A content team should bring compliance a packet, not just a draft: every advertised term on the page and the disclosures it may trigger, the exact legal name, trade names, and licensing identifiers used, the equal housing statement or logo the firm uses, any affiliated business the page promotes, and a plan for keeping a dated copy of what ran. Compliance decides what the page needs. The content team's job is to arrive with everything compliance will ask about.
Review moves faster when the reviewer is not reverse-engineering a draft. A blog post that mentions a down payment percentage, a loan officer's NMLS number, and the title company down the hall has raised three separate questions, and each one has an owner inside the firm.
This is a content-planning checklist for lenders, brokerages, and property managers. It is not legal advice and not a complete list of what applies to any firm; which rules reach you depends on your charter, licenses, states, and products, and your compliance officer, broker of record, or counsel decides. The broader plan is on the real estate and lending industry page.
Advertised terms and what they trigger
Mark every number in the draft and every word that describes a loan term. Under Regulation Z, closed-end terms such as "the amount or percentage of any downpayment" or "the amount of any payment" trigger further disclosures, including "the 'annual percentage rate,' using that term." A rate of finance charge has to be stated as an annual percentage rate, and for credit secured by a dwelling, the rule lists misleading uses of "fixed," misleading comparisons, and misrepresentations about government endorsement among prohibited practices.
For each marked term, bring its source: the rate sheet or program guideline it came from, the date, and confirmation that the firm offers it today. Writers tend to treat a passing mention as harmless. A mention of a loan term is not the same as a quote of one, but the line between them is the reviewer's to draw, so bring both kinds.
Names, licenses, and identifiers
Bring the exact legal name, every trade name used on the page, and the licensing identifiers your policy says to show, with the source for each. For mortgage companies and loan originators, the reference is the NMLS record; the CFPB points consumers to a free NMLS service that shows whether a company or professional "is authorized to conduct business in your state." For brokerages, bring the broker of record's written guidance on what each page must show. State rules can be detailed: the Texas Real Estate Commission's guidance, for example, as read in October 2026, says each broker and sales agent must link to the Information About Brokerage Services form from its homepage, and sets a size rule for the broker's name when an agent's or team name is on a building sign.
Equal housing statements and images
Some lenders carry a federal logo requirement. FDIC rules, for example, say an FDIC-supervised institution that advertises covered loans must "prominently indicate in such advertisement" its nondiscrimination policy, and that in written and visual ads it may do so with "a copy of the logotype with the Equal Housing Lender legend," placed "in a manner appropriate to the advertising medium and format utilized." Ask compliance which rule, if any, applies to your charter, and bring the approved logo file and placement with the draft.
For brokerages and property managers, HUD's fair housing regulation reaches "any applications, flyers, brochures, deeds, signs, banners, posters, billboards or any documents used with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling." Send every image, caption, and piece of alt text along with the copy, since the reviewer checks what the pictures convey as well as what the words say.
Affiliated businesses and referrals
When a brokerage page recommends its own mortgage, title, or insurance affiliate, RESPA's rule on affiliated business arrangements may apply. Regulation X sets conditions for those arrangements, including a written disclosure in the format of its Appendix D, provided "no later than the time of each referral"; the referring person not requiring use of a particular provider; and limits on what the referring party may receive from the arrangement. Whether a web page, a blog post, or an agent's email signature counts as a referral is a question for counsel.
Bring a list of every affiliate and co-marketing partner the draft mentions, how the firms are related, and any agreement behind joint content. Then ask the marketing lead directly: "Which partners appear anywhere on our site, and do we know whether any of those placements were paid for or shared?" Gaps in that answer are worth closing before the next page goes to review.
Keep a copy of what ran
Regulation N, which applies to persons under FTC jurisdiction, requires keeping materially different commercial communications about mortgage credit products "for a period of twenty-four months from the last date the person made or disseminated" them. Even where that rule does not reach a firm, a dated archive answers the question a regulator, a borrower, or a court may ask: what did the page say on a given day?
Agree on the archive before the page publishes: who saves the approved version, where, and what happens when a rate page or program page changes. Rebuilding last year's page from a search cache is a poor substitute. The writer should not have to reconstruct what the firm published, because the firm keeps its own record and each approved version is added to it.
A fictional example: the packet for one blog post
A fictional brokerage in Virginia with an affiliated mortgage company drafts a post on buying a first condo. The packet that goes to review looks like this.
| Item | What the team brings | Reviewer |
|---|---|---|
| Terms | The post mentions a minimum down payment; the source guideline and its date are attached | Lender compliance |
| Names and identifiers | Brokerage name as licensed; the lender's NMLS identifier | Broker of record; lender compliance |
| Equal housing | Approved logo file and planned placement | Lender compliance |
| Affiliate | The post links to the affiliated lender; the disclosure approach is flagged | Counsel |
| Images | Three photos with captions and alt text | Broker of record |
| Archive | Approved version saved with its date | Marketing lead |
In Hudson South's four steps, the Authority Asset gathers approved business knowledge and evidence, including disclosure language, licensing details, and compliance notes. Hudson Twenty-One records how the firm's loan officers and agents communicate across 21 dimensions. Market Intelligence researches what borrowers and clients ask, and AEO Creation turns those inputs into answer-first content. The program side of this review is on explaining loan programs without quoting rates that change, and review rules are on using reviews in real estate marketing.
Bring compliance a cleaner first draft
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- § 1026.24 Advertising. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read 2026-10-16.
- Is there any way I can check to see if the company or person I contact is permitted to make or broker mortgage loans?. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read 2026-10-16.
- What is the required information that must be provided in advertisements such as signs, email and business cards?. Texas Real Estate Commission. Read 2026-10-16.
- 12 CFR Part 338: Fair Housing. eCFR, Office of the Federal Register. Read 2026-10-16.
- 24 CFR 100.75: Discriminatory advertisements, statements and notices. eCFR, Office of the Federal Register. Read 2026-10-16.
- § 1024.15 Affiliated business arrangements. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read 2026-10-16.
- 12 CFR Part 1014: Mortgage Acts and Practices, Advertising (Regulation N). eCFR, Office of the Federal Register. Read 2026-10-16.