Compliance · Advertising
Regulation N (MAP Rule)
Also known as: MAP Rule, Mortgage Acts and Practices Advertising Rule, 12 CFR Part 1014
Regulation N, the MAP Rule, bans material misrepresentation about any term of a mortgage credit product in any commercial communication, and requires 24 months of advertising records. The FTC issued it as the Mortgage Acts and Practices Advertising Rule at 16 CFR part 321, effective August 19, 2011. Dodd-Frank moved rulemaking authority to the CFPB, which republished it at 12 CFR part 1014. It binds any person who makes a commercial communication about a mortgage credit product, which reaches agencies and lead generators as well as lenders, and the FTC, the CFPB and state attorneys general can all enforce it.
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Who and what the rule reaches
Part 1014 applies to persons over which the Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction under the Federal Trade Commission Act. Inside that scope the reach of the rule sits almost entirely in the definitions at 1014.2, which are written broadly enough that no advertising format falls outside them.
| Defined term | What 1014.2 says | Why it matters in production |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial communication | Any written or oral statement, illustration, or depiction, whether in English or any other language, designed to effect a sale or create interest in purchasing goods or services, in any of a long list of media including radio, television, cable television, film, slide, telemarketing script, on-hold script, the internet, cellular network, or any other medium. Promotional materials and items and Web pages are included | Video and audio are named explicitly. An illustration or depiction counts, so a chart, a badge, or a piece of set dressing is part of the communication |
| Mortgage credit product | Any form of credit secured by real property or a dwelling and offered or extended to a consumer primarily for personal, family, or household purposes | Purchase loans, refinances, home-equity lines and reverse mortgages are all inside. Credit extended for business or investment purposes is not |
| Person | Any individual, group, unincorporated association, limited or general partnership, corporation, or other business entity | An agency, a lead generator, a media buyer and a freelance editor are each a person under the rule |
| Term | Any of the fees, costs, obligations, or characteristics of or associated with the product, and any of the conditions on or related to the availability of the product | "Characteristics" and "conditions on availability" pull eligibility and approval-likelihood claims into scope alongside price |
| Dwelling | A residential structure containing one to four units, whether or not attached to real property, including an individual condominium unit, cooperative unit, mobile home, manufactured home, or trailer used as a residence | Manufactured-housing and mobile-home lending are covered on the same terms as site-built |
| Consumer | A natural person to whom a mortgage credit product is offered or extended | The audience test is who the product is offered to |
The nineteen prohibited misrepresentations
1014.3 makes it a violation for any person to make any material misrepresentation, expressly or by implication, in any commercial communication, regarding any term of any mortgage credit product. The nineteen lettered paragraphs that follow are examples inside that prohibition rather than a closed list. Two words in the opening sentence do most of the work: "implication," which reaches what the creative conveys rather than only what the script says, and "any term," which the definitions define very broadly.
| Theme | What the rule prohibits misrepresenting | Paragraphs |
|---|---|---|
| Price and cost | The interest charged, including how much of each payment is interest and whether the difference between interest owed and interest paid is added to the total due. Any rate, including the annual percentage rate, simple annual rate, or periodic rate. The existence, nature, or amount of fees or costs, including claims that no fees are charged. Any prepayment penalty, including its existence, nature, amount, or terms | 1014.3(a), (b), (c), (f) |
| Payments and product structure | Taxes and insurance, including whether separate payment is required and how much is included in the loan payment. The variability of interest, payments, or other terms, including through use of the word "fixed." Comparisons between a rate or payment available for less than the full length of the product and any actual or hypothetical rate or payment. The type of product, including whether it is fully amortizing. The existence, number, amount, or timing of minimum or required payments, including claims that no payments are required on a reverse mortgage. The amount of the obligation, or the cash or credit available to the consumer | 1014.3(e), (g), (h), (i), (k), (j) |
| Risk and consequences | The potential for default, including the circumstances under which a consumer could default for nonpayment of taxes, insurance, or maintenance. The effectiveness of the product in helping resolve difficulties paying debts, including claims that it can reduce, eliminate, or restructure debt or result in a waiver or forgiveness. The consumer's right to reside in the dwelling and how long that right lasts | 1014.3(l), (m), (p) |
| Affiliation and source | Association with any other person or program, including that the provider is or is affiliated with a governmental entity, or that the product is or relates to a government benefit or is endorsed, sponsored by, or affiliated with a government or other program, including through the use of formats, symbols, or logos that resemble those of such an entity. The source of the communication, including that it is made by or on behalf of the consumer's current mortgage lender or servicer | 1014.3(n), (o) |
| Likelihood of approval | The consumer's ability or likelihood to obtain any mortgage credit product or term, and the ability or likelihood to obtain a refinancing or modification, including whether the consumer has been preapproved or guaranteed | 1014.3(q), (r) |
