Email Signature Magic
Get started
All states

Ohio real estate email signature requirements

Ohio's advertising rule, OAC 1301:5-1-02, lists email as a form of advertising but never mentions email signatures. It requires the licensee's name and the brokerage name, with the brokerage name displayed at least in equal prominence with the salesperson's name. A separate rule governs team names. We found no license-number requirement.

Regulator: Ohio Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing. Summarized from the rule text and official guidance linked below, as of October 15, 2026. Not legal advice.

Does the rule cover email?

  • Paragraph (H) defines advertising as any manner, method or activity by which a licensee makes known to the general public properties for sale or lease or services requiring a license, “including but not limited to” a list that includes (9) Email, (8) Voicemail, (6) Internet websites and (11) Social networking sites.
  • Paragraph (I) says advertising does not include private communication between a licensee and a client, customer or prospective client, including email, provided the communication is “initiated at the request of” that person. The rule does not say how this applies to a signature on an email.
  • Paragraph (F) limits the rule to advertising within the licensee's ownership or direct control.
  • Paragraph (D)(1) says that when advertising in “electronic messages of limited information or characters” a licensee must provide a direct link to a compliant display. The rule does not say whether an email is such a message.

Is a license number required?

  • Rule 1301:5-1-02, rule 1301:5-1-21 and R.C. 4735.16(B), as we read them, do not require a license number in advertising.
  • Paragraph (A) of 1301:5-1-02 requires identification “by name.” Name identification consists only of the name of the person, partnership, corporation or similar entity. A licensee may use a different first name or a maiden name if it is not misleading and is registered with the division.

Team names

  • Rule 1301:5-1-21 (effective July 1, 2021) defines a “team” as two or more associated licensees at the same brokerage, which may include non-licensed professionals, who advertise together under a group name that is not licensed.
  • A licensee who advertises as part of a team must include the name of at least one of the licensees as prescribed in 1301:5-1-02 (not every member's name), include the brokerage name in equal or greater prominence with the team name and with the salesperson's name, identify any unlicensed team member named as unlicensed, include “group” or “team” in the team name, and not use “realty” or “associates” in the team name.
  • Paragraph (D) says failure to advertise as provided is prima facie evidence of a violation of R.C. 4735.18(A)(21).
  • The division's Spring 2018 newsletter says a team's or licensee's “brand” or “logo” must comply with the prominence rule if the graphic appears to identify an individual licensee or team name.

Anything specific to signatures

  • Paragraph (B) of 1301:5-1-02 requires the brokerage name to be displayed at least in equal prominence with the salesperson's name in advertising within the licensee's or brokerage's ownership or direct control. A licensee is not in violation where a third-party site's terms or format do not allow control of name size and prominence.
  • The division's Spring 2018 newsletter says font, size, color and placement are factors in equal prominence, and that identifying only a franchise name, only a team name, or only a salesperson's LLC name, without the brokerage, is potentially misleading.
  • Paragraph (C) says that where the brokerage has an approved trade name, the trade name as it appears on the license is the identifying name used in advertising (at least one, if there are several). “Inc.” and similar legal-form words need not appear.
  • R.C. 4735.16(B)(1) and (B)(3) state the same name-and-brokerage and equal-prominence requirements in statute.

A practical checklist

Our reading of the rules above, not language from any rule. Your broker-in-charge has the final say.

  • Show your name as it appears on your license, or your registered preferred first name.
  • Show the brokerage's licensed trade name at the same size, weight and color treatment as your name or larger.
  • If you use a team name, include “Team” or “Group,” avoid “Realty” and “Associates,” and show the brokerage name at least as prominently as the team name.
  • Do not show only a franchise name, team name or personal LLC name in place of the brokerage.
  • Name any unlicensed team member as unlicensed.
  • Have your broker confirm the final wording.

What we could not confirm

  • Rule 1301:5-1-02 is shown on codes.ohio.gov as effective February 10, 2019, page last updated February 11, 2025. Rule 1301:5-1-21 is shown as effective July 1, 2021. The Register of Ohio five-year review filings dated 01/03/2025 for both rules show “No Change”; next review date 01/03/2030.
  • The codes.ohio.gov page for R.C. 4735.16 shows the version dated September 29, 2011 (House Bill 153) as the latest legislation; we did not independently check for later amendments.
  • The division newsletter is from Spring 2018 and is guidance, not rule text.
  • We did not find official Ohio guidance that mentions email signatures.
Build a signature with these details

Add your license number, brokerage name and Equal Housing line in the free generator, or set them once for your whole brokerage and keep every agent's Gmail signature in step.

Free signature generatorSignatures for real estate

Other states

See also what a real estate signature can carry and how to keep it out of spam.

Sources (read October 15, 2026)

Rules change and this page can fall behind. Email Signature Magic is not a law firm and is not affiliated with any regulator. Found something out of date? Tell us.