OREC & Realtor Advertising Requirements
The Oklahoma Real Estate Commission (OREC) provides a series of requirements for advertising. OREC defines advertising as: “all forms of representation, promotion and solicitation disseminated in any manner and by any means of communication, to include social networking, to consumers for any purpose related to licensed real estate activity.” Yes, this does include social media as well as your more traditional forms of advertisement. This article will walk you through OREC’s advertisement requirements for realtors. A good starting point is the advertising checklist provided by ORES itself. A full copy of 2022 ORECs’ code and rules can be found on the OREC website.
At the most basic level, a real estate licensee needs to have their advertisement approved by their broker, office manager, managing broker, and/or team leader (if applicable). The advertisement needs to include:
Name of Licensee — If using a trade name, it needs to be registered with OREC and with your broker.
Broker Reference — The exact wording of the rule is “prominent, conspicuous and easily identifiable” and 50% larger than team or associate reference. I always suggest placing brokerage information at the bottom of the “about me” or biographical section. Just needs to be made extremely clear.
Owners’ Permission — A licensee needs to have their client’s permission to advertise a property. Most generalized listing agreements include this authority, but always double check. The authority also needs to have a definite expiration (preferably a specific date).
True and Accurate — The advertisement must be objectively true and factual. This is obvious. Do not lie, exaggerate, or misstate facts in an advertisement. This specifically includes: the subject property itself, terms of the deal, value, services, or policies.
Inducement to Contract — If your advertisement offers something of value (prizes, money, discounts, gifts, etc.), the advertisement must specifically state that this valuable consideration is NOT contingent on an offer or purchase of a specific property. In the same vein, your advertisement cannot offer compensation/referral fees/something of value to non-licensed persons for a referral.
MISC — Of note, a yard sign must include the office telephone number of the listing broker. You also have to make sure the team’s name is registered with OREC. Further, if you own the property, that must also be disclosed in the advertisement.
For teams, there are a couple of additional requirements. First is that the team cannot advertise only under the team’s name. Brokerage (and individual) information should be provided. This needs to be “prominent, conspicuous and easily identifiable” and should be at least 50% larger than any team reference included in the advertisement. Of course, all advertisements must be approved by the broker and occur under the direct supervision of the team’s broker. The team advertisement can include a team insignia, team contact information, team slogan (also approved by broker), and a domain/website. For the bottom line, always make sure you have your broker review both your advertisement and website.
Of course, no advertisement can specifically target race, color, creed, religion, national origin, familial status or handicap.
If you have any questions regarding realtor advertisements or would like Hohenheim to ensure its within OREC compliance, give us a call at the contact information below. We tailor our services to be affordable for hard working Oklahomans and the realtors that serve them.