Massachusetts · advertising rules
What a real estate agent's website must show in Massachusetts
Massachusetts' advertising rule, 254 CMR 3.00(9), is brief. Every ad must include the name of the real estate broker and affirmatively disclose that the advertiser is a real estate broker, and an ad may not show only a box number, phone number, email address or street address. Salespersons may not advertise property under their own name, and no broker may advertise in any way that is false or misleading. The regulation has no website, social media or team provisions.
Updated Rules read 2026-10-07
Does a website count as advertising in Massachusetts?
The rule reaches advertising "through classified advertisement or otherwise" and "in any advertising publication or other means", without listing media. It does not mention websites or social media, and nothing in it carves them out. 254 CMR 3.00
“No broker may advertise real property to purchase, sell, rent, mortgage or exchange through classified advertisement or otherwise unless he/she affirmatively discloses that he/she is a real estate broker.”
What every advertisement must show
The name of the real estate broker, on every advertisement. 254 CMR 3.00
“All advertisements shall include the name of the real estate broker.”
An affirmative disclosure that the advertiser is a real estate broker. 254 CMR 3.00
Websites specifically
There is no website-specific rule. Read as written, a website advertising property is an advertisement "by other means": it names the broker, discloses that the advertiser is a real estate broker, and does not rely on a phone number or email address alone. 254 CMR 3.00
Team names
254 CMR 3.00 has no team-name rule. Because salespersons may not advertise under their own name, a salesperson's or team's advertising runs under the broker's name. 254 CMR 3.00
A broker operating under a business or trade name (a "doing business as" name) must give the Board written notice of it. 254 CMR 3.00
What gets agents in trouble
Advertising in any way that is false or misleading. 254 CMR 3.00
“A broker shall not advertise in any way that is false or misleading.”
"Blind" ads that show only a post office box, telephone, fax, email address or street address without the broker's name. 254 CMR 3.00
A salesperson advertising the purchase, sale, rental or exchange of any real property under their own name. 254 CMR 3.00
“Salespeople are prohibited from advertising the purchase, sale, rental or exchange of any real property under their own name.”
Advertising in any manner that indicates, directly or indirectly, unlawful discrimination. 254 CMR 3.00
Worth knowing
254 CMR 3.00(9) does not require a license number, a phone number or an address in advertising; it requires the broker's name and the broker status disclosure. 254 CMR 3.00
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
5,260 real estate agents were working in Massachusetts when we last counted, across 52 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 Massachusetts 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 Board changes a rule, the page will lag until it is read again.
- 254 CMR 3.00 — Professional Standards of Practice, (3) Business Name and (9) Advertising — read 2026-10-07
- Regulator: Massachusetts Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons
Not legal advice. When a rule and this page disagree, the rule wins; when in doubt, ask your broker or the Board.
Questions people ask
What has to be on my website in Massachusetts?
Your broker's name and a statement that the advertiser is a real estate broker. As a salesperson you can't advertise property under your own name alone, so the brokerage name belongs on every page. On SiteCurb the broker-disclosure footer puts it there.
Can I advertise with just my phone number?
No. The rule bars ads where only a box number, telephone, fax, email address or street address appears; the broker's name has to be in the ad.
Does Massachusetts have team advertising rules?
Not in 254 CMR 3.00. The general rules apply: advertising carries the broker's name, and salespersons can't advertise under their own name.