§16-99-11

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(a) The proposed amendment will require all real estate advertising and promotional materials to prominently and conspicuously include the legal name of the brokerage firm or trade name. This amendment is intended to ensure consumers are able to easily identify the brokerage. It also includes a new requirement to include the license number or the brokerage in all advertising and promotional material, which will aid consumers in determining the current status of the licensee in conjunction with existing Professional Vocation Licensing Division’s (PVL) web-based license search and the recent roll-out of the PVL license search via mobile devices.

New Rule
Old Rule
(a) All real estate advertising and promotional materials shall prominently and conspicuously include the legal name of the brokerage firm or a trade name previously registered by the brokerage firm with the business registration division and with the commission and the license number of the brokerage. The license number of the brokerage shall not be required for all advertising and promotional materials that comply with paragraph (e).
(a) All real estate advertising and promotional materials shall include the legal name of the brokerage firm or a trade name previously registered by the brokerage firm with the business registration division and with the commission. For advertising and promotional purposes only, a brokerage firm may:

 

(c) The proposed amendment will limit the scope only to inactive licensees as the requirement is redundant with respect to current and active licensees.

New Rule
Old Rule
(c) Current individual real estate licensees on inactive status shall disclose the licensee's inactive status in all advertising and promotional material.
(c) Current individual real estate licensees, whether active or inactive, shall disclose the licensee's status as a real estate licensee in all advertising and promotional material.

 

(e) The proposed amendment will require an individual licensee to include their license number in all advertising and promotional materials. Additionally, in response to concerns raised by the Hawaii Association of REALTORS© August 15, 2011, the requirement to include the block “R”, “Realtor”, block “RA”, or “Realtor Associate”, which are registered trademarks of the National Association of REALTORS©, has been deleted, as approved by the commission’s Laws and Rules Review Committee in its September 7, 2011 meeting.

New Rule
Old Rule
(e) All advertising and promotional materials that refer to the individual licensee's name, including but not limited to business cards, shall.

(1) Include the licensee's legal name, name as licensed by the commission, or sole proprietor's trade name as licensed by the commission;

(2) Identify the licensee with the licensee's associating or employing brokerage firm; and

(3) Include the licensee's license number as issued by the commission.

(e) All advertising and promotional materials that refer to the individual licensee's name, including but not limited to business cards, shall:

(1) Include the licensee's legal name, name as licensed by the commission, or sole proprietor's trade name as licensed by the commission;

(2) Identify the licensee with the licensee's associating or employingbrokerage firm; and

(3) Specify that the licensee is a broker (B), or salesperson (S), or if a current member of the Hawaii Association of Realtors, Realtor (R) or Realtor-Associate (RA).