Texas real estate advertising rules for agents are easiest to apply through one controlled inventory. List every public advertising surface, validate the registered name stack, confirm the agent or team and sponsoring broker are displayed correctly, and place current notices where required. Route the exact version through broker review, then track its correction or retirement. The applicable rule depends on the communication, channel, names, contact elements, claims, and destination—not on whether the asset looks formal.
That distinction matters because an agent's advertising system is usually larger than a website and a yard sign. It can include social profiles, posts, email templates, text campaigns, business cards, portal pages, QR-code destinations, video descriptions, vendor landing pages, and old assets that remain public after a campaign ends. Reviewing one new design does not control that system. A repeatable workflow does.
Decide whether the communication is an advertisement
TREC Rule §535.155 defines an advertisement as a communication by or on behalf of a license holder designed to attract the public to use real estate brokerage services. The definition expressly reaches publications, radio and television broadcasts, email, text messages, social media, the Internet, stationery, business cards, displays, signs, billboards, and similar communications.
The same rule excludes a communication from a license holder to that license holder's current client and a directional sign that may also contain only the broker's name or logo. Those exclusions are narrow. Classify the communication by its purpose, audience, and content instead of assuming that an informal format falls outside the rule. A text sent to a prospect group can be advertising. A license holder's communication to that license holder's current client can fall outside this advertising definition while still being governed by other duties and broker policies.
Record the determination rather than relying on memory:
Question | Evidence to capture |
|---|---|
Who is the intended audience? | Public, prospect group, current client, or transaction participant |
What is the communication designed to do? | Attract the public to use brokerage services, provide client service, or give direction only |
Who created or distributed it? | Agent, team, brokerage, vendor, portal, or automated system |
Where can it be seen? | Public URL, profile, inbox, phone, physical location, print placement, or sign location |
Which rule path applies? | Advertisement, current-client communication, qualifying directional sign under §535.155(b)(1)(B), or a matter for broker review |
This classification record is an operating tool, not a TREC form.
Build the ad inventory before reviewing the design
Start with surfaces, not files. A single creative concept may exist as a website page, cropped social image, email header, printed card, portal profile, and QR destination. Each version can display different names, contact elements, links, or status information.
Use one inventory row for every active surface:
Control field | What to record |
|---|---|
Asset and surface | Stable ID, channel, public URL or physical location, and business owner |
Identity | Exact agent or team name, exact broker name, and applicable name registration |
Presentation | Largest agent, associated-broker, or team contact element and the broker-name measurement |
Notices and links | IABS version and destination, Consumer Protection Notice version and destination, profile or link-page path, and QR destination |
Claims | Material statement, supporting source, permission, qualification, and Fair Housing review |
Control | Exact approved version, reviewer, approval date, activation date, status trigger, correction owner, proof, and next review |
The approval, version, screenshot, and review fields are recommended brokerage controls. TREC does not prescribe this matrix, and the rules reviewed for this article do not impose one universal advertising-file retention period. An advertisement may still require four-year preservation when the same material also falls within a transaction-record category enumerated in §535.2(h). The brokerage should set retention requirements with its own legal and records guidance.
Validate the name stack before measuring the layout
An attractive design cannot cure an unregistered or misleading name. Confirm which name type the ad uses and who is responsible for registering it.
Individual and alternate names
The license holder's name can be the name shown on the license or an alternate name registered with TREC before use. A common derivative—such as Kim for Kimberly or Bill for William—is treated as the licensed name and does not become an alternate name merely because the shortened form is used. When an individual stops using a registered alternate name, current §535.154 requires notice to TREC and the sponsoring broker no later than the tenth day after use stops.
Team names
A team can consist of a single license holder or several, provided they are sponsored by or associated with the same broker. Its name must be registered by the sponsoring broker before use, cannot imply that the team offers brokerage services independently of the broker, and must end in “team” or “group.” Current examples of terms that can imply an independent brokerage include “brokerage,” “company,” and “associates.” Do not rely on an old prohibited-word list: an amendment effective September 4, 2018 permits “realty” when the team name otherwise complies. After an associated broker or sponsored sales agent stops using the team name, the broker's deadline to notify TREC is the tenth day following that stop date.
