All states · Filled 2026-09-17
Missouri mortgage advertising rules
Reference only
Adline flags phrases that match cited rules. It does not certify that Missouri 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. Missouri rules are written down here. The engine does not scan for them yet. The engine cites Washington, Arizona, and Idaho only.
20 CSR 1140-30.070 was rescinded
Missouri rescinded its dedicated advertising regulation. Surviving 20 CSR 1140-30 rules contain no advertising provisions. Mortgage advertising is governed by statute alone.
Regulating agency
Missouri Division of Finance (Division of Finance, Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance); the Director of Finance.
NMLS and license display: Conjunctive and disjunctive elements.
Governing statute and administrative code
[STATUTE]Missouri Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing and Residential Mortgage Brokers Licensing Act, RSMo §§ 443.701–443.893. Advertising: § 443.855. Unique identifier: § 443.745.[REGULATION]20 CSR 1140-30. Mortgage Broker and Originator Rules.
Critical structural finding: Missouri rescinded its dedicated advertising regulation. The Cornell LII index of 20 CSR 1140-30 shows "§ 20 CSR 1140-30.070 - Advertising (Rescinded)", along with .010, .030, .040, .050, .080, .090, .100, .110 and .120 (all Rescinded). The surviving rules (.200–.320) contain no advertising provisions. .240 (Operations and Supervision) is a licensing/fee rule and .270 (Maintenance of Records) governs only the application log. Missouri mortgage advertising is therefore governed by statute alone.
Second regime note: Missouri's consumer-credit/consumer-installment lending regime sits in RSMo ch. 367 and ch. 408, separate from ch. 443. NOT VERIFIED whether those chapters carry distinct mortgage-advertising rules. not retrieved.
License and NMLS ID display
Verified[STATUTE] RSMo § 443.745: "The unique identifier of any person originating a residential mortgage loan and in the case of a mortgage loan originator, the residential mortgage loan broker license number or corresponding unique identifier of the mortgage loan broker shall be clearly shown on all residential mortgage loan application forms, solicitations, or advertisements, including business cards or websites, and any other documents as established by rule or order of the director."
Parse carefully:
- Element 1 (always): the unique identifier of the person originating the loan.
- Element 2 (when an MLO is involved): the sponsoring broker's Missouri license number OR its unique identifier. This inner choice is disjunctive.
- The two elements are joined by "and". conjunctive. An MLO's Missouri ad needs both their own NMLS ID and the company's Missouri license number or NMLS ID.
Prohibited claims
Verified[STATUTE] RSMo § 443.855: "The director may prescribe rules governing the advertising of mortgage loans, including, without limitation, rules that advertising pursuant to sections 443.701 to 443.893 may not be false, misleading or deceptive. No person whose activities are regulated pursuant to the provisions of sections 443.701 to 443.893 may advertise in any manner so as to indicate or imply that the person's interest rates or charges for loans are in any way recommended, approved, set or established by the state or federal government or by the provisions of sections 443.701 to 443.893."
Two notes on the structure of this section:
- The first sentence is permissive rulemaking authority, not a self-executing prohibition. and the director has rescinded the advertising rule (20 CSR 1140-30.070). So the "false, misleading or deceptive" language is a grant of authority, not an operative Missouri advertising prohibition standing on its own.
- The second sentence is a self-executing statutory prohibition. And Missouri's version is broader than Mississippi's: it covers endorsement by "the state or federal government" *and* by the licensing act itself.
[STATUTE] RSMo § 443.827 requires each license applicant to aver, among other things, that it "(6) Will not engage in fraudulent home mortgage underwriting practices" and "(10) Will not knowingly misrepresent, circumvent or conceal any material particulars regarding a transaction to which the applicant is a party."
No express Missouri ban on "lowest," "best," "cheapest," "guaranteed," "free," or "pre-approved" was located. Searched RSMo ch. 443 section index and §§ 443.745, 443.827, 443.855, 443.863, and the full 20 CSR 1140-30 rule list. NOT VERIFIED.
Rate advertising
None foundNo Missouri-specific APR, availability, lock-term, or "rates subject to change" advertising mandate was located beyond the state/federal endorsement ban in § 443.855, which attaches specifically to "interest rates or charges." Searched ch. 443 and 20 CSR 1140-30. NOT VERIFIED. Federal Reg Z § 1026.24 is the operative rate-advertising law in Missouri.
Ad filing, prior approval, retention
None found- Prior approval / filing: none located. NOT VERIFIED; evidence points to no such requirement.
- Advertising-specific retention: none located. The surviving record rule,
[REGULATION]20 CSR 1140-30.270, governs only an application log (36 months of applications, kept current within 7 days at the main Missouri office).[STATUTE]RSMo § 443.827(3) requires the applicant to aver it "Will keep for thirty-six months the same written records as required by the federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act... and any other information required by rules of the director." That is a general 36-month clock, not an advertising clock. NOT VERIFIED as to advertising retention specifically.
Social media and character-limited media
None found[STATUTE] § 443.745 expressly names "websites" and "business cards." No Missouri rule or guidance addressing social media by name was located, and no abbreviated-disclosure accommodation for character-limited media was located. Searched ch. 443 and 20 CSR 1140-30 in full. NOT VERIFIED.
Anything unusual
1. The advertising regulation is rescinded. A compliance product citing 20 CSR 1140-30.070 is citing a dead rule. Missouri is now a statute-only advertising state. 2. Because the rule is rescinded, § 443.855's first sentence has no implementing rule. The only self-executing Missouri advertising prohibition is the government-endorsement ban. 3. **§ 443.855 bans implying *federal* government endorsement too, and bans implying that the Missouri licensing act itself sets or approves your rates. a formulation not seen elsewhere in batch 3. 4. The dual-identifier requirement in § 443.745 catches the very common pattern of an LO ad carrying only the LO's NMLS ID. 5. The application-log rule has a 7-day currency requirement** enforced as an independent violation. adjacent to advertising, but an easy examination finding.
Penalties
Verified[STATUTE] RSMo § 443.729.3–.5: the director may impose a civil penalty after notice and hearing for any violation of §§ 443.701–443.893, a rule, or an order; "The maximum amount of penalty for each act or omission described in subsection 3 of this section shall be twenty-five thousand dollars"; and "Each violation or failure to comply with any directive or order of the director is a separate and distinct violation or failure." § 443.729.1 also authorizes denial/suspension/revocation, restitution, and cease-and-desist orders including immediate temporary orders.
Sources
- https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=443.855official RSMo § 443.855 (Advertising of mortgage loans, rulemaking authority):
- https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=443.745official RSMo § 443.745 (Unique identifier to be shown on applications, solicitations, or advertisements):
- https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=443.827official RSMo § 443.827 (Applicant averments):
- https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=443.729official RSMo § 443.729 (Supervision and enforcement — civil penalty):
- https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=443official RSMo ch. 443 section index:
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/missouri/title-20/division-1140/chapter-30reproduction 20 CSR 1140-30 rule index showing 30.070 Advertising (Rescinded):
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/missouri/20-CSR-1140-30-270reproduction 20 CSR 1140-30.270 (Maintenance of Records):
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/missouri/20-CSR-1140-30-240reproduction 20 CSR 1140-30.240 (Operations and Supervision):