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Virginia real estate email signature requirements

Virginia's advertising rule, 18VAC135-20-190 (rewritten effective April 1, 2026), does not mention email signatures. It requires all advertising by a firm or affiliated licensee to carry a clear, legible and conspicuous disclosure of the firm's name and the office contact information, which the broker's written policies specify. We found no requirement to show a license number.

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

Does the rule cover email?

  • 18VAC135-20-10 defines “advertising” as all communication disseminated through any medium to consumers for any purpose related to licensed real estate activity. Neither that definition nor 18VAC135-20-190 names email or signatures, so whether a particular email footer is “advertising” is a reading of the definition, not something the rule states.
  • Paragraph B.1 of 18VAC135-20-190 applies to all advertising by a firm or affiliated licensee. It must contain a clear, legible, and conspicuous advertising disclosure that includes (i) the firm's name and (ii) the office contact information. The rule says the office contact information and any additional required information are specified by the principal or supervising broker in the firm's written policies.
  • Paragraph A requires all advertising to be under the direct supervision of the principal or supervising broker and in the name of the firm, and says the firm's licensed name must be clearly and legibly displayed on all advertising.
  • 18VAC135-20-10 separately defines “contact information” as a telephone number, email address, or web address of the firm or branch office, or a digital link to one when used in digital advertising. Section 190 uses the phrase “office contact information” and leaves its content to the firm's written policies; it does not say which items must appear.

Is a license number required?

  • We found no provision in 18VAC135-20-190, or elsewhere in the 18VAC135-20 chapter text, that requires a license number to appear in advertising. The items the rule requires are the firm's name and the office contact information.
  • Paragraph B.1 lets the principal or supervising broker specify “any additional required information” in the firm's written policies, so a brokerage's own policy may ask for more than the regulation does.

Team names

  • The Code of Virginia (§ 54.1-2100) defines a “real estate team” as two or more individuals, at least one of whom is a salesperson or broker, who work together as a unit within the same firm, represent themselves to the public as one unit, and designate themselves by a fictitious name.
  • § 54.1-2106.1 D says a group of licensees may not act as a real estate team without first obtaining a business entity salesperson's license from the Board. 18VAC135-20-10 includes a “real estate team that has an active license” within “affiliated licensee”, so paragraph B.1 reaches a licensed team's advertising the same way it reaches an individual's.
  • 18VAC135-20-190 has no team-specific paragraph. It does not set a size relationship between a team name and the firm name and does not say a team name must sit beside the brokerage name. What it does say is that the firm's licensed name must be clearly and legibly displayed on all advertising (paragraph A).
  • 18VAC135-20-45 requires a business entity licensee to register any trade or fictitious names with the State Corporation Commission. § 54.1-2110.1 requires each real estate team to be supervised by a supervising broker, and requires the office to have written policies on advertising and marketing of the firm and any affiliated teams.

Anything specific to signatures

  • Neither the regulation nor any Board guidance we found mentions signatures, footers, or signature blocks.
  • 18VAC135-20-170 A.2 lets a licensee use a professional name other than a legal name if the name is filed with the Board before use. The professional name must include the first or last name and must not include any titles.
  • 18VAC135-20-190 B.3 and B.4 apply to property information in advertising. It must be consistent with the property's condition and current contract status and be updated in a timely manner after a material change to listing status or description. This matters only if a signature carries listing or banner content.
  • DPOR's Fair Housing Advertising page (fair housing guidance, not a Real Estate Board advertising rule) says all advertising of residential real estate for sale, rent, or financing should contain an equal housing opportunity logotype, statement, or slogan. The page uses “should”.

A practical checklist

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

  • Show your firm's licensed name as readable text next to your name, not only inside a logo image.
  • Include the office contact information your broker's written advertising policy specifies, such as the office phone number or web address.
  • If you use a team name, still show the firm's licensed name with it.
  • Ask your principal or supervising broker for the firm's written advertising policy and follow it; it may require items the regulation does not.
  • If your signature promotes residential sales, rentals or financing, consider an equal housing logo or statement, as DPOR's fair housing page recommends.
  • Keep any listing or promotional content in the signature current.

What we could not confirm

  • Rule text read: 18VAC135-20-190, 18VAC135-20-10, 18VAC135-20-20, 18VAC135-20-45 and 18VAC135-20-170 as displayed on the Virginia Administrative Code site on October 15, 2026. 18VAC135-20-190 and 18VAC135-20-10 each show a latest amendment in Virginia Register Volume 42, Issue 14, effective April 1, 2026.
  • The text in force before April 1, 2026 (shown struck through in the Register publication of the final regulation) had separate electronic media paragraphs that listed “email messages” as an example and tied the required disclosure to the licensee's name, firm name, and city and state. Those paragraphs were deleted. The Board's agency statement describes the change as replacing electronic media, sign and business card requirements with less prescriptive performance standards. Older summaries of Virginia's rule may describe requirements that no longer apply.
  • Whether an individual email signature is “advertising” under the definition is not addressed by the rule or by any guidance we found. Confirm with the Board or your broker.
  • The regulation does not define “office contact information”. Its definition of “contact information” refers to the firm or branch office.
  • We did not find a separate naming standard for team (business entity) names in the current 18VAC135-20 text, although § 54.1-2106.1 C directs the Board to set standards for business entity salesperson names when more than one licensee is an owner or officer.
  • Going by titles, the Board's guidance document list on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall (28 documents) includes none on advertising or teams. We did not open each document.
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Sources (read October 15, 2026)

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