Assumed business names
An assumed business name, or DBA, belongs to the broker's registration path. The broker must register the name with TREC before use and provide evidence of legal authority to use it. A sales agent cannot create a separate personal DBA to advertise brokerage services. Even a one-agent brand outside the licensed-name, common-derivative, or registered-alternate-name path must meet the applicable team-name rules, including broker registration and the “team” or “group” ending.
Check the registration record, not only the artwork. If an agent's name overlaps the broker's name and could imply that the agent operates the brokerage, the layout must remove that impression. TREC guidance identifies “sales agent” as a straightforward clarifier for that situation; merely using “agent” or REALTOR® may not resolve the specific ambiguity.
Measure the broker-name rule correctly
Every advertisement must display, in a readily noticeable location, the name of the license holder or team placing the ad and the sponsoring broker's name. In the final ad, display the sponsoring broker's name at no less than 50% of the largest contact-information element belonging to any sales agent, associated broker, or team.
That comparison is often misstated. It is not automatically half the largest logo or half the largest text anywhere on the design. Section 535.155 defines contact information to include a name, phone number, email address, website address, social-media handle, QR or scan code, and similar information.
For each version, record the largest relevant contact element, how its size was measured, the displayed broker name, and the broker-name size. Recheck after resizing. A compliant desktop layout can fail when a vendor creates a mobile crop, a square post, or a smaller printed piece.
Texas rules do not generally require every advertisement to include a license number, a TREC reference, or the words “agent” or “broker.” Do not add a universal requirement that the rule does not contain. The broker name remains required, and a role clarification may still be necessary when the ad otherwise creates a misleading impression.
Apply the channel rule instead of one universal footer
The same identity requirement can operate differently across channels. For a social-media advertisement or a text-message advertisement, §535.155 allows the required information to appear on a separate page or account profile if the ad directly links to it and the information is readily noticeable there.
Treat that as a limited channel rule, not a universal shortcut. The rule does not extend the same profile-link exception to email advertising. A link fails when a redirect breaks or obscures the direct path, sends the visitor to the wrong profile, hides the broker identity behind another click, or opens a page a logged-out visitor cannot see.
Test the public path:
- Open the ad as a logged-out visitor on the intended device.
- Follow the exact link, profile, or QR destination used in the final version.
- Confirm the agent or team identity and broker name are readily noticeable.
- Save the final destination, date, device view, and result with the approved version.
- Assign an owner to retest the path after a profile, username, link-page, domain, or vendor change.
If your current approval process ends with “the footer is in the template,” request a confidential conversation. Use the conversation to compare how Martin Collum Real Estate approaches advertising review, version control, and brokerage support.
Keep IABS and the Consumer Protection Notice on their own rule paths
Advertising identity, website notices, and transaction-level IABS delivery are related controls, but they are not interchangeable.
The current Information About Brokerage Services form is IABS 1-2, effective and required January 1, 2026. Under §531.20, each license holder must place a readily noticeable link to a completed IABS on the homepage of each business website. The permitted link labels and minimum type sizes are specific: “Texas Real Estate Commission Information About Brokerage Services” at least 10-point type, or “TREC Information About Brokerage Services” at least 12-point type. A public social profile controlled by the license holder and used to provide information about brokerage services can qualify as a business website; the link may be in the profile or on a directly linked page or site.
Homepage or profile posting does not replace delivery of the completed IABS at the first substantive communication about specific real property when Texas Occupations Code §1101.558 requires it. TREC states that a link appearing only in an email signature or footnote does not satisfy that transaction-level delivery requirement. Treat posting and delivery as two different tests.
The current Consumer Protection Notice is CN 1-5, effective September 1, 2023. Section 531.18 requires it in a readily noticeable location in every place of business the broker maintains and as a readily noticeable homepage link on each business website. The prescribed labels use the same full-versus-abbreviated 10-point and 12-point structure. A qualifying social profile can place the link in the profile or on a directly linked page or site.
Do not turn these requirements into the claim that IABS and the Consumer Protection Notice must appear on every post, email, or sign. Review the actual website, profile, place-of-business, and IABS-delivery rules for the surface and interaction involved.
