Idaho mortgage advertising rules

License and NMLS ID display

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute Idaho Code §26-31-320 (Unique identifier disclosure)

"The unique identifier of any person engaged in the origination of a residential mortgage loan shall be clearly displayed on all residential mortgage loan application forms, solicitations or advertisements, including business cards, websites and other forms of media"

Conjunctive/disjunctive: media list is inclusive/conjunctive; the required *content* is a single element. the unique identifier only. No company name, license number, or NMLS Consumer Access link is required by Idaho statute. Note §26-31-320 sits in Part 3 and closes with "and pertinent to this part," which ties it to the MLO part; whether it independently compels the *company's* NMLS ID on company-level advertising is NOT VERIFIED (no Idaho rule or order located resolving it).

Prohibited claims

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Regulation IDAPA 12.01.10.060.04. "Engage in Deceptive Advertising" (binds "covered persons" = licensees and persons required to be licensed under the Act, per 12.01.10.006.04):

• 060.04.a. bait and switch, defined: "advertising services without the intent to provide them but, rather, to lure a person into making an application for services and then switch the person from obtaining the advertised services to other or different services on a basis more advantageous to the covered person."
• 060.04.b. three distinct per se deceptions in one sentence: "Advertising or soliciting in a manner that has the effect of misleading a person to believe that the advertisement or solicitation is from a person's current mortgage holder, a government agency, or that an offer is a limited opportunity, when such is not the case."

What it attaches to: 060.04.b is the operative "government" prohibition and is an effects test ("has the effect of misleading"), not an intent test. It also uniquely reaches false urgency ("limited opportunity"). a rare express state ban.

Statute parallel prohibitions:

• §26-31-211(7) (companies): "Make any false promise likely to influence or persuade, or pursue a course of misrepresentations and false promises through mortgage loan originators or other agents or through advertising or otherwise"
• §26-31-317(9) (MLOs): "Make any false or deceptive statement or representation, including a false or deceptive statement or representation concerning rates, points or other financing terms or conditions for a residential mortgage loan, or engage in bait and switch advertising"

No express Idaho ban on the specific words "lowest," "best," "cheapest," "guaranteed," "pre-approved," "free," or "no cost."

"Advertising" is defined broadly at IDAPA 12.01.10.006.01: "making or permitting to be made any oral, written, graphic or pictorial statements, in any manner, in the course of the solicitation of business authorized under the Act."

Rate advertising

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute §26-31-317(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"

Related: §26-31-211(9) and §26-31-317(21) prohibit agreeing "to fix in advance a particular interest rate or other term" unless written confirmation of the agreement is delivered to the borrower as required by rule. i.e., Idaho attaches a written-confirmation duty to rate locks. No Idaho-specific APR or "rates subject to change" mandate beyond Reg Z was located.

Social media and character-limited media

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Idaho Code §26-31-320 [STATUTE] covers "websites and other forms of media." IDAPA 12.01.10.006.01 [REGULATION] defines advertising as statements "in any manner." No abbreviated-disclosure or character-limited accommodation exists.

The Idaho Department of Finance mortgage guidance index was retrieved 2026-09-16 at finance.idaho.gov/legal/guidance/. It lists financial responsibility, telecommuting, the recovery fund, financial analysis, and mortgage-lending-activity scope. It lists no advertising or social-media guidance. The same page states: "Agency policy statements and guidance documents shall not have the force and effect of law pursuant to section 67-5207A, Idaho Code." That sentence is [STATUTE] labeling of guidance. It is not an advertising rule.

Penalties

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute §26-31-313(2)–(4) (MLO part): civil penalty after notice and hearing; "The maximum amount of penalty for each act or omission … shall be twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000)"; each violation is "a separate and distinct violation." Also license denial/suspension/revocation, restitution, and cease-and-desist including immediate temporary orders (§26-31-313(1)). Department remedies also at §26-31-205 and §26-31-314.