Virtual Staging Disclosure Rules 2026: A Compliance Guide by Jurisdiction

Virtual Staging Disclosure Rules in 2026: The Short Answer

Virtual staging is legal, and none of the laws we reviewed bans it. The rules target undisclosed or misleading edits: an edit that changes how a property looks has to be disclosed, and some edits are not allowed in listing photos even with a label. In 2026 the rules come in four layers:

1. State law. Since January 1, 2026, California's AB 723 has required a statement on or next to every digitally altered image in a sale ad, plus a link or QR code to the original. California rental ads and Wisconsin licensees follow on January 1, 2027.
2. MLS rules. Your MLS decides where the label goes (photo description, on the photo, or no text on the photo at all), and newer rules, such as those of CRMLS and ARMLS, require the original directly before or after the altered photo.
3. Ethics. The NAR Code of Ethics bars REALTORS® from using misleading images but sets no label wording.
4. Rules outside the US. UK, Australian and Canadian rules prohibit misleading property images, the EU now requires realistic AI-manipulated images to be disclosed, and new rental-ad rules are arriving.

A safe default anywhere: label every altered image, keep the original next to it, and never alter the property itself.

Rules at a Glance

A dash means the sources cited here do not specify a penalty. For California's law in depth, see our AB 723 guide; for photo size limits and board-by-board MLS rules, see our MLS photo requirements guide.

Why Virtual Staging Disclosure Matters More Than Ever in 2026

AI tools and filters are increasingly used to alter listing photos. A study by Coraly, a real estate team growth platform, examined roughly 40,000 primary listing photos on Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com and Homes.com from the first quarter of 2026. Nearly 11% showed signs of alteration, 69% of the altered images involved sky replacement, and more than 90% of the altered images had no visible disclosure (Real Estate News, June 2026).

Regulators and MLSs are responding:

• New York's Department of State issued a trend alert in late 2025 warning that AI images in listings "may produce misleading or exaggerated representation of properties", and reminded licensees that ads must give "an honest and accurate depiction" of the home (Real Estate News).
• California's Department of Real Estate (DRE) said in a March 2026 advisory that responsibility for misleading AI-assisted advertising "rests with the licensee and their responsible broker, not the technology provider", and that failing to review AI-generated images "may result in violations even if the alteration was unintentional" (DRE advisory).
• Some MLSs are automating checks. San Diego's SDMLS worked with Coraly on a scan that flags likely AI alterations at upload, matches them with the originals and publishes a page where the originals can be viewed (Real Estate News).

So review every image your photographer, editor or AI tool delivers, and disclose before buyers act. The rules apply whether you stage with AI virtual staging, a human editor or a phone filter.

California AB 723: What the Law Requires Since January 2026

AB 723 (Chapter 497, Statutes of 2025) was signed on October 10, 2025 and added Section 10140.8 to the Business and Professions Code (bill text). Licensees have had to comply since January 1, 2026.

Who it covers. "A real estate broker or salesperson, or person acting on their behalf", who includes a digitally altered image in an advertisement or other promotional material for the sale of real property. Images created "by or at the direction of" the licensee count, so edits by your photographer or stager are included.

What counts as digitally altered. An image altered "through the use of photo editing software or artificial intelligence to add, remove, or change elements in the image": fixtures, furniture, appliances, flooring, walls, paint color, hardscape, landscape, facade, floor plans, and elements outside of or visible from the property, including streetlights, utility poles, views through windows and neighboring properties.

What is excluded. Images where "only lighting, sharpening, white balance, color correction, angle, straightening, cropping, exposure, or other common photo editing adjustments are made that do not change the representation of the real property".

What the disclosure must include:

• a statement that the image has been altered;
• a link to a publicly accessible website, URL or QR code that includes, and clearly identifies, the original, unaltered image;
• placement that is "reasonably conspicuous and located on or adjacent to the image", saying the unaltered images can be accessed through the link, URL or QR code;
• on a website the licensee controls, the unaltered images in the posting, or a link to them.

The statute prescribes no watermark or remarks wording; MLS rules add those details. It also isn't limited to the MLS: it covers "an advertisement or other promotional material", so treat flyers, portal listings and social posts the same way.