Test the claim, permission, and audience before approval
Section 535.155 lists many ways an advertisement can be misleading. A useful review does not attempt to reduce them to “spell-check the disclaimer.” It challenges the substance of the ad.
Review at least these categories:
- Identity and role: Does the ad misidentify a sales agent as a broker, imply the agent controls the brokerage, use an unregistered name, or create confusion about an unlicensed person?
- Property and transaction: Are property use, listing status, participation in the transaction, and any claimed result stated accurately? If another broker holds the exclusive listing, has the required permission been obtained and is the listing broker identified unless that disclosure was waived in writing?
- Value and performance: Does a value statement use the applicable appraisal or estimate path and disclaimer? Is a ranking based on disclosed, objective criteria rather than an unexplained superlative?
- Money and providers: Are restrictions on a rebate, compensation, referral, or provider relationship disclosed where required?
- Fair Housing: Could the words, images, symbols, targeting, or media selection indicate a preference, limitation, or discrimination based on a protected characteristic? Review both the creative and the distribution settings under 24 C.F.R. §100.75 and the brokerage's Fair Housing policy.
Attach the supporting source, permission, calculation, or qualification to the exact version under review. “Approved copy” is not enough when a vendor later changes the headline, crops out the broker identity, replaces the destination, or republishes a stale asset.
Route the exact final version through broker review
Current §535.2 makes the sponsoring broker responsible for ensuring sponsored agents' advertising complies with §§535.154 and 535.155 and requires current written policies and procedures designed to support that compliance. TREC does not pre-clear an agent's advertisement. Its guidance directs the agent to the sponsoring broker and warns that both the broker and agent can face discipline.
An approval packet should therefore identify what the reviewer actually approved:
Approval evidence | Minimum useful detail |
|---|---|
Final asset | Version identifier, file or public preview, dimensions, and channel |
Identity proof | Displayed names, registration status, broker-name measurement, and mobile or print variant |
Destination proof | Final URLs, profile path, QR result, IABS and notice links, and logged-out test |
Claim proof | Source, permission, date checked, qualifier, and Fair Housing review |
Lifecycle | Activation date, property or campaign status trigger, change owner, and next review |
Decision | Reviewer, approval or correction decision, timestamp, and approved version |
This packet operationalizes the broker's supervision system; it is not a commission-issued form. If an agency, team member, portal, or print vendor changes the approved version, route the changed version back through the applicable review path.
Correct and retire the ad using the right clock
Some deadlines are express. An advertisement offering a listed property must be discontinued within 10 days after the listing agreement stops being effective. If an advertisement about a property is still published 10 days or more after closing, it must state the property's current status. The name rules also impose 10-day TREC notice duties when use of an alternate, team, or assumed business name stops.
Do not convert those rules into a claim that every advertising defect has the same 10-day correction window. No universal correction deadline for every other defect appears in the rules reviewed for this article. A sound broker policy should call for prompt withdrawal or correction of a material error and document who owns the fix, but that is an operational risk control rather than a blanket statutory clock.
Correct the system, not only the first file found:
- Pause or withdraw the affected public versions under the broker's direction.
- Identify the controlling source asset, every active derivative, and each vendor or platform copy.
- Correct the source and route the exact replacement through review.
- Publish the replacement, test every destination, and capture public proof.
- Record what was removed, corrected, relabeled, or left live with current status.
- Update the trigger or owner that allowed the stale or defective version to persist.
For a property-specific launch process, see A Texas Real Estate Listing Launch Checklist for Agents. That workflow governs the path from signed listing to a verified live launch; the standing inventory here governs advertising compliance across all controlled surfaces.
Audit after a change, not only on a calendar
A recurring review can catch drift, but the strongest triggers are operational changes. Run a targeted audit when:
- The sponsoring broker, agent, team, alternate name, assumed name, or role changes.
- A phone number, email address, domain, social handle, profile, link page, or QR destination changes.
- TREC issues a new IABS or Consumer Protection Notice version.
- A listing ends, a property closes, a campaign expires, or permission to advertise changes.
- A vendor changes a template, crop, distribution setting, integration, or public destination.
- A claim, ranking, statistic, incentive, provider relationship, or audience setting changes.
