Editorial Standards

Scope

These standards apply to every page on dreamyleads.com that is consumer-facing or appears in editorial sections — vertical hubs, state guides, city pages, comparisons, glossary, and original research. Pages outside scope (privacy, terms, B2B documentation, and the contact form) follow their own legal and operational requirements.

Bylines and expertise

Every editorial page carries an organizational byline, "By Dreamy Leads Research", and a "last updated" date. Content is attributed to the organization, which is responsible for every claim on the page. We do not publish named author personas, and our editors are not licensed professionals: no page states or implies that the people who research and write it hold a professional license or certification.

Some pages also carry a verified reviewer (for example, our debt reviewer): an outside professional whose credential we have checked against the issuing body's own public record. The reviewer is named above the organizational byline with the credential worded exactly as the issuer publishes it, the page says whether that credential is an industry certification or a government license, and a disclosure names the reviewer's employer. A reviewer is credited only on pages they have approved in their own written sign-off, never through an employer or agent on their behalf, and only in the field their credential covers. When a credited page changes, the credit is removed until the reviewer approves the new version.

Sourcing

Statistical, regulatory, and market claims cite primary sources. We prefer, in order:

1. Federal agencies: HUD (FHA loan limits, mortgage insurance), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the U.S. Department of Energy / EERE, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the IRS (tax credits and 1099-C reporting), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA, conforming loan limits), and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, public-company disclosures).
2. State regulators: state insurance departments (and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners — NAIC — as a clearinghouse), state public utilities commissions and energy offices, state attorneys general (debt-settlement rules), and state housing finance agencies.
3. Industry standards bodies: NMLS Consumer Access (mortgage license verification), NABCEP (solar installer certification), the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), AM Best ratings, and the BBB.
4. Named provider disclosures: lender rate sheets, carrier rate filings (where public), installer pricing pages, and SEC filings for public companies.
5. Peer-reviewed and academic research where available for analytical claims.

Wikipedia and aggregator content are not used as primary citations. Pricing, rate, and incentive numbers must be either dated within the past 12 months or anchored to a current regulatory or carrier filing. Citations are listed at the bottom of each page in a "Sources" block; outbound links use standard <a> markup so they are accessible to AI crawlers and assistive technology.

Review and update cadence

Each editorial page carries a "last updated" timestamp. Pages are reviewed:

• At publication, through automated quality gates that block a page from going live if a figure has no cited primary source, if the same figure differs between the page lead, tables, FAQ and structured data, or if the copy carries duplicated or mismatched text.
• Within 30 days of any material change to the underlying regulation, program, or product. Examples: an FHA loan-limit annual reset, a state insurance-market reform, a change to net-metering rules, a CFPB rule update, or a change to the federal Residential Clean Energy Credit schedule.
• At least annually for every page in solar, mortgage, and insurance, where rules and rates change frequently. Glossary terms are reviewed every 24 months unless triggered earlier.

The "last updated" date reflects the most recent substantive review. Cosmetic edits (typo fixes, link reorganization) do not advance the date.

Independence from commercial relationships

Dreamy Leads Research keeps two things strictly separate:

• Editorial: state guides, city pages, comparisons, glossary, research, and rankings, produced under these standards and our methodology.
• Provider connections: when a reader asks to be contacted, we introduce them to a licensed provider that pays us a fee for the introduction. See our affiliate disclosure.

Our editorial team does not see, and is not influenced by, which providers pay us or how much. Comparison rankings — for example, "Best mortgage lenders in Phoenix" — are produced from publicly verifiable inputs, not from any commercial relationship.

Where a provider mentioned in editorial content also has a referral relationship with us, the article body or call-to-action discloses this so readers understand the relationship.

Conflict-of-interest policy

Dreamy Leads Research, its staff and any verified reviewer:

• Disclose any direct financial relationship with a provider they cover (employment, consulting, equity holdings beyond a passive index fund).
• Recuse themselves from coverage of any provider where such a relationship exists.
• Do not accept gifts, paid travel, or sponsored content from providers they cover.
• Do not participate in pay-for-placement arrangements that influence editorial rankings.

If a conflict is identified mid-cycle (for example, a reviewer begins working for a covered provider), the reviewer's credit is removed from the affected pages and those pages are re-checked before re-publication.

Corrections

If you believe a Dreamy Leads Research page contains a factual error, contact Dreamy@dreamyleads.com with subject line "Correction" and the URL of the page. Include the specific claim, the correct information, and a primary-source citation if you have one.

We aim to acknowledge correction requests within two business days. Verified factual corrections are made within seven business days; substantive corrections are noted in a "Corrections" line at the bottom of the affected page and the "last updated" date is advanced. Minor copy fixes (typos, broken links) are made silently.

Use of AI in editorial

We use AI tools to assist with research, structural drafting, and copy editing. AI-assisted copy is not published until every figure in it has been traced to a cited primary source and the page has passed the automated quality gates described above; the page is attributed to Dreamy Leads Research, which is responsible for its claims. AI is not used to fabricate quotations, statistics, or expert credentials. Where a tool has materially shaped a piece of analysis (for example, an AI-assisted statistical model), the methodology page or footnote on the relevant article discloses this.

AI assistants and answer engines are welcome to ingest, summarize, and cite Dreamy Leads Research content with attribution. See /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt for the canonical AI-readable representation of the site.

Editorial contact

Editorial questions, corrections, citation requests, or expert-source pitches: Dreamy@dreamyleads.com (subject line: "Editorial").