Kentucky mortgage advertising rules

License and NMLS ID display

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute KRS 286.8-030(5). https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=45376

"The unique identifier, name, and signature of any person originating a mortgage loan shall be clearly shown on the mortgage loan application. … The unique identifier shall also be displayed on solicitations or advertisements, including business cards or Web sites, of all persons holding themselves out as being able to originate mortgage loans in Kentucky"

Conjunctive/disjunctive. Kentucky splits it by document type:

• On the mortgage loan application: three conjunctive elements. unique identifier and name and signature.
• On solicitations or advertisements (including business cards and websites): one element. the unique identifier only.

This asymmetry is easy to get wrong: the name/signature elements do not carry over to advertising.

Scope note: the ad requirement reaches "all persons holding themselves out as being able to originate mortgage loans in Kentucky". a functional test that can capture marketing affiliates and lead generators, not just licensees.

Prohibited claims

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute KRS 286.8-030(2). an anti-endorsement rule with an express advertising hook:

"Neither the fact that a license or registration has been issued nor the fact that any person, business, or company is effectively registered or licensed, constitutes a finding by the commissioner that any document filed under this subtitle is true, complete, and not misleading. Nor does such fact directly or indirectly imply approval of the registrant or licensee by the commissioner or the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is unlawful to make or cause to be made to any prospective customer or client any representation inconsistent with this subsection."

This makes "state licensed and approved," "commissioner-approved," or similar creative unlawful per se in Kentucky.

Statute KRS 286.8-220(2) (Prohibited acts). https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=52857

• (2)(a): "Employ a device, scheme, or artifice to defraud"
• (2)(b): "Engage in any act, practice, or course of business that operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person"
• (1): bans false or misleading statements in documents filed with the commissioner, a governmental agency, or the NMLS.

Kentucky's prohibited-acts section contains no advertising-specific subsection and no ban on "lowest," "best," "cheapest," "guaranteed," "pre-approved," "free," "no cost," or "government." Deceptive advertising is reached through 286.8-220(2)(a)–(b) and 286.8-030(2).

Rate advertising

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Kentucky has no general "terms must be actually available" advertising statute of the model type found in Hawaii/Idaho/Iowa/Kansas/Maine. The closest analogue is the trigger-lead provision: Statute KRS 286.8-220(4)(d). prohibited to use prescreened trigger-lead information to "Solicit[] a consumer with an offer of certain rates, terms, and costs with the knowledge that the rates, terms, or costs will be subsequently changed to the detriment of the consumer." No Kentucky-specific APR-disclosure, rate-availability, lock-term, or "rates subject to change" requirement beyond Reg Z was located. NOT VERIFIED as to any such requirement elsewhere in subtitle 8; Reviewed the subtitle's section list and retrieved 286.8-030, -046, -160 and -220 in full.

Social media and character-limited media

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

KRS 286.8-030(5) expressly reaches "Web sites" and "business cards." No Kentucky statute or regulation addressing social media, texting, or character-limited media was found, and there is no abbreviated-disclosure accommodation. Searched: KRS 286.8 section list, KRS 286.8-030/-160/-220 in full, and the full 808 KAR ch. 12 index.

Penalties

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute KRS 286.8-046(1). https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=14861

"The civil penalty shall be not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per violation, plus the state's costs and expenses for the examination, investigation, and prosecution of the matter, including reasonable attorney's fees and court costs."

**Kentucky is the only state in this batch with a statutory penalty *floor*.** There is no de minimis outcome for a proven violation. §286.8-046(2) adds restitution, refund, recovery of expenses, and other affirmative action. KRS 286.8-990 (Kentucky Residential Mortgage Fraud Act) carries criminal exposure.