What a real estate agent's website must show in Maryland

Does a website count as advertising in Maryland?

• Yes. The Commission defines an advertisement as any representation, promotion or solicitation to consumers, by any means of communication, about real estate brokerage services, and has a specific rule for electronic media. COMAR 09.11.02.01

  “"advertisement" means any representation, promotion, or solicitation directed to consumers, by any means of communication, for any purpose concerning the provision of real estate brokerage services”

What every advertisement must show

• The broker's name or the company name as it appears on the license. An associate broker's or salesperson's own name may be used only if the connection with the broker is obvious in the ad. COMAR 09.11.02.01

  “A broker may not advertise without disclosing the broker's name or the company name as it appears on the license. A broker may not permit associate brokers or salespersons to use individual names unless the connection with the broker is obvious in the advertisement.”

• If an ad shows an associate broker's or salesperson's individual phone number or email address, it must also show the identified telephone number of the broker or branch office manager. COMAR 09.11.02.01

  “an associate broker or salesperson may not use an individual telephone number or email address in an advertisement unless the identified telephone number of the broker or branch office manager also appears in the advertisement”

• A licensee using a trade name must clearly include the name or trade name registered with the Commission, so the licensee's identity is meaningfully and conspicuously displayed. COMAR 09.11.01.16

Websites specifically

• On electronic media, the broker or company name, and where it applies the broker's or branch manager's phone number, must appear within the first 25 percent of the main page. COMAR 09.11.02.01

  “Any electronic media advertisement shall contain the applicable disclosures set forth in §G(2) and (3) of this regulation either: (a) On the first 25 percent of the main page of the electronic media advertisement”

• On media limited to 280 characters or fewer, the disclosures can instead sit in the first 25 percent of a page reached by a single click on a link from the main page. COMAR 09.11.02.01

Team names

• A team name may not contain "real estate", "real estate brokerage" or any other term suggesting the team offers brokerage services independent of the broker. Md. Code, Bus. Occ. & Prof. §17-547

  “The name of the team may not contain the terms “real estate”, “real estate brokerage”, or any other term that would lead the public to believe that the team is offering real estate brokerage services independent of the real estate broker.”

• All team advertising must contain the brokerage name, displayed in a meaningful and conspicuous way; the name of at least one team member; and the telephone number of the broker or the broker's branch office manager. Md. Code, Bus. Occ. & Prof. §17-547

• The team name must be "directly connected" to the brokerage name. The Commission reads that as: only the word "of", "from", "with" or "at" between them, and no other word, symbol or image between them ("The Smith Team of Example Realty"). Md. Code, Bus. Occ. & Prof. §17-547COMAR 09.11.02.01

What gets agents in trouble

• Advertising without the broker's name or the licensed company name, or showing an agent's name without an obvious connection to the broker. COMAR 09.11.02.01

• An agent's personal phone number or email address in an ad without the broker's or branch office manager's phone number. COMAR 09.11.02.01

• A team name containing "real estate" or "real estate brokerage", or separated from the brokerage name by anything but "of", "from", "with" or "at". Md. Code, Bus. Occ. & Prof. §17-547COMAR 09.11.02.01

• Signing real estate documents in the name of a group or team rather than your own. COMAR 09.11.02.01

Worth knowing

• The Code of Ethics asks licensees to be "especially careful to present a true picture" in advertising. COMAR 09.11.02.01

• Maryland's advertising rule does not require a license number; it requires the broker or company name and, where an agent's own number or email appears, the broker's or branch manager's phone number. COMAR 09.11.02.01

How many agents this applies to

3,796 real estate agents were working in Maryland when we last counted, across 34 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 Maryland 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.

• COMAR 09.11.02.01 — Relations to the Public (G. Advertisement) — read 2026-10-07
• Md. Code, Bus. Occ. & Prof. §17-547 — Teams — read 2026-10-07
• COMAR 09.11.01.16 — Use of Trade Names — read 2026-10-07
• Regulator: Maryland Real Estate Commission (Maryland Department of Labor)

Not legal advice. When a rule and this page disagree, the rule wins; when in doubt, ask your broker or the Commission.

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