CRMLS Rule 11.5.2 and the other California MLS image rules
Your MLS rule and California law are two different obligations with two different enforcers. The MLS one is the one that will reach you first — and it asks for things § 10140.8 never mentions, like where in the photo order the original has to sit.
Can you change flooring or paint color in a California listing photo?
Under state law, yes with disclosure — flooring, walls, and paint color are all named in Business and Professions Code § 10140.8(b)(1), so the edit is covered and requires disclosure plus the original image. Your MLS may go further: CRMLS instructs subscribers not to publish images that change a real part of the property unless the property will match the image at closing, which is a restriction on publishing, not merely on labelling.
Why the distinction matters
An MLS rule binds you through the subscriber agreement you signed. It is enforced by the MLS, with the MLS’s own remedies — a correction request, a fine, photo removal. California’s statute binds every licensee in the state whether or not they belong to any MLS, and its consequences run through the Department of Real Estate and, for a willful violation, the criminal provision in Bus. & Prof. Code § 10185.
An MLS can require more than the statute, and CRMLS does. An MLS cannot excuse you from less. Satisfying CRMLS Rule 11.5.2 does not by itself satisfy § 10140.8 on your own website, in a flyer, or in an email blast — none of which the MLS governs.
What each California MLS publishes
Only MLSs with published, locatable guidance appear here. Several California MLSs publish their operative rule text to subscribers only; where that is the case the entry says so rather than inventing detail.
MLS ruleCRMLS Rule 11.5.2Effective
CRMLS (California Regional MLS)
Much of Southern and Central California; the largest MLS in the United States
Requires
Label the altered image in the photo description field — “Photo Modified,” “Virtually Staged,” “Digitally Altered,” “AI Altered,” or substantially similar.
Include the original, unedited image in the listing immediately before or immediately after the altered image.
A QR code on the altered image linking to an externally hosted original is accepted where that original is available.
Will not accept
Do not add, remove, or modify a real part of the property — wall color, flooring, cabinets, wall dimensions, landscaping — unless the property will match the altered image at closing.
Landscaping changes the seller will not make as part of the listed price should not be published at all, even labelled and watermarked.
Enforcement: A warning first; a $250 fine if the listing is not corrected in a timely manner.
MLS ruleEffective
San Diego MLS (SDMLS)
San Diego County
Requires
Published AB 723 requirements and an FAQ for subscribers, alongside rules-and-regulations changes effective January 1, 2026.
Published separate guidance addressed to photographers supplying listing imagery.
Addresses how altered-image indicators and pairings are expected to survive downstream distribution through IDX, VOW, API, and syndication feeds.
SDMLS publishes its rule text to subscribers. The requirements above reflect its public AB 723 pages; read the current subscriber rulebook for operative wording.
MLS ruleMetroList Rules § 11.6.1Effective
MetroList Services
Sacramento and the surrounding counties
Requires
Caption-field label on the altered image plus the paired original, following the same shape as the CRMLS rule.
MetroList publishes its rulebook behind subscriber login. Section number and effective date carry forward from this repository’s board record; verify against the subscriber rulebook before relying on detail beyond the caption-plus-original shape.
MLS rule
Bay East Association of REALTORS® / bridgeMLS
Alameda and Contra Costa counties
Requires
Publishes a digitally altered MLS photo rule implementing AB 723 for its subscribers.
Operative rule text is published to subscribers; confirm before relying on detail.
MLS rule
San Francisco Association of REALTORS®
San Francisco
Requires
Publishes AB 723 digitally-altered-image guidance for its members.
Operative rule text is published to members; confirm before relying on detail.
Where CRMLS goes beyond § 10140.8
Photo order. CRMLS requires the original immediately before or after the altered image. The statute has no ordering rule — it accepts a link, URL, or QR code from anywhere on or adjacent to the image.
Where the label goes. CRMLS names the photo description field. The statute says “on or adjacent to the image” and leaves the mechanism open.
Publishing restrictions. This is the big one. CRMLS instructs subscribers not to publish images that change a real part of the property unless the property will match at closing, and not to publish landscaping changes the seller will not make as part of the listed price — even labelled, even watermarked. The statute contains no equivalent restriction; it is a disclosure regime, not a content regime. An edit that § 10140.8 permits with a disclosure may still be one CRMLS will not accept at all.
What about IDX, VOW, and syndication?
Two things are true at once and are worth separating. The disclosure duty in subdivision (a)(1) attaches to the advertisement, and a syndicated listing is still the licensee’s advertisement, which argues for the disclosure travelling with it. The in-posting originals duty in subdivision (a)(2) is expressly limited to a website the licensee controls, which argues the opposite for that paragraph. Nothing in the section allocates responsibility for what a third-party portal chooses to strip or render. The practical consequence is that an on-image disclosure survives syndication where a caption field often does not, which is an operational reason to prefer it — not a statutory command. Some California MLSs have started to address downstream displays through their own data-distribution rules; those are MLS rules, and they bind through your MLS agreement rather than through § 10140.8.
Related questions
What does CRMLS require for virtually staged photos?
CRMLS Rule 11.5.2, effective January 1, 2026, requires the altered image to be labelled in the photo description field — “Photo Modified,” “Virtually Staged,” “Digitally Altered,” “AI Altered,” or substantially similar — and the original unedited image to appear in the listing immediately before or immediately after it. CRMLS handles a violation with a warning first and a $250 fine if it is not corrected in a timely manner. This is an MLS rule binding CRMLS subscribers, not a provision of California law.
What changed on January 1, 2026 for California listing photos?
Business and Professions Code § 10140.8 took effect, adding the first California statutory disclosure duty specific to digitally altered real estate images. California MLSs adopted implementing rules on or near the same date — CRMLS Rule 11.5.2 on January 1, 2026, MetroList § 11.6.1 on February 2, 2026. Before that date the obligations came from general misrepresentation law, the NAR Code of Ethics for REALTOR® members, and individual MLS photo policies.
MetroList Rules and Regulations § 11.6.1 (digitally altered images) — MetroList Services, Inc.. Reviewed .MetroList publishes its rulebook behind subscriber login. The section number and February 2, 2026 effective date carry forward from lib/data/mls-board-lookup.ts; re-verify against the subscriber rulebook before restating detail beyond what is recorded there.