Penalties. A willful violation of the Real Estate Law is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $10,000, up to six months in county jail, or both (B&P Code §10185). The DRE's advisory also points to license discipline under B&P Code §10176 for substantial misrepresentation.

Coming January 1, 2027: AB 2025 for Rental Ads

Signed in September 2026, AB 2025 covers rental ads with images changed by editing software or generated entirely by AI, and it applies to "housing providers and others", not only licensees. The disclosure must be reasonably conspicuous and on or next to the image; if the image started as a camera photo, the ad must also include the original or a link, URL or QR code to it. Routine lighting, color, cropping and exposure adjustments are excluded when they don't change how the property is represented, and for licensees a violation also violates the licensing law (California Apartment Association).

NAR Code of Ethics: Article 12 and Virtual Staging

For REALTORS®, three provisions of the 2026 Code of Ethics apply to altered photos (NAR Code of Ethics):

• Article 2: REALTORS® "shall avoid exaggeration, misrepresentation, or concealment of pertinent facts relating to the property or the transaction".
• Article 12: REALTORS® "shall present a true picture in their advertising, marketing, and other representations".
• Standard of Practice 12-10: the true-picture duty "includes Internet content, images", and it prohibits "otherwise misleading consumers, including use of misleading images" (adopted 1/07, amended 1/18).

The Code does not mention AI and prescribes no label wording (Real Estate News). Two standards are sometimes cited as photo-disclosure rules, but neither is one: Standard of Practice 12-1 is about calling brokerage services free, and 12-5 requires the firm's name in ads. In practice, a clear label plus access to the original is the simplest way to show a staged photo did not present a false picture.

Enforcement. If an ethics hearing panel finds a violation, discipline ranges from a letter of warning or reprimand and an ethics course to a fine of up to $15,000, suspension of 30 days to one year, or expulsion for one to three years (NAR Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual).

MLS Board Rules: A Platform-by-Platform Guide

MLS rules are where disclosure happens day to day, and they do not agree on the format:

What this means in practice:

• There is no universal watermark rule. "Virtually Staged" text baked into the image is unnecessary at CRMLS, the wrong format at ARMLS, and the kind of superimposed text NWMLS says it will not accept. Check your MLS's current rule before you export.
• Pairing with the original is the common thread in the newer rules.
• Some edits are off-limits even with a label, such as changes to real parts of the property at CRMLS.
• When in doubt, disclose. That is CRMLS's own advice for borderline edits.

Bright, Canopy, HAR, Stellar, NorthstarMLS and other MLSs are covered in our MLS photo requirements guide.

State-by-State Disclosure Requirements Across the US

Outside California, image-specific laws are arriving one state at a time. Elsewhere, real estate advertising "was already subject to rules against false or misleading representations before generative AI made sophisticated photo manipulation widely available" (LawCommentary, September 2026).

• California: AB 723 for sale ads (in force) and AB 2025 for rental ads (from January 1, 2027), covered above.
• Wisconsin: under 2025 Wisconsin Act 69, from January 1, 2027, licensees must disclose when technology, including AI, has been used to add, remove or change property features in a way that creates a false or misleading impression.
• New York (proposed): Senate Bill 9584 would require disclosure of materially altered or virtually staged images and labels on AI-generated or reconstructed virtual tours, bar undisclosed edits that add nonexistent features or conceal known defects, and allow license suspension or revocation.
• New Jersey (proposed): Assembly Bill 4728 would generally ban fundamentally altering photos of homes for sale, rent or lease, allow disclosed digital staging of non-fixed items such as furniture, let buyers or renters request the originals, and require photos generally no more than five years old.
• Most other states: no image-specific statute in the sources we reviewed, but misleading advertising is already prohibited.

In a state without a specific law, follow your MLS rule and use California's model, a label plus access to the original, as your default.

International Virtual Staging Regulations: UK, EU, Australia and Canada

Outside the US, virtual staging falls mostly under consumer-protection law, with new AI and rental rules on top.

