Yes, and since January 1, 2026 California is the only state with a statute on it. Business and Professions Code § 10140.8 requires a reasonably conspicuous statement on or adjacent to every digitally altered image, plus a link, URL or QR code to the unaltered original. CRMLS adds a label in the photo description and the original displayed right before or after the altered photo.
One trap: San Diego MLS forbids embedding the disclosure on the photo itself, while the statute allows on or adjacent. In California, put the disclosure in the caption and ship the original with a QR code, whatever else you do.
Regulator: California Department of Real Estate · Association: California Association of REALTORS® (opposed AB 723 in committee) · MLS / boards: CRMLS — Rule 11.5.2, San Diego MLS — §§ 7.4.2–7.4.4, Bay East / bridgeMLS — Rule 11.5.2
Governing text: Business and Professions Code § 10140.8 (AB 723), effective January 1, 2026 · Business and Professions Code § 10176 (substantial misrepresentation) · Business and Professions Code § 10080.9 (citations)
Quoted as written, with the source and the day we read it.
“A real estate broker or salesperson, or person acting on their behalf, who includes a digitally altered image in an advertisement or other promotional material for the sale of real property shall include in the advertisement or promotional material a statement disclosing that the image has been altered”
Business and Professions Code § 10140.8(a)(1), added by AB 723, effective 2026-01-01 — California Legislative Information · read September 2, 2026
“and a link to a publicly accessible internet website, URL, or QR code that includes, and clearly identifies, the original, unaltered image. The statement shall be reasonably conspicuous and located on or adjacent to the image and shall include language indicating that the unaltered images can be accessed on the linked internet website, URL, or QR code.”
Business and Professions Code § 10140.8(a)(1), continued — California Legislative Information · read September 2, 2026
“'digitally altered image' means an image […] that has been altered through the use of photo editing software or artificial intelligence to add, remove, or change elements in the image, including, but not limited to, fixtures, furniture, appliances, flooring, walls, paint color, hardscape, landscape, facade, floor plans,”
Business and Professions Code § 10140.8(b)(1) — California Legislative Information · read September 2, 2026
“'Digitally altered image' does not include an image where only lighting, sharpening, white balance, color correction, angle, straightening, cropping, exposure, or other common photo editing adjustments are made that do not change the representation of the real property.”
Business and Professions Code § 10140.8(b)(2) — California Legislative Information · read September 2, 2026
“[A Subscriber submitting] any Digitally Altered Image must also (i) submit the original, unaltered version of the digitally altered image, (ii) ensure that the original, unaltered version is displayed in the listing immediately before or after the digitally altered image, and (iii) ensure that the digitally altered image is labeled as 'Photo Modified', 'Virtually Staged', 'Digitally Altered,' or 'AI Altered,'”
CRMLS Rules and Policy Changes, effective January 1, 2026, Rule 11.5.2 — CRMLS · read September 2, 2026
“Subscribers may not add to a listing record any image or photo that has been altered to add, remove, or modify any (i) real property elements including but not limited to flooring, walls, windows, structural elements, cabinetry, paint color, hardscape, landscape, façade, fixtures, or floor plans unless the listed property will be improved to match the altered photo at time of close as part of the listed price,”
CRMLS Rules, Truth in Advertising, Rules 11.5(c) and 12.10 — CRMLS · read September 2, 2026
“(a) Include the label 'Digitally Altered' on the digitally altered image. The listing broker is not permitted to watermark or embed the disclosure directly onto the photo itself. (b) Upload a copy of the image free of digital alteration ('the original image') to the service, to which the service will assign a public URL.”
San Diego MLS Rules and Regulations, policy changes effective January 1, 2026, § 7.4.3 — San Diego MLS · read September 2, 2026
The four things a listing has to get right.
| Disclosure to buyers | RequiredBy statute: a reasonably conspicuous statement on or adjacent to the image, plus a link, URL or QR code to the unaltered original. By MLS rule: a label such as 'Virtually Staged' in the photo's description (CRMLS, Bay East, San Diego). Source |
|---|---|
| Label on the image | Varies by MLSThe statute accepts on or adjacent. CRMLS says a watermark is not required; San Diego MLS says the broker 'is not permitted to watermark or embed the disclosure directly onto the photo itself'. Use the caption everywhere; use the image only where the board allows it. Source |
| Unaltered original | YesStatute: a public link, URL or QR code to the original. CRMLS: the original uploaded and displayed immediately before or after the altered photo. San Diego MLS assigns the original a public URL. Source |
| Off-limits alterations | ProhibitedOn CRMLS: no adding, removing or modifying real-property elements (flooring, walls, windows, structure, cabinetry, paint, hardscape, landscape, façade, fixtures, floor plans) or anything outside or visible from the property; AI landscaping is not permitted. The statute itself is a disclosure regime. Source |
Plain words, consistent with the rule above. Sedam Staging writes the same line into the disclosure file that ships with every listing.
Public decisions and reports involving altered or virtually staged listing photos relevant to California.
Sedam Staging burns the “Virtually staged” label into every listing image, ships the untouched original beside it, compares every render against the photograph so walls, windows, floors and built-ins never move, and writes the remarks line into the download. See the renders we refused →
Two things on every digitally altered image used to sell real property: a reasonably conspicuous statement on or adjacent to the image that it has been altered, and a link, URL or QR code to the unaltered original. Lighting, colour, cropping and straightening are excluded. It took effect on January 1, 2026.
The statute allows the statement on the image. CRMLS does not require it. San Diego MLS forbids embedding the disclosure on the photo and wants the 'Digitally Altered' label in the listing instead. Safe everywhere: caption plus a QR to the original, and check your MLS before relying on an on-image label.
Altering real-property elements: flooring, walls, windows, structure, cabinetry, paint, hardscape, landscape, façade, fixtures or floor plans, unless the property will be improved to match at closing as part of the price; and anything outside or visible from the property, such as views, poles and neighbouring buildings.
The same four questions, answered from each regulator's own text. The national layer for the United States →
Stellar MLS's virtual-staging article, and a state law that bans misleading ads
Four MLSs, four ways to disclose: Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas–Fort Worth
A Department of State alert on AI listings, and a disclosure bill that is not yet law
The general-impression test in DOL's advertising guideline, and a members-only NWMLS rulebook
ARMLS's own 'Digitally Altered' watermark, the original beside it, and $200 fines from December 2026
Listing across the border? The rules in Canada, province by province.
How this page was made. Each quotation was read at the linked source on September 2, 2026; our confidence that it is current and complete is high (the statute, the CRMLS rule and the San Diego rule were read from the official text; Bay East, SFAR and CDAR from their own summaries). Rules change and boards add policies; the linked documents are the authority, and this is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. Spotted a change? Tell us and we will fix the page.