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All states · Filled 2026-09-17

Hawaii mortgage advertising rules

Reference only

Adline flags phrases that match cited rules. It does not certify that Hawaii 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. Hawaii rules are written down here. The engine does not scan for them yet. The engine cites Washington, Arizona, and Idaho only.

Regulating agency

Division of Financial Institutions

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Division of Financial Institutions (the "commissioner of financial institutions"). Source: https://cca.hawaii.gov/dfi/

NMLS and license display: Conjunctive and disjunctive elements.

Governing statute and administrative code

Last verified 2026-09-17.

  • Statute HRS Chapter 454F. Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act. Covers mortgage loan originators (MLOs), mortgage loan originator companies (MLOCs), exempt sponsoring companies, nonprofits, and mortgage servicer companies. Full chapter index: https://files.hawaii.gov/dcca/dfi/Laws_html/HRS0454F/HRS_0454F-.htm
  • Two-regime note: Hawaii places company and individual mortgage origination in a single chapter (454F). There is no separate mortgage-broker act versus consumer-lender act for *residential mortgage* advertising. Hawaii's separate depository/financial-services-loan-company regime is HRS Chapter 412 and mortgage servicers appear in 454F itself. NOT VERIFIED — Did not retrieve and confirm any advertising provision in HRS Chapter 412 (financial services loan companies) or HRS Chapter 480 (unfair practices) as applied to mortgage advertising; Searched the 454F chapter index and DFI's laws pages only.
  • Regulation NOT VERIFIED — Could not locate any Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter adopted under HRS 454F containing advertising content. Searched: DCCA/DFI site, the 454F chapter index (which contains no cross-reference to an advertising rule), and general web search for "Hawaii administrative rules … 454F … advertising." No HAR advertising chapter found. Hawaii's advertising law appears to be statutory only.

License and NMLS ID display

Verified

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute HRS §454F-19 (Unique identifier shown). retrieved at https://files.hawaii.gov/dcca/dfi/Laws_html/HRS0454F/HRS_0454F-0019.htm

"The unique identifier of any person originating a residential mortgage loan, except a person who is exempt from this chapter, shall be clearly shown on all residential mortgage loan application forms, solicitations, and advertisements, including business cards or websites"

Conjunctive/disjunctive: The *media* list is conjunctive-inclusive (applications and solicitations and advertisements, expressly including business cards and websites). The *content* requirement is a single element. the unique identifier only. Hawaii does not by statute require the company name, a license number, or an NMLS Consumer Access link in the ad.

Caution: the trigger is "any person originating a residential mortgage loan." Whether that phrase independently compels the *company's* NMLSR ID (as distinct from the individual originator's) on a company-level ad is not resolved on the face of the statute. NOT VERIFIED as to company-vs-individual scope; no Hawaii rule, order, or published interpretation addressing it was located.

Prohibited claims

Verified

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute HRS §454F-17 (Prohibited practices). https://files.hawaii.gov/dcca/dfi/Laws_html/HRS0454F/HRS_0454F-0017.htm

  • §454F-17(9): "Make, in any manner, any false or deceptive statement or representation, including with regard to the rates, points, or other financing terms or conditions for a residential mortgage loan, or engage in bait and switch advertising"
  • §454F-17(14): "Deliver a misleading or deceptive communication or advertisement, whether written, electronic, or oral, when marketing or soliciting a residential mortgage loan"
  • §454F-17(14)(A). affiliation/masquerading ban, per se: "A communication or advertisement that uses the name or trademark of a financial institution as defined in section 412:1-109 or its affiliates or subsidiaries, or infers that the communication or advertisement is from, endorsed by, is related to, or is the responsibility of the financial institution is a misleading or deceptive communication"
  • §454F-17(14)(B): "Advertising that a specific interest rate, points, or financial terms are available when the rates, points, or financial terms are not actually available is a misleading or deceptive communication"

What it attaches to: (9) attaches to *all* statements and representations, with rates/points/terms called out as an included example. not limited to rates. (14)(A) attaches to any use of a financial institution's name/trademark or any inference of affiliation. There is no Hawaii statutory list banning specific words such as "lowest," "best," "cheapest," "guaranteed," "pre-approved," "free," "no cost," or "government." Such claims are reachable only through the general false/deceptive standards above.

Rate advertising

Verified

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute HRS §454F-17(5): "Solicit, advertise, or enter into a contract for specific interest rates, points, or other financing terms unless the terms are actually available at the time of soliciting, advertising, or contracting"

This is an availability-at-time-of-advertising rule and is strict-liability in form (no knowledge qualifier. contrast Louisiana's "knew or should have known"). Reinforced by §454F-17(14)(B). No Hawaii-specific APR-disclosure, rate-lock-term, or mandatory "rates subject to change" language beyond Regulation Z was found.

Ad filing, prior approval, retention

Not yet verified

Last verified 2026-09-17.

No filing or prior-approval requirement located. NOT VERIFIED as to any advertising-specific retention period: HRS 454F contains no advertising retention section, and no Hawaii administrative rule setting one was found. Searched: the full 454F section index and DFI rules pages.

Social media and character-limited media

Not yet verified

Last verified 2026-09-17.

§454F-19 expressly reaches "websites," and §454F-17(14) expressly reaches "electronic" communications. There is no abbreviated-disclosure or character-limited accommodation in Hawaii law. unlike Maryland, Hawaii offers no profile-page substitute for per-post disclosure. NOT VERIFIED — no Hawaii Agency guidance document on social media or texting was located (DFI General MLO/MLOC FAQ page was retrieved and contains nothing on advertising, social media, or identifier display: https://cca.hawaii.gov/dfi/general-faqs/).

Anything unusual

Last verified 2026-09-17.

  • §454F-17(14)(A) is a per se rule, not a facts-and-circumstances test. Using a bank's name or trademark. or merely creating an *inference* of relationship. is *defined* as deceptive. This is broader than the typical federal MAP Rule analysis and catches ordinary comparative/co-branding creative ("Lower your Bank of X mortgage payment").
  • §454F-19 expressly names business cards as advertising subject to the identifier requirement (contrast Kansas, which expressly *excludes* business cards).

Penalties

Verified

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute HRS §454F-12. https://files.hawaii.gov/dcca/dfi/Laws_html/HRS0454F/HRS_0454F-0012.htm

  • §454F-12(c): "The maximum fine for each act or omission described in subsection (b) shall be $25,000."
  • §454F-12(d): "Each violation or failure to comply with any directive or order of the commissioner shall be a separate and distinct violation."
  • §454F-12(e). elder enhancement: "any violation of this chapter that is directed toward, targets, or injures an elder, may be subject to an additional civil penalty not in excess of $10,000 for each violation"
  • Also available: license denial/suspension/revocation, restitution, and cease-and-desist (including immediate temporary orders), §454F-12(a).

Sources

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