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All states · Filled 2026-09-17

Alabama mortgage advertising rules

Reference only

Adline flags phrases that match cited rules. It does not certify that Alabama marketing is compliant. We flag and cite. We never certify. This is not legal advice. Whether a rule reaches you depends on your license type. Federal Reg Z and Reg N still apply.

Reference only. Alabama rules are written down here. The engine does not scan for them yet. The engine cites Washington, Arizona, and Idaho only.

Small Loan Act superlatives do not bind mortgage licensees

Ala. Admin. Code r. 155-2-3-.05(2) bans lowest rates, lowest costs, lowest payment plan, and cheapest loans. That rule sits under the Small Loan Act. The compiled Bureau of Loans regulations have no mortgage-broker advertising chapter. Do not copy 155-2-3-.05 onto a Chapter 25 or Chapter 26 licensee.

Regulating agency

Alabama State Banking Department

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Alabama State Banking Department, Bureau of Loans. (Mortgage licensing and consumer-credit licensing both sit in the Bureau of Loans.) [OFFICIAL. banking.alabama.gov]

NMLS and license display: Conjunctive and disjunctive elements.

Governing statute and administrative code

Last verified 2026-09-17.

  • Alabama Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2009, Ala. Code § 5-26-1 *et seq.* [STATUTE] [OFFICIAL]
  • Alabama Mortgage Brokers Licensing Act, Ala. Code § 5-25-1 *et seq.* [STATUTE] [OFFICIAL]
  • Alabama Small Loan Act, Ala. Code § 5-18-1 *et seq.*, implemented by Ala. Admin. Code ch. 155-2-3 [REGULATION] [OFFICIAL]. *separate regime, non-mortgage.*
  • Alabama Consumer Credit Act ("Mini-Code"), Ala. Code § 5-19-1 *et seq.*. *separate regime.* No advertising regulation located for Consumer Credit Act licensees.

TWO-REGIME NOTE: Alabama's advertising-specific rules live almost entirely in the Small Loan Act regulations, not in the mortgage acts. A mortgage licensee is *not* bound by ch. 155-2-3. Do not cross-apply.

License and NMLS ID display

Verified

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

REQUIRED. mortgage. Ala. Code § 5-26-20 [STATUTE] [OFFICIAL]:

"The unique identifier of any person originating a residential mortgage loan shall be clearly shown on all residential mortgage loan application forms, solicitations, or advertisements, including business cards or websites"

Conjunctive/disjunctive analysis: The *media list* is conjunctive. the identifier must appear on application forms and solicitations and advertisements, including business cards and websites. The *content* requirement is single-element: only the unique identifier is mandated by this section. I found no Alabama mortgage statute or rule requiring the company legal name, license number, or a link in addition to the NMLS ID.

Small Loan Act licensees (different regime): Ala. Admin. Code r. 155-2-3-.05(3) [REGULATION] [OFFICIAL] permits identifying the licensee only as:

"a licensee under the Alabama Small Loan Act." "No other wording may be used with reference to any degree of state supervision of licensee's business."

Prohibited claims

None found

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Mortgage regime: NOT VERIFIED. Searched the Alabama SAFE Act (§ 5-26-1 *et seq.*), the Mortgage Brokers Licensing Act (§ 5-25-1 *et seq.*), and the compiled Bureau of Loans regulations for an express ban on "lowest," "best," "cheapest," "guaranteed," "pre-approved," "free," "no cost," or "government." Could not find one binding mortgage licensees. The only mortgage-side hook is the general misrepresentation prohibition, Ala. Code § 5-25-12(b)(1) [STATUTE] [OFFICIAL]: licensee shall not *"Intentionally misrepresent or conceal a material fact, term, or condition of the transaction."*

Small Loan Act licensees. EXPRESS SUPERLATIVE BAN. Ala. Admin. Code r. 155-2-3-.05(2) [REGULATION] [OFFICIAL]:

"No licensee shall employ unqualified superlatives in advertising, such as 'lowest rates', 'lowest costs', 'lowest payment plan', or 'cheapest loans.'"

What it attaches to: rate claims, cost claims, payment-plan claims, and loan claims. i.e., price/terms superlatives, not all claims. The list is illustrative ("such as"), so it is not a closed list.

Also r. 155-2-3-.05(1) [REGULATION] [OFFICIAL]:

"No licensee shall advertise, display, or distribute mailing pieces which may be mistaken for any negotiable instrument whatsoever."

Rate advertising

None found

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

NOT VERIFIED. No Alabama mortgage-specific APR, rate-availability, lock-term, or "rates subject to change" requirement located beyond the federal Reg Z baseline. Searched the SAFE Act, the Mortgage Brokers Licensing Act, and Bureau of Loans regulations.

Ad filing, prior approval, retention

None found

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

NOT VERIFIED. No prior-approval or filing requirement located for Alabama mortgage licensees. No advertising record-retention period located in the mortgage acts or the Bureau of Loans regulations. (Contrast: many peer states impose 2–4 years.) A compliance program should not assume Alabama has none. this is a gap in my retrieval, not a confirmed absence.

Social media and character-limited media

None found

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

NOT VERIFIED. No Alabama guidance, rule, or abbreviated-disclosure accommodation for character-limited media located. Note § 5-26-20 expressly reaches "websites," so web-based advertising is squarely covered by the NMLS-ID mandate.

Anything unusual

Last verified 2026-09-17.

  • Loan processors/underwriters may not advertise as originators. Ala. Code § 5-26-3(5)(c) [STATUTE] [OFFICIAL]: such individuals *"shall not represent to the public, through advertising or other means of communicating or providing information including the use of business cards, stationery, brochures, signs, rate lists, or other promotional items, that such individual can or will perform any of the activities of a mortgage loan originator."* This catches "rate lists" and "signs". items often overlooked.
  • Two-regime trap in reverse: compliance officers who build one Alabama ruleset from the Small Loan Act regulations will over-restrict mortgage ads; those who build from the mortgage acts will under-restrict consumer-lending ads.

Penalties

Verified

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Ala. Code § 5-26-13(3) [STATUTE] [OFFICIAL]:

"The maximum amount of penalty for each act or omission ... shall be twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000)"

Sources

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Sources

Last verified 2026-09-17. Official means the legislature, the official administrative-code publisher, or the regulator. Reproduction is not the official publisher.