AB 723 Compliance: The Complete Guide for California Real Estate Agents

A California disclosure law for altered listing images.

AB 723 is a California law signed October 10, 2025 and effective January 1, 2026. It added Section 10140.8 to the California Business and Professions Code. The purpose, as stated by its authors, is to promote transparency and prevent consumer confusion when listing images do not accurately represent a property’s current condition.

In plain terms: if you market a California property with a photo that has been digitally altered in a way that changes how a buyer understands the property, you must disclose that — visibly — and give the viewer a way to see the original, unaltered image.

Four practical elements per altered image.

The statute requires a real estate broker or salesperson (or anyone acting on their behalf) who includes a digitally altered image in an advertisement or promotional material for the sale of real property to do all of the following:

1. Include a statement disclosing that the image has been altered. The statement must be reasonably conspicuous and located on or adjacent to the image.
2. Provide a link, URL, or QR code to a publicly accessible internet location that includes — and clearly identifies — the original, unaltered image.
3. Include access language. The disclosure statement must indicate that the unaltered images can be accessed via the linked website, URL, or QR code.
4. Host the unaltered image where the broker or salesperson controls the website on which the altered image appears.

These four practical elements are what compliance actually looks like: a visible label, a public link to the original, clear access language, and the original image actually hosted and reachable.

The line between exempt and disclosure-required.

Disclosure IS required when an image is altered through photo-editing software or artificial intelligence to add, remove, or change elements of the property. This explicitly includes:

• Virtual staging — digitally adding furniture or other physical attributes to a room.
• Adding or removing elements outside of, or visible from, the property — such as streetlights, utility poles, views through windows, and neighboring properties.
• AI enhancements that change what the property actually looks like.

Disclosure is NOT required for common photo edits that do not change the representation of the property, specifically: lighting, sharpening, white balance, color correction, angle, straightening, cropping, and exposure.

The dividing line is simple to remember: if the edit changes what a buyer would understand about the property, disclose it. If it only improves how the existing reality is captured, you don’t.

The broker, the salesperson, and anyone acting on their behalf.

The obligation falls on the real estate broker or salesperson, or any person acting on their behalf. That phrasing matters: using a third-party staging service or photographer does not move the responsibility off the agent and brokerage. If the altered image appears in your listing, the disclosure duty is yours.

For brokerages, this creates a portfolio-level obligation: every agent’s altered listing image needs compliant disclosure, and the brokerage carries the exposure if any of them fall short.

Several risk surfaces, all converging at the brokerage level.

AB 723 sits within California’s existing real estate regulatory framework. We do not publish specific fine amounts or enforcement statistics, because enforcement practice is still developing and varies by situation — but the relevant exposure comes from several directions: the California Department of Real Estate’s authority over deceptive marketing practices, MLS board rules and sanctions, and general consumer-protection and misrepresentation principles. The practical risk is greatest at the brokerage level when an audit looks across many listings at once. (For specific enforcement risk, consult your counsel — this guide does not quantify penalties.)

A five-step checklist for every altered image.

1. Identify every altered image. Any photo where furniture was digitally added (virtual staging) or where elements were added/removed/changed needs disclosure. Common edits (lighting, cropping, color) do not.
2. Add a conspicuous disclosure on or adjacent to each altered image. A "Virtually Staged" or "Digitally Altered" label that a typical buyer will see.
3. Publish the original, unaltered image at a publicly accessible URL, and clearly identify it as the original.
4. Link to it from the disclosure — a URL or QR code — with language telling the viewer they can access the unaltered image there.
5. Keep a record. Retain the original and altered versions and the date of alteration so you can produce them if asked.

Built around the four practical requirements of §10140.8.

SEAREI is built around the four practical requirements of §10140.8. For any listing, SEAREI generates the disclosure label, hosts the original unaltered image on a public verification page (reachable by URL and QR code), issues a tamper-evident compliance certificate, and keeps the original and altered images on an audit-ready record. Whether you stage with SEAREI or bring photos staged elsewhere, the compliance layer is produced for you.

Related questions about AB 723.

Last updated: May 25, 2026 · SEATECHONE LLC

SEAREI is built around the requirements of California Business & Professions Code §10140.8. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or certified by the California Department of Real Estate or any MLS. This guide is informational, not legal advice; confirm current requirements with your MLS and your own counsel.