These amendments define the terms and statements which can be used in the license designations required of real estate licensees and industry professionals in advertisements and other materials distributed to the public.

DRE Regulation Article 9 Section 2770.1
Amends Article 9 and Section 2770.1
Effective: October 26, 2011

If a Department of Real Estate (DRE) licensee publishes, circulates or distributes material in a newspaper, periodical or mailing related to his real estate-related activities which require a license, the licensee must include with the material a license designation disclosing he is performing activities which require a license. (These materials exclude classified rental advertisements listing the telephone number or address of the rental property.) [Calif. Business and Professions Code §10140.6 (a)(c)]

Use of the following terms and abbreviations, or similar terms and abbreviations, fulfill the license designation required in Calif. Business and Professions Code §10140.6 (a)(c): 

  • broker;
  • agent
  • Realtor;
  • loan correspondent;
  • bro.; or
  • agt.

However, use of the terms and abbreviations above does not fulfill the license designation required of:

  • a licensee or mortgage loan originator (MLO) disclosing his DRE number or Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) identifier in any advertisement distributed primarily in California [Calif. Business and Professions Code §10235.5]; and

a person, placing a loan advertisement distributed primarily in California, disclosing the license under which the loan will be arranged and the state regulatory entity supervising the loan transaction (if the advertisement is related to unlicensed lending activity, the license designation must disclose the loan would be arranged by an unlicensed person not supervised by a state regulatory entity). [Bus & P C §17539.4].

DRE Regulation Article 16 Section 2847.3
Amends Article 16 and Section 2847.3
Effective: October 26, 2011

Use of either of the following statements fulfills the requirements of Business and Professions Code §10140.6(a)(c), §10235.5 and §17539.4 explained above in Article 16 Section 2847.3:

  • Real estate broker, California Department of Real Estate; or
  • California Department of Real Estate, real estate broker.

A dash (–) may be used in place of the comma in either of the statements above. The type size of either of the statements must be no less than the smallest type size used in the advertisement copy.

The word “California” may be abbreviated as “CA,” “CAL” or Calif” and the word “Department” may be abbreviated as “Dept.”

Editorial note – Calif. Business and Professions Code §17539.4 does not apply to banks, bank holding companies, savings associations, federation associations, industrial loan companies, credit unions or any subsidiary or affiliate of these entities if any of these entities are not licensed. Thus, neither DRE Regulation Article 9 Section 2770.1 nor DRE Regulation Article 16 Section 2847.3 apply to any of these mortgage banking entities.