299, Ch. 2, further requires that in any instance where a team name or an affiliated licensee (salesperson or associate broker) name is used in advertising, the broker name must be similar or greater in size and visibility than the affiliate licensee or team name, and adjacent to that name. Specific examples of advertising which is allowable and not allowable, including yard signs, business cards, webpages, logos, etc., can be found at: https://nrec.nebraska.gov/pdf/Advertising%20Do%20and%20Dont.pdf
Don’t forget that in addition to traditional media like newspapers and billboards, there is also Facebook, Twitter, Craigslist, Snapchat, and Instagram. Anywhere you promote properties or services to the public is advertising and must follow the advertising rules—billboards, business cards, yards signs, newspaper, TV, radio, mass mailings, group emails, if you have Facebook or other social media account including your brokerage name with your name on the published account name “Mary Smith, ABC Residential Realty” will help solve a lot of potential issues
Team Naming Rules LB678 prohibits teams from advertising which suggests the team is an independent real estate brokerage. NAC Title 299, Chapter 2, specifically requires that all team names have the word “team” or “group” as part of the team name. The regulation also prohibits the use of certain words in a team name which would suggest the team is an independent brokerage, including Realtors, Company, Corporation, Corp., Inc., LLC, Inc., LP, LLP, LP, LLP. The words “real estate” or “realty” may only be used in team names if they are immediately followed by “team” or “group”. Please note that these changes went into effect on July 1, 2017, and there is no grandfather clause for existing names. Team names are not required to be submitted to the Commission, but must be kept current and on file with the designated broker.
Guidance Document on Advertising Do’s and Don’ts
Guidelines for Advertising Using Social Media
The Nebraska Real Estate Commission has recently developed guidelines and tips for using social media in real estate advertising. We hope this document will be helpful in answering your advertising questions https://nrec.nebraska.gov/pdf/Social%20Media%20Compliance2021.pdf.
Further information regarding advertising regulations can be found in Title 299, Chapter 2, of the Commission’s Regulations
