How to Stay Compliant During Seasonal Campaigns

As the holiday season approaches, mortgage marketers have a golden opportunity to connect with consumers in a warm, timely way. But that festive jingle-jangle also brings heightened risk: holiday-themed campaigns can inadvertently trip compliance wires. Yes, even “Happy Holidays, apply now!” posts deserve a second compliance glance. When it comes to tip-toeing through lending’s regulatory minefield, it’s important to know exactly how lenders and marketing leaders can enjoy a cheerful campaign while avoiding the slip-ups that cost time, reputation, and regulatory scrutiny.

Holiday theming and the hidden hazard of “special offers”

It’s tempting to build a campaign around “Holiday Savings” themes. The taglines almost write themselves: “Wrap up the year with a lower rate” or “’Tis the season to refinance.” There’s nothing wrong with these slogans so long as you build in proper guardrails. But be aware of three common traps:

• Triggering credit-advertising rules. Under Regulation Z, if you advertise specific terms (like “3.25 % rate” or even “as low as…3.25%”), you must only advertise terms you are really prepared to offer. If the “holiday rate” isn’t broadly available, you’re walking a dangerous path.
• Missing disclosures or fine print. The “clear and conspicuous” requirement means that any ad must disclose required info in proximity and equal prominence when triggered. A holiday post like “Apply by December 31 and save!” must be matched by accurate disclosures of availability, terms, and restrictions.
• Impulsive calls to action without context. When the language suggests urgency tied to holiday-time (ex: “Don’t wait – offer ends 12/26!”), marketers may overlook that said limited offers need to be honestly represented and available broadly enough so they don’t mislead.

Tip for lenders and marketing leaders: Before distributing holiday-campaign copy or social posts, create an advertising compliance check-list that asks questions like: Are the terms being advertised actually available? Have we included the required disclosures with equal prominence? and Is the offer correctly framed so consumers aren’t misled about availability? There’s nothing wrong with holiday cheer, as long as it’s accompanied by compliant wording.

The fair-lending undercurrent within holiday campaigns

Festive campaigns have another layer of risk: ensuring the campaign doesn’t create unintended disparate treatment, exclusion, or bias. After all, holiday themes aren’t immune from mistakes or regulatory oversight. Some key risk areas to keep in mind:

• Targeting or excluding by geography or media. If you run ads only in affluent media markets or in ZIP codes that are high-income, you may raise fair-lending risk under ECOA and the Fair Housing Act. This is because that style of marketing makes offers and campaigns effectively inaccessible to protected groups.
• Messaging that implicitly discourages certain groups. For example, a holiday image campaign that features only a specific demographic or type of neighborhood can raise questions about inclusion, or the lack thereof. Even advertising and marketing that imply not all applications are welcome violates fair-lending laws.
• Overly strict digital targeting. Holiday campaigns often lean into “gift-giving” or “year-end” themes, for obvious reasons. If you layer audience filters like income, geography, religion, or behavioral data so tightly that you exclude certain protected classes – even unintentionally – you may face disparate-impact risk.

Co-branding, holiday partnerships, and third-party influencers

Holiday campaigns often invite creative touches to attract attention during the festive season, such as partnering with a local business, running co-branded giveaways, and leveraging local influencers with seasonal themes. We’ve probably all seen campaigns similar to “Get your keys by Christmas!” and the like. But yes, each of these examples adds compliance wrinkles.

• Co-Branding with other businesses: If you were to partner with a furniture store, gift shop, or charity for a joint promotion (“Refi with us and we’ll donate to Toys for Tots”), you must ensure that your mortgage marketing rules still apply as they always should. Your partner might generate leads or branding, but you remain responsible for the mortgage offer language, disclosures, licensing identification (such as the NMLS ID) and regulatory consistency.
• Influencers and social posts: When you use influencers or social media “holiday push” content, ensure that it remains consistent with your controlled marketing. If an influencer posts about specials or promotions on your behalf, ensure that message aligns with your compliant disclosures and licensing statements.
• Charitable tie-ins and “special programs”: If your campaign suggests that certain groups (like veterans or first responders, for example) will receive a “holiday home loan special,” this is very thin ice to tread on. If some of those groups are protected under fair-lending laws or the program is advertised to them, you may trigger scrutiny as a “special purpose credit program” (SPCP) under ECOA, which has its own allowable parameters.

