The legal notices of a real estate website are not limited to a simple copy-paste of a generic template. Between the obligations specific to the Hoguet law, the GDPR requirements reinforced by the CNIL for co-owner extranets, and the DGCCRF controls on environmental claims, the scope of compliance far exceeds what most agencies publish online.
Environmental Claims and Energy Performance Certificates: The Trap That Real Estate Websites Underestimate
Since January 1, 2023, the DGCCRF has included real estate agency websites in its targeted controls on environmental claims. Several formal notices have been issued for the use of terms like “eco-friendly,” “green,” or “low consumption” without objective justification or reference to an Energy Performance Certificate (DPE) or a recognized label.
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We observe that many websites use these qualifiers in their property descriptions or institutional pages without caution. Every environmental claim must be backed by a verifiable document, whether it is a DPE label, a BBC label, or an HQE certification. Writing “low consumption housing” without mentioning the corresponding energy class exposes one to a formal notice.
The legal notices page should include a reference to the agency’s policy on environmental claims, or at a minimum specify that the announced energy performances are based on regulatory energy performance diagnostics. For accessing the Welcome Immo site, it is noted that the structuring of the notices incorporates this type of precaution.
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Online Simulators and ACPR Obligations for a Real Estate Website
Agencies that integrate loan simulators, purchasing capacity, or tax exemption tools on their site cross a regulatory threshold that many ignore. As soon as a simulator refers to a credit offer or an identified banking partner, the site must display the standardized warnings from the ACPR regarding debt risks and the quality of the credit intermediary.
The ACPR Recommendation 2022-R-01 regarding advertising communication for banking operations applies directly here. The ACPR 2023 annual report confirms this doctrine in its chapter dedicated to the distribution of real estate credit.
We recommend integrating a section dedicated to credit intermediation in the legal notices if the site offers this type of functionality. This section should specify:
- The agency’s status as a banking operations intermediary (IOB) or the absence of this status, with a reference to the ORIAS register
- The regulatory warnings about the risk of indebtedness (“A credit commits you and must be repaid”)
- The identity of the banking partner(s) to which the simulator directs the user
Offering a simulator without these mentions turns a commercial tool into a potential infringement.
Co-owner Extranet and Tenant Data Processing: The CNIL Framework
Agencies acting as property managers or rental managers that offer online client spaces (co-owner extranet, landlord portals, tenant access) shift the processing of personal data into a reinforced regime. The CNIL considers that these platforms process sensitive data in a broad sense: bank details, receipts, charge statements, general assembly minutes.
The legal notices page must detail each purpose of processing related to these spaces. A generic reference to “our privacy policy” is not sufficient when the site simultaneously manages commercial prospecting, rental management, and property administration.
Minimum Information Required for Each Extranet
The data controller must be identified for each functional area. If the agency uses distinct subcontractors for hosting the extranet and for accounting processing, each subcontractor must be named in the notices.
Retention periods differ according to the nature of the data. The supporting documents of tenants (pay slips, tax notices) are subject to different retention periods than the documents of co-ownership. Grouping everything under a single duration (“your data is retained for three years”) exposes one to an unfavorable CNIL control.
Legal Notices Specific to the Professional Card and the Hoguet Law
Every real estate agent’s website must display information related to the professional card issued by the CCI. This obligation, stemming from the Hoguet law and its implementing decree, applies to both the showcase site and the advertisements published online.
The mandatory mentions specific to the profession include:
- The professional card number, its date of issuance, and the issuing CCI
- The name and address of the financial guarantee fund, along with the amount of the guarantee
- The indication of professional civil liability insurance, the name of the insurer, and the geographical coverage
- The price schedule for services, accessible from the homepage or the legal notices
The National Council for Real Estate Transactions and Management (CNTGI) is competent to address violations related to these obligations. The absence of the professional card number on the site constitutes a criminal offense, not just an administrative deficiency.
Flyers, Advertisements, and Consistency with the Website
Physical materials (flyers, signs, business cards) and online advertisements must display the same regulatory information as the site. The price must appear inclusive of tax with explicit mention of the fee burden (buyer or seller for a sale, tenant or landlord for a rental). Any inconsistency between the schedule displayed on the site and that practiced on the flyers constitutes a failure in pricing transparency.
The compliance of a real estate website hinges on technical details that standard legal notice templates do not cover. Between the ACPR doctrine on simulators, DGCCRF controls on greenwashing, and the CNIL framework applicable to management extranets, each feature of the site generates its own declarative obligations.