Louisiana mortgage advertising rules

Prohibited claims

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute La. R.S. 6:1092(D) ("It shall be a violation of this Chapter for a person or individual engaged in residential mortgage lending activity subject to this Chapter to:")

• (D)(9): "Make, in any manner, any false or deceptive statement or representation with regard to the rates, points, or other financing terms or conditions for a residential mortgage loan when such person or individual knew or should have known that such statement or representation was false or deceptive, or engage in bait and switch advertising"
• (D)(2): "Engage in any unfair or deceptive practice toward any person."
• (D)(1): scheme/device/artifice to defraud, again qualified by "when such person or individual knew or should have known."
• (D)(15): bars loan processors/underwriters from representing "to the public through advertising or other means of communicating or providing information including the use of business cards, stationary brochures, signs, rate lists, or other promotional items, that such an individual can or will perform any activities of a mortgage loan originator."

What it attaches to: (D)(9) attaches specifically to rates, points, or other financing terms or conditions, plus a freestanding bait-and-switch ban. Louisiana uniquely inserts a scienter element. "knew or should have known". into its false-statement and terms-availability prohibitions. Most peer states (Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Indiana) impose these as strict-liability prohibitions. This is a genuine substantive difference in enforcement posture.

No Louisiana ban on "lowest," "best," "cheapest," "guaranteed," "pre-approved," "free," "no cost," or "government."

Rate advertising

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute R.S. 6:1092(D)(5): "Solicit, advertise, or enter into a contract for specific interest rates, points, or other financing terms when the person or individual knew or should have known that such terms are not actually available at the time of soliciting, advertising, or contracting." Again note the scienter qualifier. No Louisiana-specific APR, rate-lock, or "subject to change" mandate beyond Reg Z was located.

Ad filing, prior approval, retention

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

No filing or prior-approval requirement. Regulation LAC 10:XVII.701(A) does not itself set periods; it requires retention of "such minimum records which are deemed necessary … for such minimum retention periods as determined by the commissioner and set forth in a 'record retention schedule' to be detailed in policy which may be amended from time to time.". i.e., Louisiana's binding retention detail lives in agency policy, not in the administrative code. Compliance officers must track the policy, not just the LAC. Agency guidance OFI Policy RML-01-01: "All records required by this policy must be maintained for a minimum of 36 months from the date of the loan application. The commissioner in his sole discretion after giving written notice, may require records to be maintained for a longer period of time." The enumerated record list is loan-file oriented; advertisements are not listed. NOT VERIFIED that advertising copies must be retained in Louisiana. Statute R.S. 6:1091(A)(1) requires records to be kept "separate and apart from any other business" and at the in-state location where the activity occurred or the principal office, unless the commissioner permits otherwise in writing, and "Records must be made available for review or examination at a nonresidential location approved by the commissioner."

Penalties

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Statute R.S. 6:1092(C): the commissioner may "impose a civil money penalty not exceeding one thousand dollars upon any person who is found in an administrative proceeding to have violated any of the provisions of this Chapter or any rule or regulation … Each separate violation shall subject such person to such civil money penalty and each day such person acts without complying with the provisions of this Chapter … shall constitute a separate violation." Cease-and-desist and refund orders also available. Louisiana's per-violation cap ($1,000) is the lowest in this batch. but it is a per-violation, per-day cap, so aggregate exposure on a running campaign is unbounded. Statute R.S. 6:1099 carries misdemeanor criminal penalties (fines $500–$1,000 and/or up to one year) for specified conduct. advance-fee overcharges, false application information, failure to account, failure to disburse, and unlicensed operation. Advertising violations as such are not among the enumerated criminal offenses.