NWMLS Rule 80.
What the rule requires, how the NWMLS Compliance Committee enforces it, and how SEAREI ships the four artifacts in one delivery.
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Download the AB 723 compliance checklist (PDF, 2 pages, no signup) — California reference template →
An NWMLS-specific checklist is in preparation.
NWMLS Rule 80 (Listing Image Disclosure).
NWMLS Rule 80 governs disclosure on listing photographs for the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. As of May 2026, the rule text reads:
Members shall not publish listing photographs that have been digitally altered to add, remove, or substantially modify objects, fixtures, finishes, or features of the property without (a) clearly identifying the photograph as digitally altered or virtually staged, and (b) indicating in the listing where the unaltered photograph may be viewed by prospective buyers.
What an NWMLS Rule 80 audit looks like.
Rule 80 enforcement runs through the NWMLS Compliance Committee. First-tier sanctions include written warnings; second-tier sanctions include fines (typically $100–$500 per occurrence); third-tier sanctions include listing suspension and Member-status review. In practice the listing broker receives a Compliance Committee request via NWMLS messaging asking for the unaltered original, the disclosure label as published, and the staging date, with a 5-business-day response window. The Committee evaluates the documentation against the published image; if it doesn’t match, the listing is removed and a sanction is issued.
The wording SEAREI applies.
Virtual staging has been applied to this image.
Four concrete artifacts per job.
- Disclosure-labeled export with Rule-80 wording applied on or adjacent to every altered image.
- Unaltered original hosted at a permanent public URL the broker can include in the listing remarks.
- Immutable compliance certificate — HTML plus SHA-256 manifest — which is exactly the documentation the Compliance Committee asks for in a Rule 80 review.
- Forensic audit trail. Every state transition on the listing — upload, overlay applied, certificate generated, re-rendered after revisions — is recorded with a server timestamp and surfaced through the verification URL, so an NWMLS Compliance Committee officer can reconstruct the full provenance of every image months after the listing closes.
NWMLS rules and forms portal · NWMLS standard forms.
SEAREI provides compliance workflow tools. This page is not legal advice. Confirm final Rule 80 requirements with your NWMLS office and brokerage compliance manager.
Last updated: May 6, 2026 · SEATECHONE LLC
Other jurisdictions: California AB 723 · Washington · British Columbia.