AB 723 and listing images: what California's altered-photo rule means for agents and builders

Since January 1, 2026, California's AB 723 has required real estate brokers and salespersons — and anyone acting on their behalf — to disclose when an advertising image has been digitally altered, and to give buyers access to the original, unaltered image.

It isn't a ban on editing. It's a disclosure-and-access rule, and once you have a workflow for it, it's easy to follow.

What counts as an altered image

The law is aimed at edits that change how the property is represented. Based on the guidance published by California REALTOR® associations:

• Generally covered: virtual staging, adding or removing furniture or fixtures, removing power lines or neighboring structures, adding grass or landscaping, changing or replacing the view.
• Generally not covered: routine photo adjustments such as exposure, white balance and color correction that don't change the property itself.

When an image is covered, the disclosure needs to sit on or near the image, saying that it has been digitally altered, and buyers need a way to see the original — typically a link, URL or QR code pointing to a publicly accessible page that clearly identifies the unaltered image.

Where renderings fit

A rendering of a home that hasn't been built yet isn't an edited photograph — it's a computer-generated image of a proposed building. Even so, label it as an artist's rendering every time it appears in marketing. Buyers deserve to know what they're looking at, and it keeps you on the right side of advertising rules generally.

Where it gets more careful is mixing renderings with photos: a new building composited into a photograph of the real lot, or virtual furniture placed into a photo of a real room. Those started life as photographs of real property and were changed, so treat them as altered images and disclose them.

A workflow that keeps you compliant

1. Keep every original. Archive the unaltered photo next to each edited version, with matching file names.
2. Label at the source. Put the disclosure on or directly beside the image — not on a separate page.
3. Publish the originals. Host the unaltered images on the listing or property page, and link to them from every altered image. Use a QR code on printed flyers.
4. Label renderings too. "Artist's rendering — final construction may vary" on every CGI image.
5. Check with your broker. Your brokerage may have its own required wording.

How we deliver listing images

When we composite or stage images for a listing, we deliver the edited version, the untouched original and a disclosure-ready version together, with file names that pair them up. Fully computer-generated renderings come labeled as renderings. It's one less thing to sort out the night before a listing goes live.

Further reading: CCAR's summary of the new law · PFAR's summary for agents