Washington Real Estate Email Signature Requirements (WAC 308-124B-210, 2026)
Washington names email in the rule text itself, which most states do not. The requirement is short — your firm’s licensed name, clear and conspicuous — but the Department of Licensing is unusually specific about what does not satisfy it, and a logo is top of that list.
Step by step
Include your firm's licensed name — the whole thing
WAC 308-124B-210(1): all advertising or solicitations for brokerage services, “to include the internet-based advertising, web pages, email, newspaper, and other visual media must include the firm name or an assumed name as licensed.” It must be the name exactly as licensed.
A logo is not the firm name
The Department of Licensing states this outright: “Including a firm logo or website address does not qualify as including the firm’s licensed name.” A signature carrying only a brokerage logo does not meet the requirement, however recognisable the brand.
Do not abbreviate it
Abbreviations that are not commonly understood fail the test — the DOL gives “R.E” for “Real Estate” and “Rlty” for “Realty” as non-compliant examples. Nor can you use only part of a compound name: where the licensed name is “Big Franchise/South Sound”, advertising just “Big Franchise” is unlawful.
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Download freeUnlock Pro — one-time, no subscriptionMeet the “clear and conspicuous” standard — it is defined
Not a vague instruction. RCW 18.85.011(4) defines it: the term must be “of such a color, contrast, size, or audibility, and presented in a manner so as to be readily noticed and understood.” Grey 9px text at the bottom of a signature is the thing this definition exists to catch.
Add your own name too — guidance asks for it in email
The rule requires only the firm name. But the DOL’s published guidance goes further for electronic media: internet-related advertising a consumer views as a separate unit — “for example, email messages or web pages” — should disclose both the firm’s licensed name and the broker’s licensed name.
Skip the license number — Washington does not require one
A verified negative: the phrase “license number” appears nowhere in RCW 18.85 or the WAC 308-124 chapters governing advertising, and the DOL’s own sample compliant business card does not show one.
Using a team name or personal brand? Get written approval first
Under WAC 308-124B-210(2), a broker advertising under an unlicensed name, title or brand must display the firm’s licensed name clearly alongside it, must avoid “Inc.”, “LLC”, “LLP”, “Corp.”, “firm” and “company”, must avoid “realty”, “realtors” and “real estate”, and must receive advance written approval from the firm’s designated broker.
The rule names email — and that is rarer than it sounds
Most states leave you to argue by analogy about whether an email signature is advertising. Washington does not. WAC 308-124B-210(1) lists the media in the operative text, and email is one of them. The statutory definition behind it, RCW 18.85.011(1), is medium-agnostic anyway: any attempt “by publication or broadcast, whether oral, written, or otherwise, to induce a person to use the services of a real estate firm.”
There is one genuine limit worth knowing. The DOL’s guidance says that once an agency relationship has been established with a buyer or seller, disclosure of the licensed firm and broker names is no longer required in that medium. So the requirement bites hardest on the messages that reach people who are not yet your clients — which, in practice, is an argument for one standing signature rather than two.
A claim you will see everywhere that is wrong
“Washington requires the name of the broker, managing broker, or firm.”
That “or” is wrong for Washington licensees, and it is repeated widely. It comes from RCW 18.85.131(1)(e), which applies only to approved out-of-state licensees working commercial real estate in cooperation with a Washington designated broker.
For a Washington licensee, RCW 18.85.361(8) and WAC 308-124B-210 require the firm’s name. Your own name is not a substitute for it.
Rule versus guidance — worth keeping straight
Two different things are in play, and pages on this topic tend to blur them. The enforceable rule text requires the firm’s licensed name. The requirement to also include the broker’s licensed name in email and on web pages comes from the DOL’s Real Estate Advertising Guidelines, which is an agency interpretation of “clear and conspicuous” and whose own disclaimer describes it as guidelines rather than legal advice. Following it is sensible; describing it as the statute is not accurate.
Worth noting on currency: the advertising rule was last amended effective 31 October 2010, the discipline statute in 2008, and the DOL guidance document still circulating in 2026 is the October 2017 edition. Nothing in the 2024–2026 rulemaking touched advertising.
Titles: what you may and may not call yourself
Washington abolished the salesperson licence — everyone is a broker or a managing broker. A managing broker may advertise as such “even though the advertiser does not manage any other brokers,” because the term denotes a licence category rather than a job. REALTOR® is restricted twice over: it is a registered trademark, and RCW 18.85.361(14) makes misrepresenting membership in a real estate association a disciplinary matter. Professional designations such as CRS or GRI may be advertised while current.
One subtlety: the branding rule bars “realtors” as part of an unlicensed brand you invent — that restricts constructing a name like “Jane Smith Realtors”, not the honest use of the REALTOR® designation if you hold it.
State law vs. the NAR Code
NAR’s Standard of Practice 12-5 requires REALTOR® members to disclose the firm’s name when advertising in any medium, which broadly matches Washington. But SoP 12-9 asks for the firm’s name and state(s) of licensure on websites — and Washington law requires state of licensure nowhere. That is a NAR obligation to your association, not a DOL one.
Sources: RCW 18.85.011, 18.85.361, 18.85.041; WAC 308-124B-210 (eff. 31 Oct. 2010); WAC 308-124A-815; Washington DOL Real Estate Advertising Guidelines (RE-620-400, Oct. 2017); NAR 2026 Code of Ethics. Verified against the Washington Legislature's published RCW and WAC texts and the DOL's own guidance, September 2026.
What does your state actually require?
Pick a state. Every answer is taken from the current rule text and checked against that state’s own statute and regulations — not from a template, and not from the regulator’s summary of its own rules, which is wrong in twenty-six jurisdictions.
The firm name, spelled out, in every signature
Autograph builds the signature with your firm’s licensed name set clearly rather than hidden in a logo — then installs it into Apple Mail in one click and onto your iPhone by QR code, including the mobile signature that usually strips itself back to nothing.
Download Autograph free See the templatesCommon questions
Is my brokerage's logo enough, or do I need the name written out?
You need the name. The Department of Licensing states that “including a firm logo or website address does not qualify as including the firm’s licensed name.” A signature with only a logo does not satisfy the rule, no matter how well known the brand is.
Does Washington require my license number in my email signature?
No. The phrase “license number” does not appear in RCW 18.85 or in the WAC chapters governing advertising, and the DOL’s own example of a compliant business card does not include one.
Do I need my own name in the signature, or just the firm's?
The rule text requires the firm’s licensed name. The DOL’s published guidance goes further for email and web pages specifically, directing that both the firm’s and the broker’s licensed names be disclosed. Include both — the rule sets the floor, the guidance sets the expectation.
Can I use a team name in my signature?
Yes, two ways. If the name is licensed to the firm as an assumed name, it can stand alone. If it is an unlicensed brand, the firm’s licensed name must appear clearly alongside it, the name may not contain “Inc.”, “LLC”, “Corp.”, “company”, “realty”, “realtors” or “real estate”, and you need advance written approval from your designated broker.
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