Iowa · advertising rules
What a real estate agent's website must show in Iowa
Iowa's advertising rule, 193E-10.1 (amended June 2025), names websites, email and social media as advertising. An agent or team must conspicuously display the brokerage's name immediately before or after the agent's or team's name in any advertising. On a website or social media account you own or control, each page must also show your legal name, the office's city and state, and the states where you are licensed. Ads must identify you as a real estate licensee, not a private party.
Updated Rules read 2026-10-07
Does a website count as advertising in Iowa?
Yes, by name. Advertising covers every form of promotion or solicitation to the public about licensed real estate activity, and the rule lists email, websites and social media. Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.1
“Forms of advertising include, but are not limited to, real estate brokerage checks, letterhead, email, signs, websites, social media and business cards.”
What every advertisement must show
The brokerage's name, conspicuously displayed immediately before or immediately after your name or your team's name, in any advertising or information made available to the public. Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.1
“An individual licensee or real estate team shall conspicuously display the name of the brokerage immediately preceding or immediately following the individual licensee's name or real estate team name in any advertising or information made available to the public.”
The licensed business name (or the name the broker is licensed under), and an affirmative, unmistakable indication that the advertiser is a real estate licensee and not a private party. Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.1
Websites specifically
On each page of a website or social media account you own or control that carries your advertising or information: your legal name; the firm's name as registered with the Commission, unabbreviated, immediately before or after your name or team name; the city and state of your office; and the states where you hold a license. Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.1
Email and other internet communications used for advertising must include the same information on the first or last page of every communication. Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.1
"Conspicuously display" means a reasonable person would be able to identify or observe it. The broker must correct a material error or violation within ten calendar days of learning of it. Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.1
Team names
A real estate team must conspicuously display the brokerage's name immediately before or after the team name in any advertising; a team that isn't a principal broker or firm doesn't need to register a trade name. Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.1
What gets agents in trouble
Advertising in a way that suggests the offer is from a private party, or ads showing only a post office box, phone number or street address. Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.1
Misleading or deceptive advertising, or intentionally misrepresenting any property, terms, values, policies or services of the brokerage. Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.1
Salespersons and broker associates advertising under their own names, except for their own property in a true for-sale-by-owner sale with no brokerage involved. Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.2
Placing a sign on property without the owner's written consent, or continuing to advertise a property after the listing expires without a new listing or extension. Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.3
Worth knowing
Iowa's rule does not require a license number; it requires the brokerage name next to yours and, online, your legal name, office location and licensing states. Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.1
Every SiteCurb site has a broker-disclosure footer on every page, listings included: your name, your brokerage and your license number, plus a disclosure field for the text and links your state requires (Texas agents get a one-click helper for the two TREC links). Fill it in once and it is on every page.
How many agents this applies to
387 real estate agents were working in Iowa when we last counted, across 4 brokerage offices. That is agents with a live profile on a brokerage's own site, not everyone holding a licence, so it is the population these rules actually bind day to day. The Iowa brokerage directory breaks it down office by office. Counted 2026-10-07.
Sources
This page paraphrases the rules; the rules themselves are what bind you. Each was read on the date shown. If the Commission changes a rule, the page will lag until it is read again.
- Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.1 — Advertising — read 2026-10-07
- Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.2 — Advertising under own name — read 2026-10-07
- Iowa Admin. Code r. 193E-10.3 — Signs on property — read 2026-10-07
- Regulator: Iowa Real Estate Commission
Not legal advice. When a rule and this page disagree, the rule wins; when in doubt, ask your broker or the Commission.
Questions people ask
What has to be on my website in Iowa?
On each page: your legal name, your brokerage's registered name (no abbreviations) right before or after your name or team name, your office's city and state, and the states you're licensed in. On SiteCurb the broker-disclosure footer carries your name and brokerage on every page; add the office city and state and your licensing states to the disclosure field, and keep the brokerage name next to your name in the header.
Does my email signature need anything?
Yes. Marketing emails need your legal name, the brokerage name, your office's city and state and your licensing states on the first or last page; a signature block can carry it.
Does my team need to register its name?
Not as a trade name, unless the team is itself a principal broker or firm. But the brokerage name must sit right next to the team name in every ad.