Real estate: digitally altered images: disclosure.

Assembly Member Pellerin's real estate advertising transparency measure would require California real estate professionals to disclose when property images have been digitally altered and provide access to unmodified versions of manipulated photos.

The legislation creates new disclosure requirements for real estate brokers, salespersons, and their representatives who use digitally modified images in property advertisements. When posting altered photos, they must include a conspicuous statement near the image indicating it has been modified. For online listings under their control, they must also provide the original, unaltered version of any modified images, either directly or through a link.

The bill specifically defines "digitally altered images" as those modified through photo editing software or artificial intelligence to change property elements like furniture, appliances, flooring, or walls. Standard photo adjustments such as lighting, color correction, cropping, and exposure modifications are explicitly excluded from the disclosure requirements. Under the Real Estate Law, violations of these new provisions would constitute a criminal offense subject to enforcement by the Department of Real Estate.