Advertising belongs to the firm
Everything an affiliated licensee advertises is the broker's advertising. Rules 520-1-.09(2.1) and (7)(a) require all advertising by an associate broker, salesperson or community association manager to be under the direct supervision of the broker and in the name of the firm, and advertising of specific real estate must include the firm's name as registered with the Commission and a firm telephone number.
Georgia rule: an affiliated licensee may never advertise under an individual name — that is the Georgia blind-ad prohibition in 520-1-.09(8), and adding a license number does not cure it. The prominence rule runs opposite to the way candidates remember it: the firm's name must be equal to or greater than any affiliate's or team's name in size, prominence and frequency. The firm telephone number is mandatory and must reach a broker or manager without going through the affiliated licensee, so a personal mobile number does not satisfy it.
Internet advertising
Rule 520-1-.09(5) requires internet advertising to disclose the name and telephone number of the licensee's firm on every viewable web page, and requires outdated information to be updated or removed within thirty days of becoming outdated.
Home page only understates the rule. The ten-day figure belongs to removing a sign after a listing expires. The internet is listed as media in 520-1-.09(1), so there is no MLS exemption. A licensee who timely notifies an authorized third-party webmaster in writing is not in violation if that third party fails to act.
Advertising your own property
Rule 520-1-.09(8) lets a licensee advertise personally owned real estate not under a brokerage engagement only if all of the following are satisfied:
- The broker holding the license is notified in writing of the specific property.
- The broker gives written consent and approves the advertisement.
- The advertisement carries either the legend that the seller, buyer, landlord or tenant holds a real estate license, or the six-digit Georgia license number.
Oral notice falls short, and describing the property as offered by a private party is the blind-ad conduct the rule forbids.