The audit should return one of four decisions for each surface: approved as displayed, correction required, retirement required, or outside the advertising definition with the reason recorded. An unclassified asset is not a fifth status.
Inspect the correction receipt
A broker-supported process should end with one compact receipt that a reviewer can understand without reconstructing the campaign from inboxes. For a changed social handle or landing-page domain, the receipt should show:
Receipt field | Closing evidence |
|---|---|
Defect and scope | What was wrong and every website, profile, post, message, print asset, QR destination, portal, or vendor copy affected |
Withdrawal | Timestamped proof that the defective public versions were paused, removed, or otherwise controlled |
Replacement | Exact corrected version, name and size checks, supporting sources, broker reviewer, and approval time |
Destination tests | Logged-out results for each final URL, profile path, or scan-code destination on the intended device |
Live proof | Public screenshot or physical proof matched to the approved version and activation time |
Closure | Named owner, remaining exception, next trigger, and the time the correction was closed |
The receipt does not replace the brokerage's policy or legal record requirements. It makes the operational handoff visible and shows whether every affected surface reached a controlled end state.
Frequently asked questions
How do Texas real estate advertising rules for agents apply to social media?
Texas real estate advertising rules for agents apply to a social post when the communication is made by or for a license holder and designed to attract the public to use real estate brokerage services. The definition excludes a communication from a license holder to that license holder's current client. Classify each post by purpose, audience, and content; do not assume that every post is an ad or that an informal post cannot be one.
How large must the sponsoring broker's name be in a Texas real estate ad?
Use a 1:2 minimum ratio: the displayed broker name cannot be smaller than half of the largest contact-information element associated with a sales agent, associated broker, or team. Contact information includes a name, phone number, email, website, social handle, QR or scan code, and similar information. The comparison is not automatically to the largest logo or largest text in the design.
Must a Texas real estate ad include “agent,” “broker,” TREC, or a license number?
Not as a universal rule. TREC says these items are not generally required in every advertisement, although the license holder or team name and sponsoring broker name are required. Role language can still be necessary when the ad would otherwise be misleading, including when an agent's name could imply control of the brokerage.
Can a social post rely on the profile for the required broker information?
It can when the post directly links to a page or account profile where the required information is readily noticeable. Section 535.155 provides that path for social-media and text-message advertisements. Test the final link as a public visitor; do not assume the same exception applies to email.
Does an IABS link in an email signature satisfy delivery?
No. TREC says a link only in an email signature or footnote does not satisfy the IABS delivery requirement at the first substantive communication about specific real property. Subject to statutory exceptions, the completed form must be delivered using a permitted method, such as an attachment or link in the body of the email with a specific reference to the IABS form.
Can a Texas sales agent advertise under a personal DBA?
No. A broker registers an assumed business name. An individual sales agent can advertise using the licensed name, a common derivative treated as the licensed name, or a registered alternate name. Any other brand—even one used by a single agent—must meet the team-name rules, including broker registration and the required “team” or “group” ending.
How quickly must an advertisement be removed after a listing ends?
An advertisement offering the listed property must be discontinued within 10 days after the listing agreement ceases to be effective. If a property advertisement remains published 10 days or more after closing, it must include the property's current status.
How long must a Texas brokerage keep copies of advertisements?
The TREC rules reviewed for this article do not state one ad-specific retention period for every advertisement. Section 535.2 contains a four-year requirement for enumerated transaction records, but advertisements are not named as a standalone category in that list. The same material may still require four-year preservation if it also falls within one of those listed transaction-record categories. Follow the brokerage's written retention policy and qualified legal guidance; keep approval versions, proof, and correction history as an operating control without mislabeling that practice as a universal ad-file mandate.
Make compliance a visible operating system
Texas advertising compliance should not depend on the agent who happens to remember an old profile or the designer who owns the last editable file. Build one inventory, validate the name stack, measure the broker identity correctly, separate channel and notice rules, attach evidence to the exact version, and close every correction across the full distribution path.
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This article provides general real estate advertising and brokerage-operations information, not legal advice or a substitute for current law, TREC requirements, Fair Housing obligations, a sponsoring broker's policies, or advice from qualified counsel. Rules, forms, facts, technology, and campaign details can change; verify the current requirements and the exact asset before use.
