South Carolina mortgage advertising rules

License and NMLS ID display

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Regime A. STATUTE, § 40-58-110(D), quoted in full:

"All licensees licensed through the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry must use the unique identifier assigned in all advertising and on all mortgage loan documents."

Conjunctive or disjunctive: single-element and mandatory. the unique identifier, in all advertising. No alternative is offered, so the question does not arise. No company name, license number, address, or NMLS link is required by statute. Note "All licensees". this reaches both the brokerage entity and its individual loan originators.

Regime B. NOT VERIFIED. No provision in Title 37, Chapter 22 requiring the unique identifier in advertising was located. The full chapter text was retrieved and every occurrence of "advertis" examined; there is no § 40-58-110(D) analogue. Chapter 22 defines "Unique identifier" at § 37-22-110(42) and requires MLOs to maintain one, but does not, in the text retrieved, mandate its display in advertising. This is a genuine asymmetry between the two South Carolina regimes and should be flagged rather than smoothed over. Practically, SC mortgage lenders are still bound by the federal SAFE Act implementing rules and by § 37-22-190(A)(15) ("fail to comply with this chapter or other state or federal law"), so the identifier should be used regardless. but the *state statutory* hook is present in Chapter 58 and absent in Chapter 22.

Prohibited claims

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Both regimes. near-identical parallel provisions:

• § 40-58-70(A)(11) / § 37-22-190(A)(16). prohibited to "falsely advertise or misuse names in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 709 or state law." *18 U.S.C. § 709 is the federal criminal prohibition on misuse of bank-related and federal-agency names and titles. this is South Carolina's "government/bank name" hook.*
• § 40-58-70(A)(12) / § 37-22-190(A)(17). prohibited to "use any trade name or insignia of membership in any organization of which the licensee is not a member or advertise falsely through any material including, but not limited to, any business card, stationery, or signage concerning a designation or certification of special education, credentials, trade organization membership, or business." *Attaches to: professional designations, certifications and trade-group membership claims. a credential-inflation rule. Compare OAR 441-870-0081 in Oregon.*
• § 40-58-70(A)(8) / § 37-22-190(A)(6). see §5 (availability).
• § 37-22-190(A)(8). conduct "not in good faith or fair dealing," or "unconscionable, as set forth in Section 37-5-108."
• § 37-22-190(B). "A violation of a state or federal law applicable to a business covered by this chapter is a violation of this chapter and may be enforced by the commissioner." *This makes federal Reg N / Reg Z advertising violations directly enforceable by the SC Commissioner.*

Unlicensed-advertising prohibitions (both regimes):

• § 40-58-30(A). a person required to be licensed may not "circulate or use advertising, including electronic means, or make a representation or give information to any person, which indicates or reasonably implies activity within the scope of this chapter unless that person has a license."
• § 37-22-120(A)(2). parallel: unlawful to "circulate or use advertising, including electronic means, make a representation or give information to a person which indicates or reasonably implies activity within the scope of this chapter" without a license.

Regime A only. § 40-58-60(D): "A licensee may not represent that its services or contracts are approved by the State or a state agency." *A direct ban on "state approved" claims.*

No express South Carolina ban on "lowest," "best," "cheapest," "guaranteed," "pre-approved," "free," or "no cost" was found, and no superlative prohibition.

GUIDANCE. SCDCA Memorandum #04-002 (June 21, 2004): warns that "Section 40-58-70(1) prohibits brokers from presenting themselves in the guise of lenders" and cautions brokers "to be careful when making solicitations so that you do not risk running afoul of the prohibition of presenting themselves as a lender." Note this guidance is over twenty years old and its statutory cross-reference predates the 2009 recodification of Chapter 58 (2009 Act No. 67). Treat the broker-as-lender concern as live (it parallels NY § 38.2(d)) but do not rely on the cited subsection number.

Rate advertising

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

• § 40-58-70(A)(8). prohibited to "advertise mortgage loans, including rates, margins, discounts, points, fees, commissions, or other material information, including material limitations on the loans, unless the person is able to make the mortgage loans as advertised available to qualified applicants."
• § 37-22-190(A)(6). near-identical: prohibited to "advertise mortgage loans including rates, margins, discounts, points, fees, commissions, or other material information including material limitations on the loans, unless the person is able to make the mortgage loans available as advertised to qualified applicants."

*Attaches to: rates, margins, discounts, points, fees, commissions and any other material information. one of the broadest availability triggers in this batch.*

Blanket incorporation of TILA and the SC Consumer Protection Code. both regimes:

• § 40-58-60(F): "All advertisements of mortgage loans must comply with the Truth in Lending Act, 15 U.S.C. 1601, et seq., and the South Carolina Consumer Protection Code, Title 37."
• § 37-22-140(N): identical text.

*Practical effect:* South Carolina elevates federal Reg Z advertising compliance into a state licensing obligation in both regimes, and layers the SC Consumer Protection Code (Title 37) on top of it. No South Carolina-specific APR, rate-lock, or "rates subject to change" advertising rule beyond that incorporation was located.