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All states · Filled 2026-09-17

Georgia mortgage advertising rules

Adline flags phrases that match cited rules. It does not certify that Georgia 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.

Scanner status: Index only. The engine cites Washington, Arizona, and Idaho only. This page is an index of retrieved text. The engine does not emit a Georgia citation.

Regulating agency

Georgia Department of Banking and Finance.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. [OFFICIAL. dbf.georgia.gov]

NMLS and license display: Conjunctive.

Governing statute and administrative code

Last verified 2026-09-17.

  • Georgia Residential Mortgage Act (GRMA), O.C.G.A. §§ 7-1-1000 to -1021 [STATUTE]
  • O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1016. "Regulations relative to advertising"
  • O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1004.3. unique identifier display
  • Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 80-11. Residential Mortgage Brokers, Lenders and Originators [REGULATION] [OFFICIAL. rules.sos.ga.gov]
  • Rule 80-11-1-.02. Advertising Requirements (the operative rule)
  • Rule 80-11-5-.05. Administrative Fines
  • SECOND REGIME: Georgia Installment Loan Act, implemented by Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Rule 80-14-1-.04. Advertising Requirements [REGULATION]

TWO-REGIME NOTE: Georgia maintains structurally parallel but separately codified advertising rules for mortgage (80-11-1-.02) and installment lending (80-14-1-.04). Both require name + NMLS unique identifier and both require retention of advertising samples. 80-14-1-.04 additionally requires that simulated checks / negotiable instruments carry a clear disclosure in at least 12-point type. PARAPHRASE. NOT VERBATIM; re-pull 80-14-1-.04 before relying on the 12-point figure. The mortgage rule (80-11-1-.02) has no equivalent simulated-check provision in the text Retrieved.

License and NMLS ID display

Verified

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Rule 80-11-1-.02(c) [REGULATION] [OFFICIAL. rules.sos.ga.gov / Cornell LII verbatim]:

"All solicitations or advertisements, including business cards and websites, for mortgage loans disseminated in this state by persons required to be licensed under O.C.G.A. Title 7, Chapter 1, Article 13 shall contain the name and unique identifier of the licensee advertising the mortgage loan, which name and unique identifier shall conform with the name and unique identifier on record with the Department of Banking and Finance."

CONJUNCTIVE. two elements, plus a conformity condition: 1. Name of the licensee advertising the loan; AND 2. Unique identifier; AND 3. ⚠️ Both must "conform with the name and unique identifier on record with the Department."

Element 3 is the Georgia trap and it is nearly unique in this batch. Using an unregistered DBA, a marketing brand, a shortened trade name, or a team name in an ad is a violation even when the NMLS number is correct, because the *name* does not conform to Department records. Advertising under "Peach State Home Loans" when the Department has "ABC Mortgage Corp." on file is a violation on the face of the rule. Register every consumer-facing name with the Department before using it in Georgia advertising.

Statutory backstop. O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1004.3 [STATUTE] [REPRODUCTION. Justia]:

"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, websites, and any other documents as established by rule, regulation, or order of the department."

O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1016(2) [STATUTE]. all advertisements by licensees must include the licensee's registered name and NMLS unique identifier. PARAPHRASE. NOT VERBATIM; § 7-1-1016 was amended effective July 1, 2025 (HB 15) and the current text must be pulled from the official Georgia Code before publication.

Prohibited claims

Verified

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Rule 80-11-1-.02(a) [REGULATION] [OFFICIAL]:

"Advertisements for mortgage loans shall not be false, misleading, or deceptive."

Rule 80-11-1-.02(b) [REGULATION]. advertisements may not suggest that interest rates or charges are "recommended, approved, set or established by the state or by any law." PARAPHRASE. NOT VERBATIM; re-pull (b). (Parallel to Arkansas 23 CAR § 301-1201(c)(4).) Attaches specifically to rate and charge claims, not all claims.

Rule 80-11-1-.02(e) [REGULATION] [OFFICIAL]:

"All advertisements for mortgage loans shall comply with all applicable federal and state laws."

This is an incorporation clause. like Connecticut § 36a-498d(b)(3), it converts a federal Reg Z / Reg N advertising defect into an independent Georgia rule violation.

O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1016(1)(A) [STATUTE]:

"Advertisements for loans regulated under this article shall not be false, misleading, or deceptive."

No express word-ban on "lowest," "best," "cheapest," "guaranteed," "pre-approved," "free," or "no cost" located in the mortgage regime.

Rate advertising

Not yet verified

Last verified 2026-09-17.

NOT VERIFIED as a distinct Georgia APR / lock-term / "subject to change" mandate. Georgia's rate-specific provision is the (b) prohibition on implying state approval of rates or charges. Rate advertising is otherwise governed federally, but via (e) the federal requirements are independently enforceable as Georgia rule violations. which matters for penalty exposure (see §9).

Ad filing, prior approval, retention

None found

Last verified 2026-09-17.

No prior approval or filing requirement located.

RETENTION. REQUIRED, and expressly includes broadcast scripts. Rule 80-11-1-.02(g) [REGULATION] [OFFICIAL]:

"Every mortgage broker or mortgage lender required to be licensed shall maintain a record of samples of its advertisements (including commercial scripts of all radio and television broadcasts) for examination by the Department of Banking and Finance."

