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

Does a website count as advertising in New York?

• Advertising means promotion and solicitation for licensed real estate activity, and the rule lists websites, email and electronic bulletin boards by name alongside signs, cards and flyers. 19 NYCRR §175.25

  “promotion and solicitation related to licensed real estate activity, including but not limited to, advertising via mail telephone, websites, e-mail, electronic bulletin boards, business cards, signs, billboards, and flyers”

What every advertisement must show

• The name of the real estate broker or brokerage, together with its full address or its telephone number. 19 NYCRR §175.25

• Your licensed name. A nickname may be used only if your full licensed name also appears clearly and conspicuously. 19 NYCRR §175.25

• Your correct license type: real estate broker, associate real estate broker, or real estate salesperson. Abbreviations are allowed if they are not misleading; "sales associate", "licensed sales agent" and plain "broker" for a salesperson are not. 19 NYCRR §175.25

Websites specifically

• Every page of a website — including any page that lists several properties or shows search results — must include the information the rule requires. 19 NYCRR §175.25

  “Every page of such a website, including any page that displays multiple properties or property search results, shall include the information required by these rules and regulations.”

• The homepage must link to the broker's or brokerage's website, unless the brokerage has none. 19 NYCRR §175.25

Team names

• A team is two or more people, at least one an associate broker or salesperson, associated with the same brokerage and holding themselves out as a team. 19 NYCRR §175.25

• A team name must either include the full licensed names of the team's brokers, associate brokers or salespersons, or be immediately followed by "at" or "of" the brokerage name. 19 NYCRR §175.25

• The name must use the word "team"; "associates", "realty" and "group" are not allowed. Unlicensed people may not be named in a team name. 19 NYCRR §175.25

What gets agents in trouble

• Advertising another broker's exclusive listing without that broker's permission. 19 NYCRR §175.25

• Guaranteeing future profits. 19 NYCRR §175.25

• Misleading descriptions of an area or neighbourhood. 19 NYCRR §175.25

• Using someone else's property photographs without written permission. 19 NYCRR §175.25

• Advertising unlicensed team members without clear disclosure that they are unlicensed. 19 NYCRR §175.25

Worth knowing

• New York does not require a license number in advertising under §175.25; it requires the brokerage's name with address or phone, your licensed name and your license type. 19 NYCRR §175.25

• Dates: the rule was amended effective 4 January 2017 and 2 November 2020. 19 NYCRR §175.25

How many agents this applies to

13,666 real estate agents were working in New York when we last counted, across 120brokerage 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 York brokerage directory breaks it down office by office. Counted 2026-09-13.

Sources

This page paraphrases the rules; the rules themselves are what bind you. Each was read on the date shown. If the Department of State changes a rule, the page will lag until it is read again.

• 19 NYCRR §175.25 — Advertising — read 2026-09-06
• Regulator: New York Department of State, Division of Licensing Services

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

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