Mortgage · Reg Z and RESPA
The words a loan officer cannot use.
Half of what this rulebook refuses has nothing to do with rates. Twenty-five of the 51 phrases are RESPA: paying for referrals, and paying for an agent’s marketing. Most loan officers know not to promise an approval. Fewer know that offering to cover an agent’s ad spend is the same statute that ends careers.
Below is the full list the engine runs, grouped by the rule each phrase breaks. Where a compliant way to say the same thing exists, it is named.
A screening tool, not legal advice. Your compliance officer has the last word.
Two statutes, one piece of copy
Reg Z governs what you may say about a loan: rate, approval, terms, cost. Its problem is the promise made before anybody has underwritten anything.
RESPA Section 8 governs what may move between you and the people who send you business. Its problem is a thing of value given for a referral, and it does not care whether the offer was made in a contract or a caption.
A single post can break both. The engine reads for both at once.
13 of the 51
Paying for referrals
RESPA Section 8, not Reg Z. A thing of value given for the referral of settlement-service business is the oldest problem in this trade, and it does not stop being one because the offer was made in a caption. A gift card counts.
- referral fee
- referral fees
- fee for every referral
- fee per referral
- pay you for every referral
- pay you for each referral
- paid for each referral
- bonus for every referral
- bonus for each referral
- commission for every referral
- commission for each referral
- gift card for every referral
- gift card for each referral
12 of the 51
Paying for an agent's marketing
The same rule, in the form loan officers most often meet it. Paying an agent’s advertising costs, or giving them leads, is a thing of value flowing toward the source of referrals. Co-marketing can be lawful when each side pays its own fair share for its own space — an offer to cover it is not that.
- i'll pay for your marketing
- pay for your marketing
- cover your marketing
- pay for your ads
- cover your advertising
- cover your ad spend
- marketing at my expense
- ads at my expense
- free marketing for agents
- free marketing for my agents
- free leads for agents
- free leads for my agents
7 of the 51
Claiming the government endorses you
An advertisement may not suggest it comes from, or is endorsed by, a government agency. Being FHA-approved to originate is a fact about your licence; “government approved lender” is a claim about who stands behind you.
- government approved lender
- government-approved lender
- approved by the government
- authorized by the government
- government endorsed
- government-endorsed
- official government lender
14 of the 51
Promises made before underwriting
Rate, approval and closing all depend on things nobody knows at the time the ad runs: credit, appraisal, title, lock. This is the group with real alternatives — a description can usually replace a promise and the ad still works.
- guaranteed rate
- guaranteed approval
- guaranteed to close
- you will be approved
- pre-approved today
- instant approval
- no credit check
- everyone qualifies
- lowest rate
- best rate in
- we beat any rate
- risk-free
- guarantee
- guaranteed
“guaranteed rate” say “competitive rates”
A rate cannot be guaranteed before underwriting and lock.
“guaranteed approval” cut it
No lender can promise approval before underwriting. There is no safe way to say it — cut it, or say “pre-approval available”.
“guaranteed to close” cut it
Closing depends on appraisal, title and underwriting.
5 of the 51
Savings you have not substantiated
A savings figure is a comparison claim. It needs a stated basis and the arithmetic behind it, not an adjective.
- save you thousands
- save thousands
- saves you thousands
- cut your payment in half
- slash your payment
“save you thousands” cut it
A savings figure needs a substantiated comparison, not an adjective.
What every piece has to carry
Refusals are half of it. In mortgage the engine also checks that two things are present, and flags a piece missing either:
- The originator’s own NMLS number
- Equal Housing Lender
A clean scan is not a compliant piece. Copy with none of the 51 phrases and neither identifier still fails.
The questions people ask first.
Listings rather than lending? The 167 phrases a listing cannot use →
Can a mortgage ad say “guaranteed approval”?
No. No lender can promise approval before underwriting, and the engine refuses it with no substitute offered. “Pre-approval available” is honest; “pre-approved today” is not.
Is “lowest rate” allowed in a mortgage advertisement?
Not as written. A superlative is a claim about every other lender in the market and has to be substantiated against all of them. “Competitive rates” is a description and carries no such burden.
Can I offer an agent a referral fee?
No. A thing of value given for the referral of settlement-service business is a RESPA Section 8 problem, and that includes a gift card, a bonus or a split. It does not stop being one because the offer was made in a social post.
Can I pay for a real estate agent’s marketing?
An offer to cover an agent’s advertising is a thing of value flowing toward the source of referrals. Co-marketing can be lawful when each side pays its own fair share for its own space and the arrangement is documented. “I’ll pay for your marketing” is not that, and the engine refuses it.
Is “government approved lender” a problem?
Yes. An advertisement may not suggest it comes from, or is endorsed by, a government agency. Being approved to originate FHA loans is a fact about your licence, and it can be stated as one.
What has to appear on every mortgage piece?
Two things: the originator’s own NMLS number and Equal Housing Lender. The engine checks for both and flags a piece missing either.
Run it on something you already posted.
Free, no sign-in, nothing kept. Or put it in your browser and right-click any copy you write.