⚠️ NO RETENTION PERIOD IS STATED IN THE RULE. Unlike Connecticut (2 years), Florida (2 years), and Colorado (4 years), Rule 80-11-1-.02(g) states the duty without a term. The applicable period is presumably the GRMA's general books-and-records retention period. which I did NOT retrieve. NOT VERIFIED. Do not publish a Georgia advertising retention period without pulling the GRMA general recordkeeping provision and confirming with the Department. In the interim, the conservative operating assumption is the longest general GRMA record-retention period.

Social media and character-limited media

Not yet verified

Last verified 2026-09-17.

NOT VERIFIED as a distinct social-media guidance document. But Georgia's definition of "advertisement" expressly captures websites and electronic dissemination, and it contains the batch's most useful de minimis carve-out:

Rule 80-11-1-.02(f) [REGULATION] [OFFICIAL]:

"For purposes of this Rule, 'advertisement' means material used or intended to be used to induce the public to apply for a mortgage loan. Such term shall include any printed or published material, audio or visual material, website, or descriptive literature concerning a mortgage loan subject to regulation under O.C.G.A. Title 7, Chapter 1, Article 13 whether disseminated by direct mail, newspaper, magazine, radio or television broadcast, electronic, billboard or similar display. The term advertisement shall not include promotional materials containing fifteen words or fewer relating to the mortgage business of the entity which material does not contain references to a specific rate or product, such as balloons, hats, pencils or pens, and calendars."

Analysis of the 15-word carve-out. read it narrowly:

  • It is a word count (≤15), not a character count, and it is conjunctive with a content test: the material must also contain no reference to a specific rate or product.
  • The illustrative list is physical promotional merchandise ("balloons, hats, pencils or pens, and calendars"). Whether it extends to a ≤15-word social post or SMS is NOT VERIFIED and should not be assumed. The "such as" phrasing makes the list illustrative rather than exhaustive, so an argument exists. but it is untested here and a compliance program should not build on it without a Department position.
  • This is not a Delaware/California-style link-out accommodation. If it applies, the item is simply not an "advertisement." If it does not apply, the full (c) name + conforming unique identifier requirement attaches with no abbreviated alternative.

Anything unusual

Last verified 2026-09-17.

  • ⚠️ NAME CONFORMITY (Rule 80-11-1-.02(c)). Name *and* identifier must match Department records. Unregistered DBAs and marketing brands are violations on their face. See §3.
  • ⚠️ TRIGGER-LEAD BOLD-FACE DISCLOSURE (Rule 80-11-1-.02(h)) [REGULATION] [OFFICIAL]. the most prescriptive trigger-lead advertising rule in the batch:
"An advertisement shall not include an individual's loan number, loan amount, or other publicly available information unless it is clearly and conspicuously stated in bold-faced type at the beginning of the advertisement that the person disseminating it is not authorized by, acting on behalf of, or otherwise affiliated with the individual's lender, which shall be identified by name. Such an advertisement shall also state that the loan information contained therein was not provided by the recipient's lender."

Four stacked requirements: bold-faced type; at the beginning of the advertisement; the current lender must be identified by name; and a second statement that the loan information did not come from the recipient's lender. Compare Arkansas 23 CAR § 301-1201(c)(6), which requires only a non-affiliation statement with no placement, typeface, or lender-naming mandate. Georgia is materially stricter.

  • ⚠️ TEMPORARY AUTHORITY DISCLOSURE (Rule 80-11-1-.02(i)). Advertisements referencing an originator operating under SAFE Act temporary authority must clearly indicate that the originator is not licensed and that the Department may grant or deny licensure. PARAPHRASE. NOT VERBATIM; re-pull (i). I found no analogue in any other state in this batch. Any lender onboarding out-of-state LOs under temporary authority and featuring them in Georgia marketing is exposed.
  • Rule 80-11-1-.02(d) is "Reserved."
  • Rule 80-11-1-.02(e) incorporates all applicable federal and state law into the advertising rule.
  • Two-regime split with a separate installment-lending advertising rule (80-14-1-.04) carrying a simulated-check 12-point-type provision the mortgage rule lacks.
  • § 7-1-1016 was amended effective July 1, 2025 (HB 15). work only from current text.

Penalties

Verified

Regulation. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 80-11-5-.05(g) [REGULATION] [REPRODUCTION. Cornell LII]:

"five hundred dollars ($500) for each violation of law or rule"

Reported as applying to licensed mortgage loan originators violating advertising requirements under O.C.G.A. §§ 7-1-1004.3 and 7-1-1016 or Department advertising rules. Confirm the subsection letter and whether a different fine schedule applies to companies vs. individual MLOs. 80-11-5-.05 is a schedule with multiple subsections and Retrieved only the advertising line.

Note the multiplier risk: $500 per violation is low per unit, but combined with (e)'s incorporation of all federal and state law and with per-ad or per-piece counting, aggregate exposure in a direct-mail or paid-social campaign can be substantial.

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.