What § 10140.8 requires, which edits it covers and excludes, how CRMLS and SDMLS enforce it inside the MLS, and the questions the statute leaves open
Last reviewed against the published sources listed below.
California AB 723 added Business and Professions Code § 10140.8, effective January 1, 2026. A real estate licensee, or someone acting for them, who uses a digitally altered image in advertising or promotional material for the sale of real property must put a reasonably conspicuous statement on or adjacent to the image saying it was altered, plus a link, URL, or QR code to the original, unaltered image. Lighting, exposure, white balance, color correction, sharpening, angle, straightening, and cropping are excluded if they do not change how the property is represented.
Pricing: $33 per listing — staged and enhanced photos, every altered image labelled and paired with its original, disclosure page + QR, one ZIP in MLS order. No subscription.
Time Required: 8-minute read
AB 723 is short, but it reaches every California sale advertisement that uses a virtually staged, decluttered, or otherwise edited photo. The statute, the MLS rules, and vendor blogs do not use the same lists of covered edits, and CRMLS bans some edits outright that the statute merely requires you to disclose.
This guide sets the statute's text, CRMLS Rule 11.5.2, and SDMLS's published guidance side by side, with a dated source for each point, so you can see what the law requires, what your MLS adds, and where the gray areas are.
Section 10140.8(a)(1) requires (1) a statement that the image has been altered, reasonably conspicuous and located on or adjacent to the image, and (2) a link to a publicly accessible website, URL, or QR code that includes and clearly identifies the original, unaltered image.
Benefit: A label alone is not enough; the original must be reachable
Under § 10140.8(a)(2), when the ad is posted on a website the licensee (or someone acting for them) controls, the unaltered versions must be included in the posting, or the posting may instead link to a publicly accessible site that includes and clearly identifies the originals.
Benefit: Brokerage and agent sites need the originals or a link to them
A 'digitally altered image' is one created by or at the direction of the licensee and altered with photo editing software or artificial intelligence to add, remove, or change elements, including but not limited to fixtures, furniture, appliances, flooring, walls, paint color, hardscape, landscape, facade, floor plans, and elements outside of or visible from the property such as streetlights, utility poles, views through windows, and neighboring properties.
Benefit: Virtual staging and decluttering are squarely covered
BuildMyListing ($33 per listing) returns staged and enhanced photos with every altered image labeled and paired with its original, a hosted public disclosure page with a QR code, and one ZIP in MLS order. BuildMyListing also offers a free AB 723 disclosure tool at /tools/ab723-disclosure/.
Benefit: The originals link and the photo pairs are ready before upload
For each photo, ask whether anything was added, removed, or changed (furniture, decor, fixtures, finishes, landscaping, views, poles or wires) or whether only lighting, exposure, white balance, color, sharpness, angle, straightening, or cropping was adjusted. Anything in the first group is a digitally altered image. If you cannot tell, treat it as altered; CRMLS and SDMLS both advise disclosing when in doubt.
CRMLS Rule 11.5.2 prohibits images altered to change real property elements (flooring, walls, paint color, cabinetry, landscape, facade and similar) unless the property will be improved to match by close as part of the listed price, and prohibits altering elements outside or visible from the property. Disclosure does not cure a prohibited edit inside CRMLS.
Upload the original, place it immediately before or after the altered image, and label the altered photo in its description field ('Digitally Altered', 'Virtually Staged', 'AI Altered', or 'Photo Modified' under CRMLS Rule 11.5.2). SDMLS also asks you to label the altered image with the original image URL.
On flyers, postcards, social posts, and portal or brokerage-site listings, place an 'image digitally altered' statement on or next to each altered image and give a link, URL, or QR code that leads to a public page showing and identifying the originals.
Recommendation: keep the original files and the public originals page live for as long as any ad using the altered image is in circulation, and keep a copy in the transaction file.
| Edit | Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 10140.8 (state law) | CRMLS Rule 11.5.2 (MLS rule) | SDMLS guidance (MLS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual staging (adding furniture or decor) | Digitally altered: disclose on or adjacent to the image and link to the original | Allowed: label the photo and display the original immediately before or after it | Allowed: label 'Digitally Altered' and place the original adjacent |
| Removing furniture or personal items (virtual decluttering) | Digitally altered (furniture is a listed example): disclose and link | Allowed with label and adjacent original | Allowed with label and adjacent original |
| Changing paint color, flooring, cabinetry, walls, or floor plan | Digitally altered: disclose and link | Prohibited unless the property will be improved to match by close as part of the listed price | Listed as an example of a digitally altered image: label and pair |
| Adding or changing landscaping, lawn, or hardscape | Digitally altered: disclose and link | Prohibited (landscape and hardscape are listed); CRMLS's FAQ says AI-generated landscaping images are not permitted in the MLS | Listed as an example ('altering landscaping'): label and pair |
| Removing utility poles, wires, or streetlights; changing window views or neighboring properties | Digitally altered (listed examples): disclose and link | Prohibited | 'Modifying views or backgrounds' listed as an example: label and pair |
| Sky replacement or twilight conversion | Not named in the statute; whether it 'changes the representation of the real property' is unsettled | Not named in Rule 11.5.2; CRMLS advises disclosing when in doubt | Not named; 'modifying views or backgrounds' is listed |
| Lighting, exposure, white balance, color correction, sharpening | Excluded if they do not change the representation of the property | Excluded | Excluded |
| Angle, straightening, cropping | Excluded if they do not change the representation of the property | Excluded | Excluded (cropping, resizing, straightening listed) |
Scenario: A listing agent virtually stages six empty rooms and plans to use them in the MLS, on Zillow syndication, and on a printed open-house flyer.
Process: Upload all six originals to the MLS, each immediately before or after its staged version, with 'Virtually Staged' in the photo description → on the flyer, print 'Virtually staged image' next to each staged photo and a QR code to a public page showing the six originals → on the agent's own website, include the originals in the listing or link to that page.
Compliance: Meets the statement-plus-original structure of § 10140.8(a) and the pairing and labeling terms of CRMLS Rule 11.5.2.
Scenario: A seller wants buyers to 'see the potential' with AI-rendered hardwood floors and new paint, but no work is planned before close.
Process: Under the statute, the images could be used with disclosure. Under CRMLS Rule 11.5.2, they cannot go into a CRMLS listing at all, because the property will not be improved to match by close as part of the listed price. Keep such renderings out of the MLS; if used in other marketing, label them and link to the originals.
Compliance: MLS rules can be stricter than the statute. BuildMyListing provides compliance documentation tools, not legal advice; consult a licensed California real estate attorney or your broker before using renovation renderings.
Scenario: A photographer delivers 25 photos with exposure blending, white balance, color correction, straightening, and cropping, with nothing added or removed.
Process: Confirm with the photographer in writing that no elements were added, removed, or changed → no AB 723 statement or originals link is needed for those images → if any frame had a sky swap or object removal, treat that frame as altered.
Compliance: § 10140.8(b)(2) excludes common adjustments that do not change the representation of the property.
Primary sources checked on the dates shown below. Rules and statutes can change; confirm the current text before publishing.
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