California AB 723: what agents must disclose about edited and staged listing photos

What the law says, in its own words

AB 723 (Pellerin) was approved by the Governor on October 10, 2025 as Chapter 497 of the Statutes of 2025. It adds one section, 10140.8, to the Business and Professions Code. CRMLS and San Diego MLS both confirm the law took effect on January 1, 2026.

The core duty is in subdivision (a)(1). If a broker or salesperson, "or person acting on their behalf," includes a digitally altered image in "an advertisement or other promotional material for the sale of real property," the material has to include a statement that the image has been altered, plus "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 has to tell readers that the unaltered images can be found at the link.

Subdivision (a)(2) adds a rule for websites the agent controls. There, you have to include the unaltered versions of the images in the posting itself, or link to a public page that holds them and clearly identifies them.

Subdivision (b)(1) defines a "digitally altered image" as one made "by or at the direction of" the agent that has been altered with photo editing software or artificial intelligence "to add, remove, or change elements in the image." The listed examples are "including, but not limited to": fixtures, furniture, appliances, flooring, walls, paint color, hardscape, landscape, facade and floor plans, plus things outside of or visible from the property, such as streetlights, utility poles, views through windows and neighboring properties.

Subdivision (b)(2) sets out the exemption. An image is not digitally altered if "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."

Who and what it covers

• Who: licensed brokers and salespersons, and anyone acting on their behalf. A photographer, an editing service or an AI tool working on the agent's instructions creates images "at the direction of" the agent, so the agent's duty covers that work too.
• Which properties: the text applies to promotional material "for the sale of real property." It says nothing about rental listings.
• Which media: any advertisement or other promotional material, not only the MLS. San Diego MLS says the law applies to MLS listings and other marketing materials, and that compliance is the listing agent's and broker's responsibility.
• Which images: the statute talks about images. It does not mention video. If a walkthrough or reel shows staged or tidied rooms, the cautious choice is to label it the same way.

Which edits need a disclosure

The statute names the exempt adjustments. It also lists examples of covered changes, and that list is open-ended. Here is how common listing edits line up against the text. Where the statute doesn't name an edit, we say so instead of guessing.

Tidying is the edit that catches most agents out. Other MLSs draw the line elsewhere: Metro MLS in Wisconsin, for example, says removing a yard sign or decluttering doesn't need its altered-photo watermark. But California's statute covers any edit that "remove[s] … elements in the image," and its examples are expressly not exhaustive. Until a regulator or court says otherwise, the safe reading in California is that a photo with tidying edits is a digitally altered image.

How October's photos map to the law

We would rather tell you plainly than have you find out from a compliance notice. October's photos are AI-generated: an AI image model draws each finished photo from your iPhone capture of that spot. Here is what that means under AB 723:

• Every October photo is a digitally altered image. The law covers images altered with "artificial intelligence to add, remove, or change elements in the image," and its exemption covers only "common photo editing adjustments" such as lighting and color. A photo redrawn by an AI model is not one of those, even where the room in it is the real one. In California, label every October photo you use to advertise a home for sale, and link the original.
• What the model changes: brighter light, straight lines, beds made, cushions plumped, and small loose items (bottles, towels, papers, cables, bags) left out. A statement such as "Digitally altered with AI: light improved, loose items removed. Unaltered photos: [link]" describes it.
• What it is told to keep: walls, floors, windows, fittings, built-in furniture and the view, the elements CRMLS bans changing. Each drawing is checked against your capture and drawn again if it stretches the room or moves the camera. Still compare each photo with the home before you publish.
• Empty room ($19 a room) and Staged ($29 a room, in Scandinavian, Modern or Classic): always digitally altered. They carry a "Virtually emptied" or "Virtually staged" label on the image; add the link to the original too.
• The walkthrough video is AI-generated motion between the finished photos. The statute talks about images, not video, but the cautious choice is to label it as AI-generated too.
• The original. October's download includes the unaltered original of every photo: the picture your phone took at that spot, or the frames from it stitched into one wide view, before any AI drawing. Publish it at the link AB 723 asks for.

As captured

Delivered by October

How to disclose: a habit that works everywhere

1. Keep the original. Before a listing goes live, have the unaltered frame for every photo you will label. That applies whoever made the image: a retoucher, an AI tool or October. With October, the original is the capture behind each photo, and the download includes it for every photo.
2. Publish the originals somewhere public. Use a page or folder anyone can open without signing in, with each original clearly identified, for example with matching file names.
3. Label next to the image. Put a short statement on or beside the photo, such as "Digitally altered: loose items removed. Unaltered photos: [link]." For staging: "Virtually staged. Unaltered photos: [link]." A QR code works on print.
4. On your own website, put the originals in the posting or link to them, as subdivision (a)(2) requires.
5. In the MLS, follow its rule. CRMLS Rule 11.5.2 requires the original to appear "immediately before or after" the altered photo, with the altered one labeled "Photo Modified," "Virtually Staged," "Digitally Altered" or "AI Altered" (or a substantially similar term) in its text field. San Diego MLS asks for the label in the photo remarks, the original placed next to it, and the original's URL on the altered image.
6. When in doubt, disclose. That is CRMLS's own advice. A label you didn't strictly need costs nothing, while a missing one can be a violation.

What happens if you don't

The Legislative Counsel's Digest notes that a willful violation of the Real Estate Law is a crime. Business and Professions Code section 10185 makes it a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $10,000, up to six months in county jail, or both. That section applies to anyone who "willfully violates or knowingly participates in the violation" of the Real Estate Law.

MLSs enforce their own versions. The CRMLS FAQ updated February 13, 2026 said there was no fine yet and that its Rules Committee would revisit fines in 2026. The CRMLS knowledge base now describes a warning first, then a $250 fine if the issue isn't corrected in time. Check your MLS's current rule.

Every REALTOR® is also bound by the NAR Code of Ethics. Article 12 requires them to "present a true picture" in their advertising, and Standard of Practice 12-10 extends that to images, prohibiting "use of misleading images."

How common undisclosed edits are

The data agency Coraly reviewed just under 40,000 primary listing images from Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com and Homes.com in the first quarter. HousingWire reported the results in June 2026:

• 10.8% of images (4,330) showed signs of digital manipulation.
• Over 90% of the altered images had no visible disclosure.
• 69% of the altered images were sky replacements, and 10% were virtual staging.
• Exteriors were altered far more often than interiors: 13.1% against 4.5%.
• Object removal accounted for 1.5% of altered images, or 66 photos.

So most agents who alter photos are not yet disclosing, and the most common edit, a new sky, is covered by the law's language about things "visible from" the property.

Questions