ReferenceGoogle Ads disapproval
Loan modification
Google disapproves loan modification ads that guarantee a modification or foreclosure prevention, charge upfront fees, ask for property titles, offer below-market home purchases, route payments around the lender, or discourage contact with lenders and counselors. The one named exception is an upfront fee charged by a law firm. Fix the ad and its landing page together, then save for review.
At a glance
- Where it shows
- The Status column on the Ads & assets page, as Disapproved under this policy.
- What stops
- The ad stops serving. Some violations also count toward a strike.
- How serious
- Serious over time. An account gets one warning and up to three strikes, and the third strike suspends it.
What it means
The policy restricts certain loan modification products and services in ads for mortgage-related and foreclosure-related sites and apps. Each practice it lists leads to disapproval.
Each listed practice is a reason on its own. The page names guaranteeing loan modification or foreclosure prevention, charging upfront fees, asking people to transfer or surrender property titles, offering to buy a house below market price, asking people to bypass the lender and pay the company or another third party, and encouraging people not to contact their lender, lawyer, credit counselor or housing counselor.
What actually triggers it
A guarantee of modification or foreclosure prevention
The page names guaranteeing loan modification or foreclosure prevention. A line on the landing page that promises the outcome counts as well as one in the ad.
An upfront fee
Charging a fee before the service is provided is disapproved, except where a law firm provides the service.
A request to transfer a property title
Asking people to transfer or surrender a property title is disapproved, and so is offering to buy the house below market price.
Copy that discourages contact with the lender
Copy that encourages people not to contact their lender, lawyer, credit counselor or housing counselor is disapproved. So is asking them to bypass the lender and pay the company or another third party.
Fix it in this order
- In Google Ads, go to Ads under the Campaigns menu, hover over the ad or asset, and select Edit.
- Remove each named practice from the ad and the landing page: the guarantee, the upfront fee, the title request, the below-market offer, the request to pay around the lender, and any line that discourages contact with a lender or counselor.
- Select Save. Re-review typically takes 24 to 48 hours. Check the Ads & assets page for the result.
- If an ad cannot be fixed, remove it to help prevent account suspension for repeated violations.
When to appeal
Appeal from the account when the ad carries none of the named practices, and point to the part of the ad or page you believe is misread.
The law firm upfront fee is the only exception on the page, so a fee charged by anyone else is not covered by an appeal.
Often confused with
Also a strike-based policy for financial services aimed at people with debt or poor credit. It covers repairing a credit record, not mortgage or foreclosure help.
Covers debt settlement and management, which needs certification by location. Loan modification is about the terms of a home loan, with its own practice list and no application route on that page.