The Photo Rule Reaches the Leasing Office January 1
On January 1, an altered photo in a California rental ad needs a label beside it and the original in the ad or a click away (AB 2025, September 2026). The rule reaches anyone who includes an altered image in a rental ad, not only licensed brokers. On site, the work falls to whoever posts or approves listing photos: leasing professionals, community managers, regionals, and central marketing teams.
Nothing in it requires a new hire. It does require someone to know which photos were altered. The law does not say who that is.
What the rule requires
The law adds Section 1940.11 to the Civil Code. An ad that includes a digitally altered image must say so in a "reasonably conspicuous" disclosure on or next to the image. If the altered image started as a photo, the ad must also include the unaltered original, or a link or QR code to a page that shows it. If it uses a link, the disclosure has to say the originals are there. An image generated entirely by AI needs the disclosure but not an original.
"Altered" is broad. It covers furniture, appliances, flooring, paint, landscaping, floor plans, and the view out a window, whether added, removed, or changed. It does not cover lighting, color, exposure, straightening, or cropping that leaves the space as it is. A community that uses unaltered photos owes nothing new.
What January 1 asks, and who signs off California's rental ad rule and Wisconsin's licensee rule, both in force January 1, 2027. A summary, not legal advice.
The image | What the rule asks | Who signs off (advice) |
|---|---|---|
Altered photo (California) | A label beside it, and the original or a labeled link | One named person signs off |
AI-generated image (California) | A label on or next to it; no original needed | The same person |
Light, color, or crop only (California) | Nothing, if the space is shown as it is | Nothing to sign off |
Misleading licensee ad (Wisconsin) | Disclose it was altered; no original or set wording | The licensee, by law |
Sources: California AB 2025 (Civil Code 1940.11), chaptered Sept 27, 2026; 2025 Wisconsin Act 69.
Who it reaches
The duty falls on "a person who includes a digitally altered image" in a rental ad, so owners and operators are covered directly. For licensees, a violation also counts against the license, and a willful one is a crime under the Real Estate Law. For everyone else, the section sets no penalty of its own, but it keeps false-advertising law in force.
The bill carries no urgency clause, so it takes effect on January 1 (California Apartment Association, September 2026). The text does not set apart ads already running that day, and no rental guidance has addressed them.
California's sales rule, in force since January 1, 2026, already asks brokers and salespeople for a label and a link to the original on any sale ad with an altered image (AB 723, October 2025). The rental rule reaches further. It binds anyone, not only licensees, and it counts an image altered by anyone. Like the sales rule, it makes no exception for a listing site with no field for a link. The label and the original, or a link to it, go with the image wherever the ad runs.
Why a template line is not the whole fix
The obvious fix is a template change: the listing vendor adds a line, and the job is done. The trouble is the trigger. The rule applies image by image, and a vendor often will not know which photos were virtually staged three years ago, retouched by a photographer, or left behind by a prior owner.
One attorney told Bisnow that many of their California clients who bought properties with altered ads have no originals (Bisnow, October 2026). Bisnow also reports that an industry executive has heard re-shoot estimates as high as thousands of dollars per property.
Wisconsin, and everyone else
Wisconsin's rule also starts January 1, but it is narrower (2025 Wisconsin Act 69). It binds real estate licensees only, applies when an alteration creates a false or misleading impression, and asks for no original image. Whether it reaches an apartment operator depends on who holds the license, which is a question for counsel. New York, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia have bills pending; only New Jersey's carries into 2027.
Percy's take
Name the person who signs off by December 1. At a single California community that can be the community manager. Across a portfolio it fits a regional or the central marketing team. It is not a new hire. It is a named person, because someone has to answer for which images were altered.
Put it in writing. One line in the job description of whoever signs off, and one question in the interview: "Who signed off on the photos at your last community, and what happened the day one was wrong?"
Keep the originals where a leasing professional can link them. Ask every photographer and staging vendor for the unedited files with each job. A portfolio in several states can run the same practice everywhere.
What to watch next
Before January 1. Rental guidance from the California Department of Real Estate, whose November 3 bill summary only restates the law. Owners have asked for it and for a grace period, and neither had been announced by November 10.
January 1. California's rental rule and Wisconsin's licensee rule take effect.
2027 sessions. New Jersey's bill, which carries over and is at second reading in the Assembly, and whether New York and the District file theirs again.
Notes
This piece says what the rules say and whom on site they touch; it is not legal advice. Statute quotes are from the chaptered text.
—
Percy recruits regional managers, community managers, and leasing professionals for apartment owners and property management companies across conventional, affordable, student, and manufactured housing. If January 1 changes who signs off on your listings, talk to us.
