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California · Pre-publication checklist

Before you publish a digitally altered California listing image

Nine steps. Five are what California law requires, one is your MLS, one is what the DRE expects of a supervising broker, and two are RELTO’s recommendation. Every step says which it is, because a vendor checklist that reads like a statute is worse than no checklist.

What does California require before a staged listing photo goes live?

Three things, all from Business and Professions Code § 10140.8: a reasonably conspicuous statement on or adjacent to the image saying the image has been altered; language in that statement telling the reader the unaltered images can be accessed; and a link, URL, or QR code to a publicly accessible location holding and clearly identifying the original. On a website the licensee or their agent controls, the unaltered version must also be included in the posting itself, with the same link-out available as an alternative.

The checklist

  1. Statute

    Decide whether the edit changed how the property is represented

    The § 10140.8(b)(2) carve-out only reaches common adjustments that “do not change the representation of the real property.” That sentence is the test. If the edit added, removed, or changed an element, the carve-out does not apply and the rest of this list does.

  2. Statute

    Keep the original, unaltered file

    Both § 10140.8(a)(1) and (a)(2) presuppose that an original exists and can be produced. Nothing can satisfy the link-or-include duty if the original was overwritten.

  3. Statute

    Put a reasonably conspicuous “image has been altered” statement on or adjacent to each altered image

    § 10140.8(a) specifies both the content and the placement. One disclaimer covering a whole page does not satisfy a per-image placement requirement.

  4. Statute

    Make the statement say where the original can be seen, and provide a working public link, URL, or QR code

    § 10140.8(a)(1) and (a) require both the pointer and language telling the reader the unaltered images are reachable through it. The destination must be publicly accessible and must clearly identify which original is which.

  5. Statute

    On a website you control, include the unaltered version in the posting — or link to it

    § 10140.8(a)(2) applies to your brokerage or agent site, and its second sentence is an express alternative: “A person subject to this paragraph may comply with this requirement by including a link to a publicly accessible internet website that includes, and clearly identifies, the original, unaltered image.” Embedding and linking are alternatives, not a requirement plus a fallback.

  6. MLS rule

    Apply your MLS’s rule, which may be stricter and may prescribe wording and ordering

    CRMLS Rule 11.5.2 requires the original immediately before or after the altered image and a label in the photo description field. Other California MLSs have their own. The statute does not prescribe either of those specifics; your MLS agreement does.

  7. RELTO recommendation

    Confirm the generated image did not silently change a structural or permanent feature

    RELTO recommendation, not a statutory step. Generative models move windows, alter ceiling geometry, and re-render fixtures without being asked. An unintended change is inside the § 10140.8(b)(1) definition just as an intended one is, and a structural change a buyer relies on is a misrepresentation problem regardless of what the statute says.

  8. Regulator

    Have a written brokerage policy covering who may generate listing imagery and how it is reviewed

    The DRE’s March 2026 AI advisory places responsibility for AI output on the licensee and the responsible broker, and treats supervision of advertising as an existing broker duty. A policy is how a broker evidences supervision.

  9. RELTO recommendation

    Retain the original, the altered version, and a record of what was changed and when

    RELTO recommendation. § 10140.8 does not set a retention period for images. Records are how a licensee shows an omission was inadvertent rather than willful — which is the element that separates a correctable mistake from § 10185 exposure.

What California law does not require

Worth stating plainly, because several of these circulate as if they were statutory.

  • Specific disclosure wording. § 10140.8 prescribes no magic words. Your MLS may; the statute does not.
  • An on-image watermark. The statute requires the statement to be on or adjacent to the image. A caption in the same visual field satisfies it. A watermark is often the more durable choice because it survives syndication that strips caption fields — that is an operational argument, not a legal requirement.
  • A particular ordering of photos in the MLS. “Immediately before or after” is CRMLS Rule 11.5.2, not § 10140.8.
  • A record-retention period. The section sets none for images. Keeping the originals and a change log is RELTO’s recommendation, and it is the evidence that separates an inadvertent omission from a willful one.
  • That the disclosure reach every syndication destination. The statute does not say. § 10140.8(a)(2) — the paragraph that requires originals inside the posting — applies only to a website the licensee or their agent controls, and a syndication destination is generally not one.

Questions this checklist raises

Is undisclosed virtual staging a misdemeanor in California?

Not automatically. AB 723 contains no penalty clause. Because § 10140.8 sits in Division 4 of the Business and Professions Code, Business and Professions Code § 10185 applies: a person who willfully violates, or knowingly participates in a violation of, that division is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine, by up to six months in county jail, or by both. Willfulness or knowing participation is required, so an inadvertent omission is not by itself a crime; the realistic first consequences are MLS enforcement and DRE license discipline.

Do you have to show the original image in California?

You must make it reachable. Business and Professions Code § 10140.8(a)(1) requires a link, URL, or QR code to a publicly accessible location that includes and clearly identifies the original unaltered image. Where the material is posted on a website the licensee or their agent controls, § 10140.8(a)(2) additionally requires the unaltered version to be included in the posting, with the same link-out available as an alternative.

Does AB 723 apply to real estate photographers?

It applies to a photographer acting on a broker’s or salesperson’s behalf in publishing the advertisement. The duty in Business and Professions Code § 10140.8(a)(1) runs to whoever “includes a digitally altered image in an advertisement or other promotional material,” which is ordinarily the licensee rather than a vendor delivering files. The definition in § 10140.8(b)(1) separately reaches images created “at the direction of” the licensee, which is what brings vendor-produced edits within the licensee’s obligation. Several California MLSs have published photographer-specific guidance.

Doing this by hand versus doing it in software

Steps 2 through 5 are the ones people miss under time pressure — the original gets overwritten, the caption gets written once and forgotten on photo seven, the link is never made public. RELTO keeps the original next to every staged image, generates the board-specific caption and public-remarks text, and packages the pair for upload. It provides tools designed to support this workflow; the obligation under § 10140.8 stays with the licensee and their responsible broker.

Sources

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