What a real estate agent's website must show in New Jersey

Does a website count as advertising in New Jersey?

• Yes, explicitly. The rule applies to all categories of advertising, and names electronic media, email and the internet alongside print, broadcast, stationery, business cards and signs. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

  “shall apply to all categories of advertising including all publications, radio or television broadcasts, all electronic media including E-mail and the Internet”

What every advertisement must show

• An ad by a salesperson, broker-salesperson or referral agent carries the name they are licensed under and the regular business name of the broker they are licensed through, the business name being the one on record with the Commission. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

• The broker's regular business name in larger print, or displayed more prominently, than the name of the salesperson, broker-salesperson or referral agent. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

  “shall appear in larger print or be displayed in a more prominent manner than the name of the referral agent, salesperson or broker-salesperson”

• After the regular business name, a term showing the advertiser is in the real estate brokerage business, such as "Realtor", "real estate broker", "broker" or "real estate agency". "Realty" or "real estate" on their own do not satisfy it. Lawn signs on homes of four units or fewer are exempt. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

• If an ad includes a home phone, cell phone, home fax or email address of an agent or team, it must also include the brokerage office's telephone number, and every number must be labelled (for example "home" or "res."). N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

Websites specifically

• An agent's or team's web page that is not linked to the broker's web page must show the telephone number of the brokerage office the agent or team works from (the street address is optional), in wording as large as the predominant wording on the page. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

  “the webpage shall display the telephone number and may display the street address of the licensed brokerage office from which the individual or team operates as real estate licensees. That information shall appear in wording as large as the predominant size wording on the webpage.”

• If the page is linked to the broker's web page, it must clearly show how to reach the broker's page, again in wording as large as the page's predominant wording. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

  “the webpage of the nonbroker licensee(s) shall display information which clearly indicates how to link to the broker”

• Showing another broker's exclusive listing needs that broker's prior written consent. For listings shared over the internet, consent is deemed given when the listing agreement authorises posting (on the broker's site, an MLS or a site they feed) and the originating site does nothing to block links to it. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

Team names

• The website rules name teams directly: a team's web page must link to the broker (and say how) or show the brokerage office's phone number, and a team ad with a home or cell number or email address must add the brokerage office's number. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

• Any insignia, logo, trade name or other identification, used by one licensee or a group, that suggests common ownership or management among licensees is prohibited, except for a single broker's licensed branch offices. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

What gets agents in trouble

• Saying a property is sold, or that you took part in a sale, before closing. Between a binding contract and closing, ads for the property must say "under contract". N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

• Ads with false, misleading or deceptive claims, or that leave out qualifying information needed to keep a claim from misleading. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

• A salesperson or referral agent implying they are licensed as a broker-salesperson, and referring to a "home office" or any location other than the broker's licensed main or branch office. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

• Any ad expressing a limitation or discrimination based on race, religion, creed, color, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry or disability. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

• Free-service or product offers tied to a lottery, contest, game or drawing. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

Worth knowing

• Mentioning licensure by the New Jersey Real Estate Commission is optional, but if you do, it must be followed immediately by "Licensure does not imply endorsement". N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

  “Licensure does not imply endorsement”

• Any mention of a commission rate or compensation amount must be accompanied, clearly and conspicuously, by "In New Jersey commissions are negotiable." N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

  “In New Jersey commissions are negotiable.”

• Property ads must name the municipality the property is in; amounts for down payments, monthly payments or taxes need "approximate" or "estimated", and mortgage or payment figures need "to a qualified buyer". A franchisee using the franchisor's name must show its own business name and "each office is independently owned and operated". N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

• Rule 11:5-6.1 does not require a license number in advertising. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1

How many agents this applies to

12,072 real estate agents were working in New Jersey when we last counted, across 121 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 New Jersey 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.

• N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1 — Advertising rules — read 2026-10-07
• Regulator: New Jersey Real Estate Commission (Department of Banking and Insurance)

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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