For licensed agents in Hawaii

Hawaii real estate advertising rules for Facebook Marketplace posts

A Hawaii licensee’s post has to carry three things: the licensee’s legal or licensed name, the name of the brokerage the licensee works under, and a designation as broker (B) or salesperson (S), or Realtor (R) or Realtor Associate (RA) for members of the Hawaii Association of REALTORS. The Real Estate Commission says these rules reach Facebook Marketplace.

The rule, and the bulletin that applies it to Marketplace

The rule is HAR §16-99-11(e), in Hawaii Administrative Rules, Title 16, Chapter 99. The Hawaii Real Estate Commission’s August 2023 bulletin quotes it and then says where it applies:

“Laws and rules which address advertising for real estate licensees apply to all forms of advertising, whether it is in publications such as newspapers, magazines, or business cards, signage, stationery, websites, and social media accounts such as Instagram, Facebook (including Facebook Marketplace), or TikTok, etc.”

The bulletin quotes the rule as requiring that all advertising and promotional materials that refer to the individual licensee’s name:

“Include the licensee’s legal name, name as licensed by the Commission, or sole proprietor’s trade name.”
“Identify the name of the licensee’s associating or employing brokerage firm.”
Specify that the licensee is a broker (B) or salesperson (S), or, for a current member of the Hawaii Association of REALTORS, Realtor (R) or Realtor Associate (RA).

The bulletin gives examples it calls correct, such as Pete Aloha (B) over Aloha Rainbow Realty, Inc. That is the pattern a Marketplace post can follow.

Which names count

Only a brokerage firm may abbreviate its legal name, and only the entity words such as Incorporated to Inc. A brokerage may use “dba” with its licensed name and its registered trade name.
A salesperson or broker may not use a trade name. An individual may use a “license name” registered with the Commission, built from a nickname, initials and the legal surname.
Licensees cannot advertise using “For Sale by Owner” wording of any kind, and the word Leasehold must be spelled out when a leasehold property is advertised for sale.

The bulletin adds two location rules. If an unregistered office address appears in an advertisement, the principal place of business must appear too, labeled as such. And an advertisement on an island other than the one holding the principal place of business must disclose the brokerage name and the address and phone number of the principal place of business (HAR §16-99-5.2).

Team names

The February 2015 bulletin answers the team question directly: a team advertisement that leaves out the brokerage name is a possible violation of HAR §16-99-11(e)(2). The November 2017 bulletin says Hawaii had no rules specifically about teams, that licensees on teams must follow the existing rules, and that a team name must at a minimum appear with the brokerage name in the same advertisement. It reports an interpretation, not binding, that the rule is met when the team name is added to, and does not replace, the brokerage name. Each team member who is named must be named as registered with the Commission and must show broker or salesperson.

The 2015 bulletin also warns that the principal broker answers for the advertising of every associated licensee.

Permission to advertise a property

Two conduct rules sit next to the advertising rule. The August 2023 bulletin quotes them: the brokerage firm “shall not submit or advertise property without written authorization,” and under HAR §16-99-3(l) a licensee may not place an advertisement indicating a property is for sale, rent, lease or exchange “without the written authorization of the owner or seller and approval of the principal broker” or broker in charge.

So a Hawaii post needs the owner’s written authorization and your principal broker’s approval. For a home another brokerage holds, get the listing side’s yes in writing too. That last step is the safe reading of those two rules together. It is not a Hawaii rule we could find that says so in terms.

A post header that follows the rule

Marketed by Jane Agent (S), Example Realty, Inc.
Listing courtesy of Another Brokerage
Marketing on behalf of Another Brokerage with written permission.

If you advertise as part of a team, add the team name in addition to the brokerage name, never in place of it. Use your own license designation and the brokerage name exactly as licensed.

What we could not verify

A Hawaii rule about advertising another brokerage’s listing. We found no rule or bulletin that addresses it by name. The written authorization rules above are the nearest. Ask the Real Estate Branch or your principal broker.
Whether the rule text has changed. The 2023 bulletin is the newest advertising guidance we read, and the rule text we checked is the compilation dated December 19, 2016. We found no adopted amendment, but the Commission’s own site is the place to confirm.
Where in a Marketplace post the details must sit. The Hawaii materials we read say the information must be included. Unlike Arizona, they do not say it has to show without scrolling.

Read the sources yourself

Where Listing AutomatEr fits

Listing AutomatEr is a desktop app for Mac and Windows that posts the listings you have permission to market to Facebook Marketplace on a schedule, with your name and brokerage and the listing brokerage credited on each post. It does not get the permission for you and it does not decide whether a post meets a rule. Those stay with you and your principal broker.

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