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All states · Filled 2026-09-17

Vermont mortgage advertising rules

Reference only

Adline flags phrases that match cited rules. It does not certify that Vermont 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. Vermont rules are written down here. The engine does not scan for them yet. The engine cites Washington, Arizona, and Idaho only.

Bulletin 44 cites a repealed statute

Vermont Banking Bulletin 44 is guidance, not law. Its background cites 8 V.S.A. 2228, repealed by 2019, No. 20, section 28. Do not cite 2228. The licensed-location substance survives in Regulation B-2014-02 section 2(d).

Regulating agency

Vermont Department of Financial Regulation

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR), Banking Division. 89 Main Street, Montpelier, VT 05620-3101.

NMLS and license display: Conjunctive.

Governing statute and administrative code

Last verified 2026-09-17.

  • [STATUTE] 8 V.S.A. ch. 73. *Licensed Lenders, Mortgage Brokers, Mortgage Loan Originators, Sales Finance Companies, and Loan Solicitation Companies* (§§ 2200–2244+). Vermont is a single-act state: lenders, mortgage brokers, sales finance companies, and loan solicitation companies are all governed by the same chapter, so the "two regimes" problem does not arise the way it does in Washington or Texas.
  • [STATUTE] 8 V.S.A. ch. 72. general provisions, including penalties at §2115.
  • [REGULATION] Vermont Banking Regulation B-2014-02. Mortgage Brokers.
  • [GUIDANCE] Vermont Banking Bulletin No. 44. "Advertising and Social Media," issued October 26, 2016, signed by Commissioner Michael Pieciak. This is guidance, not law.

License and NMLS ID display

Verified

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Required by statute. The statutory requirement is SINGLE-ELEMENT (the unique identifier); the conjunctive company-plus-individual pairing comes only from guidance. That distinction matters for enforceability.

"(a) The unique identifier issued by the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry of any person originating a residential mortgage loan 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 Commissioner. (b) The unique identifier issued by the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry of any person engaging in the business of lending or acting as a mortgage broker, sales finance company, or loan solicitation licensee shall be clearly shown on all loan application forms, solicitations, or advertisements, including business cards and websites, and any other documents as established by rule or order of the Commissioner." — 8 V.S.A. §2244 [STATUTE] (title: "Unique identifier shown")

Note §2244 has two parallel subsections: (a) binds the originating individual, (b) binds the entity. Both are in force.

Bulletin 44 [GUIDANCE] adds three requirements the statute does not state: 1. Prominence standard: "Any advertisement, regardless of medium, that identifies an individual as a mortgage loan originator or engaged in mortgage activity must clearly display the individual's NMLS ID in a manner no less prominent than the individual's title or activity. Example: Jane A. Smith, *Mortgage Loan Professional, NMLS ID 11223344*. This guidance also applies to any other document or correspondence, including business cards and email signatures." 2. Conditional conjunctive pairing: "If an individual's advertisement identifies the sponsoring licensee's name, it must include the sponsoring licensee's NMLS ID. Example: Jane A. Smith, *Mortgage Loan Professional, NMLS ID 11223344*, Gray Granite Mortgage Company, *NMLS ID 998877*." 3. Exact-name and licensed-address rules: "Any name that is displayed in an advertisement must be properly licensed and appear exactly as it is stated on the license certificate. If a licensee uses a name other than its legal name, such as 'The Jane Doe Team' or 'John Smith & Company,' the sponsoring licensee must obtain an additional license to use the other name for each location where it intends to transact business using the other name." And: "Any address that is displayed in an advertisement must be a licensed location and be the same address that appears on the license certificate."

Regulation B-2014-02 §2(d) [REGULATION] independently requires the licensed-location rule for brokers:

"All advertisements and solicitations must use a licensed location. (For example, an authorized mortgage loan originator may not use a home address for advertisements, solicitations, business cards, or correspondence unless such home address is one of the Mortgage Broker's licensed locations.)"

Prohibited claims

Verified

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

No enumerated superlative/magic-word ban. The controls are:

"(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;" "(9) make, in any manner, any false or deceptive statement or representation, including with regard to the rates, points, or other financing terms or conditions for a mortgage loan, to engage in bait and switch advertising, or to represent to the public that the licensee is able to perform an activity requiring licensure unless such licensee is duly licensed or is exempt from licensure;" "(15) fail to identify clearly and conspicuously the licensee and the purpose of the contract in its written and oral communications with a consumer; or" — 8 V.S.A. §2241 [STATUTE] ("Prohibited acts and practices")

§2241(15) is broader than an advertising rule. it reaches oral communications and requires disclosure of purpose, not just identity. Cold-call and outbound-dialer scripts are in scope.

No express ban on "lowest," "best," "cheapest," "guaranteed," "pre-approved," "free," "no cost," or "government affiliation" was found in ch. 73.

