Real Estate Practice, Advertising, Trust Accounts and Fair Housing
Core concepts
Advertising must be truthful and must identify the responsible broker or firm as required by OREC rules. Blind ads that omit the broker's identity are a trap. Teams and assumed names must be used consistently with licensing records. Trust funds-earnest money, security deposits, rents held for others-must be handled through a proper trust account, with accurate records, no commingling, no conversion, and timely disbursement. A broker should reconcile trust accounts regularly and keep records available for inspection.
Fair housing law prohibits discrimination based on protected classes, including race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability under federal law, with Oklahoma protections layered on. Licensees must avoid discriminatory advertising, steering, different terms, and refusal to make reasonable accommodations or allow reasonable modifications. Words and images matter: describe the property, not the preferred buyer.
Traps
One trap is holding a buyer's deposit in the broker's operating account; that is commingling. Another is treating a "deposit" as non-refundable without written authority. In advertising, "exclusive" or "best" claims can be misleading unless substantiated. Fair housing questions may hide discrimination in seemingly neutral rules, such as occupancy limits or no-children policies. Do not assume state and federal protected classes are identical.
Worked example
An ad reads: "Perfect for young Christian family-walk to church." It identifies no broker and signals religious and familial preferences. It should be rewritten to describe the property objectively and include the firm name, such as "3-bedroom home near local schools and places of worship; listed by [Firm]."
Rule of thumb
If funds belong to someone else, they belong in trust. If an ad describes the ideal person rather than the property, revise it.