Logos, logos everywhere.

• Author: Pry, Carl G.
• Position: Marketing Compliance

What logos are required to be placed in a particular ad? We're not talking about your bank's logo, but rather regulatory symbols and statements, such as "Equal Housing Lender" or "Member FDIC." Whether or not a logo or statement is required depends on the product being advertised, and each follows differing rules. The three principal logos/statements we'll review here are the Equal Housing Lender logo, Member FDIC, and required disclosures for nondeposit investment products (NDIPs), such as mutual funds, annuities and insurance. We'll tackle the Equal Housing Lender logo first and the others in subsequent columns.

The "Equal Housing Lender" logo is the symbol of a little house with the equal sign (=) inside it. Some call it the "doghouse." The wording appearing immediately below the symbol ("Equal Housing Lender" or "Equal Housing Opportunity") is called the statement or legend. The authority for the use of the logo and statement originally came from HUD under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). [24 CFR 110]

The rule is pretty simple: whenever any advertisement is made dealing with any sort of residential loan product, either the logo or the statement must be present. "Residential lending product" is a broad term and includes home purchase and equity loans used to improve, repair or maintain a dwelling. [12 CFR 338.3 (a)] Construction loans are included, as is any other loan secured by a dwelling (regardless of purpose), so an auto loan secured by a mortgage on a home (for the tax deduction), for example, would count as well.

"Dwelling" is liberally defined as well; it means any structure (or part of one) actually or designed to be occupied as a residence by one or more fancies (where a family can be as small as one person). Vacant land offered for eventual construction of a dwelling qualifies, too [12 CFR 338.2(b)]. The bottom line is that any ad dealing with a residential loan product or dwelling-secured loan should have the logo or statement. Note that this not limited to solely consumer-purpose loans (a common misconception); an ad offering loans to homebuilders, for instance, would require the logo, as well.

The logo and statement both are required on written ads [12 CFR 338.3(a)(1)] (including the Internet) and must be legible to the reader. Either "Equal Housing Lender" or "Equal Housing Opportunity" is acceptable. Back in the "old days" of compliance (meaning more than 10 years ago), HUD used...