4.2 Advertising and Marketing Rules

Advertising rules generate a steady stream of state-portion questions because violations are common and easy to test. The governing principles: advertising must be truthful, not misleading, and must identify the responsible brokerage.

Core Advertising Principles

Foundational rule: A salesperson's advertising is the broker's advertising. The salesperson cannot run ads that make them look like a separate company, and the supervising broker is responsible for the content of ads placed by affiliated licensees.

Salesperson, Team, and Personal Names

Montana licensees frequently market under personal brands or team names. The rule of thumb:

• A salesperson may use a personal or team name in marketing only if the brokerage is also clearly identified and the name does not imply a separate brokerage.
• A team name cannot use words like "Realty," "Real Estate Company," or "Brokerage" in a way that suggests it is an independent firm.
• All branding must make clear that the licensee operates under the supervising broker's license.

Trap: A salesperson who advertises a personal "company" name without the brokerage — or that implies they are an independent broker — commits an advertising violation.

Digital Advertising and Federal Overlays

Every medium counts. Yard signs, print, websites, social media, video, and email are all "advertising" and carry the same truthfulness and brokerage-identification duties. Stale online listings (showing a sold home as available, or an inaccurate price) can be misleading advertising.

Federal rules layer on top of Montana's Board rules:

Fair-housing tie-in: An ad implying a preference for or against families with children, a religion, or any protected class violates fair-housing law (see Section 2.3) — and is also a Board advertising violation.

Common Advertising Violations

The supervising broker must establish advertising policies and review affiliated licensees' marketing; the broker can be disciplined for a salesperson's noncompliant ads. Keep copies of advertising as part of transaction records.

Best Practices and Exam Strategy

To stay compliant, a Montana licensee should:

1. Always include the brokerage name in every ad and profile.
2. Verify accuracy — price, square footage, status, and features — and update or remove stale listings promptly.
3. Get authorization before advertising any property.
4. Screen for fair-housing language and avoid any protected-class preference.
5. Respect do-not-call and email opt-out rules in prospecting.
6. Run team/personal names past the broker to ensure they don't imply a separate firm.

Exam strategy: When a question shows an ad, check three things in order — (1) Is the brokerage identified? (2) Is it truthful/not misleading? (3) Does it contain any fair-housing problem? If any fails, it's a violation, and the supervising broker shares responsibility.

Disclosures Within Advertising

Some statements in marketing trigger their own disclosure duties:

• Licensee buying or selling personally. A licensee who advertises to buy or sell their own property must disclose their licensed status in the advertising and in the transaction. Hiding that you are an agent when dealing for yourself is a deceptive practice.
• "Free" and guarantee claims. Words like "free," "guaranteed," or "no risk" must be literally true and not bait for hidden conditions.
• Net listings and pricing claims. Advertising a price the seller has not authorized, or implying a guaranteed sale price, can mislead.
• Comparative claims ("#1 agent," "lowest commission") must be substantiated.

Social Media and Reviews

Modern prospecting raises specific traps:

Fair-housing + digital trap: Using ad-platform tools to exclude audiences by age, family status, or ZIP-as-proxy-for-race can constitute discriminatory advertising even though no words are "discriminatory." The targeting itself is the violation. Keep brokerage identification on every public-facing professional profile, and route questionable campaigns past your supervising broker.