Real Estate AI Disclosure Laws & MLS Rules
Disclosure rules for AI-altered listing photos and video are spreading fast, by state and by MLS. Here is what each one requires, in plain English. Confirm your local rules before relying on any summary.
State Laws
California
California Assembly Bill 723 requires real estate licensees to disclose when a listing image has been digitally altered and to make the original, unaltered image available to prospective buyers. It took effect January 1, 2026.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Act 69 is the second U.S. state law requiring disclosure of AI-altered real estate images. It applies to listings of residential property with one to four dwelling units and takes effect January 1, 2027.
Texas
Texas’s Responsible AI Governance Act (TRAIGA) is a broad state AI-governance law that took effect January 1, 2026. It does not specifically require labeling AI-edited listing photos, but it is the AI-conduct backdrop for Texas real estate and bars deceptive or manipulative uses of AI.
MLS Rules
California (statewide)
California Regional MLS (CRMLS), the largest MLS in the United States with more than 110,000 professionals across 44+ associations, requires photo-alteration disclosure under its Rule 11.5.2, aligned with California AB 723 and effective January 1, 2026.
San Diego County, CA
San Diego MLS (SDMLS) enforces a detailed digitally-altered-image policy under California AB 723, effective January 1, 2026. It requires both a disclosure label and the original image in view, not merely available.
Florida & Puerto Rico
Stellar MLS, which serves more than 80,000 subscribers across Florida and Puerto Rico, requires disclosure of virtually staged photos under its Article 04.04. The disclosure must appear in both the photo description and the public remarks.
Mid-Atlantic (DE, MD, DC, VA, PA, NJ, WV)
Bright MLS, one of the largest MLSs in the country with roughly 100,000 real estate professionals across the Mid-Atlantic, does not prohibit virtual staging but requires that altered, manipulated, or enhanced photos be disclosed.
Minnesota & western Wisconsin
NorthstarMLS recommends, rather than requires, disclosing virtually added furniture in agent remarks, public remarks, or photo captions. Its language is softer than most MLS rules, but it draws a hard line on altering the property itself.
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
NTREIS, which serves more than 40,000 subscribers across 14 shareholder associations in North Texas, has among the strictest photo policies. Rather than a disclosure-label rule, it prohibits embellished or digitally enhanced listing photos outright.
Don’t see your MLS or state? Let us know and we’ll add it. For the compliant workflow, see AI disclosure compliance.