Stagefront

California · Effective Jan 1, 2026

AB 723 listing-photo checklist

For photographers and stagers delivering AI-altered listing photos in California. The disclosure duty sits on the listing agent — even when a vendor made the edit — so deliver every altered photo in a shape that keeps your client covered.

  1. Flag every altered photo

    Virtual staging, decluttering, item removal, sky or scene changes, AI relighting — if AI added, removed, or changed what the camera captured, it counts. Routine exposure, white-balance, and crop adjustments do not.

  2. Label on the image itself

    Every altered deliverable carries a visible “Virtually staged” or “Digitally enhanced” mark in the file — not a caption or a separate email the agent has to remember.

  3. Keep the original, paired with the edit

    The untouched photo exists and is findable for every altered image. “What did the room really look like?” must be answerable with a file.

  4. Deliver altered + original as an ordered pair

    CRMLS Rule 11.5.2 requires the original to sit immediately before or after the altered image in the listing view. Name and sequence the files so the agent’s upload lands that way by default.

  5. Include a proof link per altered image

    A shareable URL showing the original and the labeled edit side by side, with a timestamp — the “access to the original” half of the rule, satisfied with a link the agent can forward.

  6. Say which images are altered in the delivery note

    The agent cannot disclose what they don’t know about. List every altered file explicitly so nothing reaches the MLS unlabeled.

  7. Check the MLS’s own photo rules

    The statute is the floor. The listing’s MLS may prescribe label wording or placement, and enforces with per-listing fines.

  8. Put the split in writing

    Contract or delivery terms should state who labels, where originals live, and who supplies the proof link — before the first altered photo ships.

Information, not legal advice — disclosure rules vary by state, MLS, and portal and keep moving. For advice about a specific listing, the agent should talk to their broker or counsel.