| Add-ons and advice | The existence, cost, payment terms, or other terms of any additional product or feature sold alongside the loan, such as credit insurance or credit disability insurance. The availability, nature, or substance of counseling services or other expert advice, including the qualifications of the people offering it | 1014.3(d), (s) |
What else Part 1014 requires
| Section | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 1014.4, waiver not permitted | It is a violation to obtain, or attempt to obtain, a waiver from any consumer of any protection provided by, or any right of the consumer under, the part. Landing-page terms cannot be drafted to sign that away |
| 1014.5(a), retention period | Twenty-four months from the last date the person made or disseminated the applicable commercial communication regarding any term of any mortgage credit product |
| 1014.5(a)(1), records of communications | Copies of all materially different commercial communications, as well as sales scripts, training materials, and marketing materials, regarding any term of any mortgage credit product, made or disseminated during the relevant time period |
| 1014.5(a)(2), records of products | Documents describing or evidencing all mortgage credit products available to consumers during the time period in which each communication was made, including the names and terms of each product |
| 1014.5(a)(3), records of add-ons | Documents describing or evidencing all additional products or services, such as credit insurance or credit disability insurance, that are or may be offered or provided with those mortgage credit products, including names and terms |
| 1014.5(b), form of records | Records may be kept in any legible form and in the same manner, format, or place as they are kept in the ordinary course of business. Failure to keep all required records is itself a violation of the part |
| 1014.6, actions by states | A state attorney general, or another officer of a state authorized by the state, may bring an action under the part |
| 1014.7, severability | The provisions are separate and severable. If any is stayed or held invalid, the Bureau's stated intention is that the rest continue in effect |
Where the rule came from, and who enforces it
The FTC issued the Mortgage Acts and Practices Advertising Rule under section 626 of the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act as amended by the Credit CARD Act of 2009, and it took effect on August 19, 2011 at 16 CFR part 321. Section 1097 of the Dodd-Frank Act moved rulemaking authority to the CFPB. 16 CFR 321.1 now holds nothing but a cross-reference stating that the rules formerly at 16 CFR part 321 have been republished by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at 12 CFR part 1014.
The FTC's announcement of the rule stated that the FTC, the CFPB, and the states all will have authority to enforce it, and state enforcement is written into 1014.6. Civil penalties under the Consumer Financial Protection Act run per day of violation in three tiers: $5,000 for a violation, $25,000 where a person recklessly violates a Federal consumer financial law, and $1,000,000 where a person knowingly violates one. Inflation adjustment puts the current maximums at $7,217, $36,083 and $1,443,275 for penalties assessed after January 15, 2025.
Channel: how Regulation N lands on each format
Because the definition of commercial communication names the media itself, nothing turns on choosing one format over another. What changes by channel is where the misrepresentation tends to come from and what the 24-month record has to capture.
| Channel | Where the exposure sits | What the 24-month record has to hold |
|---|---|---|
| Long-form video on YouTube or a site | An illustration or depiction is a commercial communication, so a chart, an on-screen payment figure, or a badge behind the host carries the same exposure as the voiceover. A seal-style graphic can misrepresent government affiliation under 1014.3(n)(2) even where the script never claims one | The published cut, the script, and every materially different version, for 24 months from the last date each was disseminated |
| Short-form and paid social | Ad platforms generate many materially different variants from one creative, and each variant is its own commercial communication. Headline claims about approval sit on 1014.3(q) | Every materially different variant, not one representative version. Ad managers purge creative on their own schedule, so exports belong somewhere you control |
| Email and nurture sequences | 1014.3(o) covers the source of the communication, and a subject line implying the message comes from the consumer's current lender or servicer is the rule's named example | Each materially different send, plus the templates and the sales scripts behind them |
| Lead-generation landing page | Web pages are named in the definition. Form copy along the lines of "see if you are approved" runs at 1014.3(q) and (r), which cover preapproval and guarantee claims for new loans and for refinancing or modification | The page as it ran, including each materially different variant of a split test |
| Audio: radio, podcast read, on-hold message | Oral statements are inside the definition, and on-hold script, telemarketing script, upsell script, and audio program transmitted over a telephone system are each named | The scripts and the recordings as aired |
| Internal training material | Training materials provided to telemarketing firms are named in the definition of commercial communication, and 1014.5(a)(1) requires sales scripts and training materials to be retained whether or not consumers ever see them | The material as issued, for the same 24 months |
What this means for your marketing
Nothing you add cures a prohibited claim. Regulation Z trigger terms work by compelling disclosures once a term appears in an ad. 1014.3 works by banning the misrepresentation itself, so no superimposition, no asterisk, and no end-card disclaimer makes a false claim about a term compliant. The fix is always to change the claim.
