Marketing with a Realtor or Builder

The following guidelines and procedures are essential to abiding the law and meeting the compliance requirements of the PrimeLending Corporate Communications Department.

1. Any marketing, advertising, or promotional products, etc. done with any Realtor, builder, insurance agent, title company, etc. must split the cost between the two parties. This is a proportional split to the amount of space each person has on the ad or marketing piece. Example: if the loan officer and Realtor both share the ad 50/50, the split cost for each would be 50% of the total cost. If the loan officer has 3/4 of the ad and the Realtor had the remaining 1/4, the loan officer would pay 3/4 of the total cost while the realtor paid the remaining 1/4.



2. If a co-branded piece is designed and produced outside of the PrimeLending Corporate Communications Department, documentation (such as invoices, cancelled checks, etc..) of how the cost of the piece was proportionally split must be provided to ensure RESPA compliance.



3. A PrimeLending loan officer must be on all marketing pieces printed with a Realtor. Design and printing will NOT be done solely for the Realtor.



4. To ensure printing costs are ALWAYS split proportionally, professional printing of ANY and ALL flyers MUST be approved by Max Leaman. Please give Max a call (512) 293-1239.



5. Understanding co-branded marketing in real estate and mortgage can be difficult. Most RESPA policy is written to address kickbacks from builders, lenders, and real estate agents. Often, co-branded marketing questions seem to go unanswered. Nonetheless, RESPA very much applies to co-branded marketing. This white paper from a lawyer for Arizona Association of Realtors is the best information I've ever found about RESPA and co-branded marketing.