The Louisiana Real Estate Commission in its 2014 session has made some slight, but important changes to how Real Estate Teams can be advertised. Starting January 2, 2015 (because Jan 1 is a holiday) LREC will start enforcing their new restrictions on Real Estate Team names.
The new changes limit a real estate team to “look like they are a sponsoring broker” with names that include “realty” and “real estate” in their name which may confuse the public in the eyes of the Louisiana Real Estate Commission. Many real estate team names, similar to ****** Realty Team or ****** Real Estate Team will find themselves being issued fines soon or re-branding.
All state regulatory bodies are charged with protecting the public. LREC has decided that it is confusing to the public to see “******* Team Realty” where the CEO or the President of the respective team is not a sponsoring broker. They want the public to understand that the “team” still reports to their sponsoring broker and if the public have any issues with the team, the broker is ultimately responsible.
Most state regulatory bodies have changes that take effect on Jan 1, so you may want to check with your local commission . As for LRECs changes to their advertising rules You can read the new changes here. Regardless of how the law reads, the intent is to come down on any advertising in which the real estate team is appearing to be a broker.
Shameless Plug
If you are a real estate team that has “realty” or “real estate” in the name, or if your existing branding could confuse the public into thinking you are a broker, you will need to re-brand to avoid fines. DEAN Knows can assist with the re-branding of your existing team and make sure you are in compliance.
See what DEAN Knows can do to make sure you are in compliance.