Implication is the operative word. 1014.3 covers misrepresentation made "expressly or by implication." In video that reaches set dressing, chyrons, thumbnails, and stock footage. A government-style seal in the corner, an official-looking envelope in a thumbnail, or a lower third reading "2026 federal update" can carry a claim the script never makes.
The 24-month clock starts when the ad stops running. The retention period runs from the last date the person made or disseminated the communication. An evergreen video that stays up keeps resetting its own window, so the archive has to outlive the campaign rather than the quarter.
Every materially different variant is its own record. A paid social flight that produces fifteen headline and image combinations produces fifteen commercial communications to retain, alongside the scripts and marketing materials behind them. Exporting them at the end of a flight costs an hour. Reconstructing them two years later costs a great deal more.
The rule reaches your agency directly. Person covers a corporation or other business entity, 1014.3 prohibits any person from making the misrepresentation, and 1014.5 puts the recordkeeping duty on any person subject to the part. An agency or lead generator producing mortgage creative carries its own obligation, and under 1014.6 a state attorney general can bring the action.
Regulation N applies alongside the disclosure rules. Regulation Z trigger terms still force the additional disclosures once a downpayment, payment amount, repayment period, or finance charge appears in an ad, and 1026.24(i) adds its own prohibited acts for dwelling-secured credit. RESPA Section 8 governs the arrangement behind co-marketed content, since no person may give or accept a fee, kickback, or other thing of value for the referral of settlement service business. Regulation DD applies where the same institution also advertises deposit accounts.
What this looks like in practice
1014.3(q) covers misrepresentations about the consumer's ability or likelihood to obtain any mortgage credit product or term, including whether the consumer has been preapproved or guaranteed.
1014.3(n)(2) reaches misrepresentations made through formats, symbols, or logos that resemble those of a government entity, organization, or program. Regulation Z's 1026.24(i)(3) separately bars calling a product a government loan program unless it is one.
1014.3(o) covers misrepresenting that a commercial communication is made by or on behalf of the consumer's current mortgage lender or servicer. For dwelling-secured credit, 1026.24(i)(4) adds equal-prominence self-identification and an express non-association statement.
1014.3(m) covers misrepresentations that a mortgage credit product can reduce, eliminate, or restructure debt or result in a waiver or forgiveness of an existing obligation.
1014.5(a)(1) requires copies of all materially different commercial communications, as well as sales scripts, training materials, and marketing materials, kept for 24 months from last dissemination.
Common questions
Primary sources
- 12 CFR Part 1014, Mortgage Acts and Practices Advertising (Regulation N)full rule text, definitions at 1014.2 and prohibited representations at 1014.3
- 16 CFR 321.1, Cross-referencethe FTC rule's republication by the CFPB at 12 CFR part 1014
- FTC, FTC Issues New Rule Strengthening Consumer Protections Against Deceptive Mortgage Advertisementseffective date and shared FTC, CFPB and state enforcement
- 12 U.S.C. 5565(c), civil penalty tiersthe three statutory per-day penalty tiers
- 12 CFR 1083.1, Adjustment of civil penalty amountscurrent inflation-adjusted maximums
Related terms
Daniel Schoester
Founder & CEO
Daniel Schoester combines years of SEO obsession with financial know-how. After receiving an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance), Daniel began working at a prominent mortgage website, where his content quickly quadrupled monthly traffic to over one million views.
Building on this success, Daniel launched Croton Content to help clients scale through evergreen content assets — notably working with Forbes Advisor, Moneywise, and Hardbacon.
In 2024, Daniel expanded his focus to YouTube after studying Google’s algorithm changes. He noticed YouTube’s increasing alignment with search visibility compared to traditional written SEO content — plus its ability to generate passive revenue and long-term brand authority.
Educational information only. This is not legal or compliance advice. Confirm current requirements with your compliance officer and the primary sources above.
Last reviewed: 10 September 2026 · Reviewed against the text of 12 CFR part 1014, 16 CFR 321.1, 12 CFR 1083.1 and the FTC's rule announcement.