Rate advertising

Verified

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

8 V.S.A. §2241(5). advertised specific interest rates, points, or other financing terms must be actually available at the time of advertising. No Vermont-specific APR-prominence or rate-sheet-retention rule was found (contrast Washington).

Ad filing, prior approval, retention

Not yet verified

Last verified 2026-09-17.

  • No filing or prior-approval requirement found.
  • Ad retention period: NOT VERIFIED. No advertising-retention provision was located in ch. 73 or in Regulation B-2014-02.
  • Bulletin 44 [GUIDANCE] imposes a pre-publication review expectation (not a filing requirement): licensees are told to "Review all advertisements before publication and monitor periodically to ensure continued compliance."

Social media and character-limited media

Verified

Agency guidance. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

Vermont has the most explicit third-party-platform guidance in this batch, though it is guidance rather than rule. Bulletin 44's oversight list, verbatim:

"A licensee, especially a licensee that employs and sponsors mortgage loan originators, is responsible for oversight to ensure compliance with Vermont law. Appropriate oversight includes the following: 1) Establish a policy for sponsored mortgage loan originators to provide guidance for advertising and promotional activities including, but not limited to, business cards, email signatures, websites, and social media. 2) Review all advertisements before publication and monitor periodically to ensure continued compliance. 3) Provide advertising requirements to third parties that publish advertisements, i.e. Picket Fences, and design websites or provide platforms, i.e. Facebook or LinkedIn, and follow up to confirm compliance before advertisements or products are placed into production."

No abbreviated-disclosure accommodation for character-limited media. Vermont names Facebook and LinkedIn but grants no relief analogous to Texas §56.203(e). the "no less prominent than the individual's title or activity" standard applies "regardless of medium."

Anything unusual

Last verified 2026-09-17.

  • BULLETIN 44 RESTS PARTLY ON A REPEALED STATUTE. Bulletin 44's Background section states: "In addition, no licensee may transact business or make loans using any other name or at any other place of business than that named on the license. 8 V.S.A. § 2228." 8 V.S.A. §2228 was repealed by 2019, No. 20, § 28. the official Vermont Statutes Online entry for §2228 now reads only: "§ 2228. Repealed. 2019, No. 20, § 28." The Bulletin has not been updated since October 26, 2016. The *substance* of the name/location restriction survives in Regulation B-2014-02 §2(d) (quoted in §3 above), which Retrieved and which is independently binding on mortgage brokers. but do not cite 8 V.S.A. §2228 in a published matrix. This is the kind of stale cross-reference that gets a compliance product marked down.
  • Email opt-out with a hard 10-business-day clock. genuinely unusual, and statutory:

> "(16) fail to provide the ability to opt out of any unsolicited advertisement communicated to a consumer via an email address; to initiate an unsolicited advertisement via email to a consumer more than 10 business days after the receipt of a request from such consumer to opt out of such unsolicited advertisements; or to sell, lease, exchange, or otherwise transfer or release the email address or telephone number of a consumer who has requested to opt out of future solicitations." >. 8 V.S.A. §2241(16) [STATUTE]

Three separate obligations in one paragraph: (i) every unsolicited mortgage email must carry an opt-out mechanism; (ii) suppression must take effect within 10 business days. tighter than CAN-SPAM's 10 *calendar* days; (iii) an absolute bar on transferring the email address or phone number of anyone who has opted out, which cuts off list resale and is not a CAN-SPAM concept at all. Suppression-list architecture built only to CAN-SPAM will fail Vermont on both (ii) and (iii).

  • Chapter 73 covers lenders and brokers together, so unlike Washington there is no "which act am I under?" advertising divergence.
  • Substantial criminal exposure. see §9.

Penalties

Verified

Statute. Guidance is not law.

Last verified 2026-09-17.

"(a) The Commissioner may: (1) impose an administrative penalty of not more than $10,000.00, plus the State's cost and expenses of investigating and prosecution of the matter, including attorney's fees, for each violation upon any person who violates or participates in the violation of this part… (b) Each violation, or failure to comply with any directive or order of the Commissioner, is a separate and distinct violation. (c) It shall be a criminal offense, punishable by a fine of not more than $100,000.00, or not more than a year in prison, or both, for any person, after receiving an order that directs the person to cease exercising the duties and powers of a licensee and imposes an administrative penalty under this part, to perform the duties or exercise the powers of a licensee until the penalty has been satisfied… (d) It shall be a criminal offense, punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000.00 or imprisonment of not more than three years in prison, or both, for any person to intentionally make a false statement, misrepresentation, or false certification in a record filed or required to be maintained by this part…" — 8 V.S.A. §2115 [STATUTE]

Sources

Last verified 2026-09-17. Official means the legislature, the official administrative-code publisher, or the regulator. Reproduction is not the official publisher.