Best practice suggestion: Draft a ‘holiday-campaign compliance addendum’ to your marketing approval process, with items like a partner/co-brand checklist, influencer template, charitable tie-in review, and final pre-launch sign-off by the compliance and/or legal departments.

Creativity vs. compliance: how to keep it festive, yet safe

Let’s pivot to the more practical side: how do you maintain that friendly, festive tone while still covering your compliance bases? Here’s a structured approach to consider:

1. Start with campaign copy that conveys the holiday spirit: “Wrap up 2025 with the key to your new home” or “Give the gift of homeownership this holiday season.”
2. Immediately layer in a compliance review gate: Ask yourself if the language used implies a limited-time offer. Are you referencing specific rates or payments? Have you included disclaimers in the right size and proximity, per Reg Z?
3. Ensure your audience scope is inclusive: Check media channels and segmentation filters so you are reaching across geographies and populations, not just one slice. This supports your fair-lending compliance framework.
4. Reflect diversity in visual and narrative elements: Make sure any imagery used to represent a “holiday home” includes various family types, ages, and backgrounds.
5. Partner/influencer content: review for consistency: Verify that external partners display required licensing, disclaimers, and don’t inadvertently narrow access based on protected classes or geography.
6. Final deployment checkpoint: Time to post! Are all disclosures present? Is the NMLS ID displayed? Are the terms genuinely available? Is targeting not overly narrow? If yes, deploy and monitor.

In conversation with your marketing team, it’s a good rule of thumb to confirm that campaigns like a ‘Holiday Home Reward’ are allowable, but stress that they must be treated like any other promotional mortgage offer, with clear eligibility, broad availability, required disclosures, and inclusive messaging.

Monitoring and post-campaign compliance review

After launch, the work isn’t done. A holiday campaign introduces unique variables: accelerated timing, seasonal imagery, and maybe even heightened consumer emotion. That means your review and oversight must keep pace.

• Ensure monitoring of response/granting patterns. If a holiday campaign produces disparate response, such as very low uptake in certain neighborhoods or demographic groups, you may raising a fair-lending flag.
• Retain audit trails. Save all campaign creative, targeting data, partner contracts, influencer posts, and distribution records. Regulators expect documented oversight of marketing programs.
• Debrief the team: what worked & what needs iteration. Did your holiday theme attract new borrowers? Did any regulatory or compliance questions arise? Use the holiday campaign as a learning module for your broader CMS.
• Set a clean close-out. Since holiday offers often carry deadlines (“apply by Dec 31”), make sure the campaign is truly ended or evolved on time, and that the messaging is promptly updated so no residual confusion remains after the season has passed.

The holiday bottom line for mortgage lenders

For executives and directors overseeing marketing, the takeaway is this: Holiday campaigns are not just a fun marketing add-on that can be approached with a lax, loosey-goosey attitude. They trigger the same regulatory and compliance expectations as all other mortgage advertising. The festive veneer can sometimes lull teams into thinking the rules are less serious, but regulators see Christmas tree lights the same as rate-sheet language. In fact, they might look more closely because of the seasonal urgency.

Your strategic challenge? To enable creativity, keep momentum, and preserve brand relevance during the holidays, all while maintaining your firm’s legal footing. That means cross-departmental alignment, clearly-documented approval workflows, inclusive messaging & campaign design, and post-campaign review. You’re not just delivering holiday cheer – you’re safeguarding your institution’s reputation, fair-lending posture, and regulatory readiness.

If you’re a mortgage leader, consider positioning this holiday push as an opportunity to strengthen your compliance culture rather than just a short-term marketing sprint. There’s nothing wrong with leaning into a holiday campaign to spread cheer, good feelings, and opportunity. But be sure to do it in a way that builds your credibility, makes every consumer feel welcome, and reduces risk.

If you have questions about how to navigate the unique challenges of holiday marketing, be sure to contact ActiveComply and learn how our wide array of compliance resources can point you in the right direction. Let the holiday spirit shine: just make sure it doesn’t keep your compliance culture in the dark.