United Kingdom

In England, Part 4, Chapter 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) controls property descriptions used by estate and letting agents and creates criminal offences for misleading actions and omissions. Trading Standards guidance says: "A photograph can be misleading. Do not doctor photos or use extreme lenses that affect the perspective of the image." General small-print disclaimers "won't be effective in preventing offences" (Business Companion). A label helps, but it does not make a misleading photo lawful.

European Union

From August 2, 2026, Article 50(4) of the EU AI Act requires deployers of an AI system that generates or manipulates image content "constituting a deep fake" to disclose that it has been artificially generated or manipulated. A deep fake is content that "resembles existing persons, objects, places, entities or events and would falsely appear to a person to be authentic or truthful" (AI Act, Article 50). Breaches of Article 50 can be fined up to €15 million or 3% of worldwide annual turnover (Article 99). In our reading, a realistic AI edit of a real home or hotel room likely fits the deep-fake definition, so label AI-staged images in EU marketing (see our EU AI Act Article 50 guide).

Australia

For sales, agents "are already prohibited from using digitally altered photographs in ways that mislead buyers or no longer truthfully represent the property" (SmartCompany, September 2026). For conduct on or after March 28, 2026, the Australian Consumer Law's maximum penalty for each false or misleading representation by a company is the greater of A$100 million, three times the benefit obtained or, if the benefit can't be determined, 30% of adjusted turnover during the breach period; for individuals it is A$2.5 million (ACCC).

New South Wales goes further for rentals: under legislation passed in September 2026, landlords and agents must disclose digitally generated or altered images in rental ads where they would be reasonably likely to mislead or deceive, with penalties of up to A$22,000 from early 2027 (SmartCompany).

Canada

• Ontario: the PropTx MLS Rules (effective December 2, 2024) exclude "digitally altered images including the use of any artificial intelligence ("AI") system or technology to create, alter, or enhance images or digital staging that do not accurately depict the listed real estate" (PropTx MLS Rules).
• British Columbia: the BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) penalized a listing agent over undisclosed, virtually staged MLS photos; the case is described below.

If you market a listing across borders, follow the strictest rule that applies where the ad appears.

What Edits Require Disclosure vs Standard Photo Enhancement

Across these rules the line is similar: edits that improve the photo are fine, edits that change the property need disclosure, and some changes are not allowed in listing photos at all.

The AI caveat. Generative AI tools, Roomagen's included, create a new image rather than moving sliders, so even a quality edit can change a detail such as a fixture, a view or a crack in the wall. Roomagen's Terms note that AI can occasionally produce artifacts or inaccuracies. Compare every result with the original, and if anything about the property changed, treat the photo as altered.

Edits that are not allowed in listing photos can still help in a buyer consultation or a renovation proposal, labeled as visualizations. That is where virtual renovation and virtual landscaping previews belong.

Rentals, Hospitality and Design Work: Who Else Needs to Disclose

Disclosure rules started with home sales, but they now reach others who publish property images:

• Landlords and property managers: California's AB 2025 and the NSW rule start in 2027, and New Jersey's proposed bill covers rentals too.
• Hotels, hosts and short-term rentals: in the EU, realistic AI-edited photos of a real room likely fit the AI Act's deep-fake wording.
• Photographers, editors and stagers: AB 723 covers images created "at the direction of" a licensee, and Coraly's report noted that some agents receive final JPEGs from photographers who have already deleted the originals (Real Estate News). Deliver originals with every altered file.
• Builders and developers: label renderings of homes not yet built as renderings, including construction interior visualization outputs. Under AB 2025, the original-image requirement applies when a rental image started as a camera photo.
• Interior designers and architects: concept images in a client proposal are not property ads, but once a render is used to sell or rent the property, the rules above apply.

Real-World Consequences: Penalties, Fines, and Lost Business

The published penalties are listed in the table at the top. Enforcement can also start with a single complaint, as one Canadian case shows.

A Real Case: Virtually Staged Bedrooms in a Furnished Sale

In Evans (Re), 2024 BCSRE 59, a British Columbia listing agent marketed a furnished property at Christina Lake, and the contract included the furnishings in the price. The MLS photos had been edited, with the bedrooms virtually staged. The buyer made his offer without visiting and, when he saw the property, found the furnishings did not match the photos. He rescinded the contract and complained to the regulator. The listing remarks were updated to say "Bedrooms virtually staged and photos have been edited to remove most personal belongings" only after the offer had been accepted.

