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Rhode Island · advertising rules

What a real estate agent's website must show in Rhode Island

Rhode Island's advertising rule, 230-RICR-30-20-2.25, names websites, email and social media. All advertising must include the name of the brokerage or principal broker, larger and more prominent than any agent's or team's name and close to it. On websites, the brokerage's name and contact information must be on the home or landing page and every viewable page; on social media they must be on the profile and within one click or tap of any character-limited post. Team names must include "Team" or "Group" and avoid words like "Realty", "Properties" or "Associates".

Updated Rules read 2026-10-07

Does a website count as advertising in Rhode Island?

  • Yes, by name. The rule's categories of advertising include internet broadcasts, email, websites, social media and other internet media. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

    “categories of advertising include but are not limited to any publication, sign, radio, television or internet broadcasts, billboards, business stationary, business cards, business and legal forms, email, websites, social media and other internet media”

What every advertisement must show

  • The name of the brokerage or principal broker under which you or your team are licensed, larger and more prominent than any agent or team name in the ad, and close to it. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

    “The name of the Brokerage shall be displayed so that it is larger and more prominent than any included name of a Licensee or Team. The name of the Brokerage should be in close proximity to the Licensee's name and/or Team's name.”

  • Your own or your team's name in print smaller and less conspicuous than the brokerage's (business cards excepted), and never displayed so it could be taken for a brokerage name. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

Websites specifically

  • Your website (and any team website) must be approved by the principal broker. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

  • The brokerage's name and contact information on the home or landing page and on every viewable page, prominently displayed, larger than and close to your or your team's information. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

    “Appear on the home or landing page as well as on every viewable page of the licensee or team's advertisements or websites”

  • On social media: the brokerage's name, larger and close to your information, on your profile or landing page, and larger and accessible within one click or one tap of any character-limited post. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

  • Video and audio ads, including those broadcast online, must disclose the brokerage name conspicuously; a team's or agent's logo is allowed only with the brokerage name present, larger and more prominent. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

Team names

  • Team names must include "Team" or "Group" in all advertising. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

  • Team names may not include "Agency", "Associates", "Brokerage", "Brokers", "Company", "Corporation", "Corp.", "Inc.", "Firm", "LLC", "LP", "LLP", "Partners", "Partnership", "Property", "Properties" or "Realty", or any derivation of them. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

What gets agents in trouble

  • False or misleading advertising, or rebate and discount offers likely to confuse or mislead; promotions must disclose all material terms. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

  • An agent's or team's name as large as, or more prominent than, the brokerage's, or styled so it could pass for a brokerage name. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

  • A website for an agent or team that the principal broker hasn't approved. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

Worth knowing

  • Residential property ads must name the municipality; payment and mortgage figures need "to a qualified buyer" and words like "approximate" or "estimated". Franchise advertising must name the brokerage that owns the franchise and say "Each office independently owned and operated". 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

  • A salesperson's business card must say whether the license is as a Salesperson or an Associate Broker. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

  • Rule 2.25 does not require a license number; it requires the brokerage's name (and online, its contact information) given prominence over yours. 230-RICR-30-20-2.25

How SiteCurb handles this

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.

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How many agents this applies to

468 real estate agents were working in Rhode Island when we last counted, across 6 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 Rhode Island 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 DBR changes a rule, the page will lag until it is read again.

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

Questions people ask

What has to be on my website in Rhode Island?

Your brokerage's name and contact information on the home page and every viewable page, larger than and close to your own name. Your principal broker must approve the site. On SiteCurb the broker-disclosure footer carries the brokerage on every page; put the brokerage's name and phone in your header too, larger than your own name.

What about Instagram or Facebook?

Show the brokerage name, larger than yours, on your profile, and make sure it is within one click or tap of any character-limited post.

Can my team be "Smith Properties Group"?

No. Team names must include "Team" or "Group", but can't use "Property", "Properties", "Realty", "Associates" or the other words on the rule's list.