Foundational pillar / check financing-licensure-disclosure
Licensing or registration reference
Checks whether a financing site references the licenses or registrations it holds, which depend on the product and the states served.
By Shimon Carroll, Founder, SEO for AI Agents · Last updated
What this check measures
Wording such as "licensed lender", "licensed broker", a license number, an NMLS identifier, a California Financing Law license, or a state registration statement.
Why it matters
Licensing depends on product and state. For example, California Financial Code 22100 requires a license to engage in the business of a finance lender or broker, while a merchant cash advance is often structured outside lending law. Listing the licenses you hold helps visitors and regulators, and an honest absence is fine when none applies.
How we score it
A review prompt, not a legal verdict. Runs only on merchant cash advance audits. When the cue is missing the finding is low severity at low confidence, which lowers the foundational pillar by about 0.3 points. A pass is informational and never scores. Each finding names who should review it, quotes what we saw on the page, and cites the primary source. Where the page shows a US address we name the inferred state; otherwise the wording is state-agnostic.
Confidence-flag rules
LOW: whether any license applies to your products is a legal question the page cannot answer; we only report whether a license or registration is referenced.
Common mistakes
- Listing licenses held by an affiliate as if they were your own.
- Out-of-date license numbers after a renewal.
- Assuming no license applies without asking counsel.
How to fix it
Ask counsel which licenses or registrations apply to your products and states, and list the ones you actually hold in the footer. Update them on every renewal.
Primary sources
- California Financial Code 22100 (California Financing Law license requirement)
California Financial Code (public.law)
- 23 NYCRR 600.1, New York Commercial Finance Disclosure, Definitions
Legal Information Institute (New York Codes, Rules and Regulations)
Changelog
- · New. This rule used to live only in the vertical configuration and never ran. It is now a registered review check with a cited primary source, framed as a prompt to review with a professional rather than a pass or fail legal verdict.