BCFSA found that the agent had to disclose the edits before the buyer's offer and had breached Rule 34 (reasonable care and skill) and Rule 41 (false or misleading advertising). In September 2024 it confirmed a $6,000 administrative penalty (BCFSA decision).

The lessons: disclose before buyers act, take extra care when furniture conveys with the sale, and remember that one surprised buyer can cost you the deal and start an investigation. With more than 90% of altered primary listing photos undisclosed in Coraly's sample and MLSs such as SDMLS scanning uploads, undisclosed edits are getting easier to spot.

Compliance Checklist: How to Disclose Virtual Staging Correctly

Before You Edit

1. Identify which rules apply: where the property is, sale or rental, which MLS, and whether you are a REALTOR®.
2. Keep every original, and ask photographers and editors to deliver originals with each edited file.
3. Check your MLS rule for label format, original-photo placement and banned edits.
4. Sort each photo: standard adjustment only, disclosed alteration, or not allowed in the listing.

When You Publish

5. Label each altered image in the format your MLS requires.
6. Place the original directly before or after the altered version where required.
7. In California, add the statement and link or QR code on or next to each altered image in every ad, saying the originals can be viewed there. On your own website, include the originals or link to them.
8. Use specific wording, not small print. "Images for illustration only" doesn't tell a buyer what changed.

Sample wording to adapt to your MLS and state:

• Photo description field: "Virtually staged" or "Digitally altered".
• California ad caption: "Digitally altered image (virtually staged). See the original, unaltered photos at [link] or scan the QR code."
• Rental ad with an edited camera photo: "Digitally altered image. Original photo: [link]."
• Rendering: "AI-generated rendering, not a photo of the current property."

More wording examples and copyright questions are in our virtual staging legal FAQ.

After the Listing Goes Live

9. Check every place the listing appears, including portals and social posts: is the label visible and the original reachable?
10. Keep records of files, labels and publication dates (good practice, not a statutory rule), and tell showing agents which rooms are staged.

Using Roomagen in a Compliant Workflow

Roomagen is an AI photo editor for agents, photographers, property managers, hosts and designers. What it does, and does not do, for disclosure:

• No disclosure label by default. Roomagen does not add "Virtually Staged" labels, original-photo links or QR codes, or create a disclosure page, and our Terms make users responsible for disclosing virtual staging and AI edits.
• The Free-plan watermark is branding, not disclosure. Free results carry a faint pattern and a "GENERATED USING Roomagen.com" badge, the kind of mark ARMLS and NWMLS prohibit. Free accounts get 6 one-time credits (3 runs); paid plans start at $12 a month and export without a visible watermark, so you add the label your MLS requires.
• Originals and results in one place. The Library keeps your uploads and results and files each result in the folder of the photo it came from, and the result screen shows a before/after comparison; each batch run gets its own folder. Results are kept for 3 days on Free, 30 on Starter, 180 on Pro and without a time limit on Business, so download what you need for your records.
• Match the tool to the disclosure. AI photo enhancement is meant for standard adjustments (check the result anyway). AI virtual staging, Empty Your Space, Item Removal, virtual decluttering and day to dusk photo editing produce alterations to label. In Day to Dusk (Time Shift Interior in the app), the window-view setting defaults to "Keep Original"; picking a new view is a change AB 723 names, and on either setting, check the windows in the result.
• API results are watermarked until the account buys a pack, and carry no Roomagen branding after that. The API has no disclosure-label option, so a platform that publishes them needs its own label and original-photo link.

The Bottom Line

Virtual staging is legal, but in 2026 disclosure is a legal duty in California, a requirement at MLSs such as CRMLS and ARMLS, and, for REALTORS®, the practical way to meet the Code of Ethics' true-picture duty. Label every altered image in your MLS's format, keep the original next to it, don't alter the property itself, and recheck the rules as the 2027 laws take effect.