Real-Estate Use & Disclosure Policy

Read this before using any AI-edited image in a listing

Better Listing Media does not warrant that any AI-edited image complies with the rules of any MLS, brokerage, state real-estate commission, or other regulator. Rules vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. You are solely responsible for confirming permitted use and adding any required disclosure language before publication.

This Real-Estate Use & Disclosure Policy (the “Use Policy”) explains the responsibilities that attach to your use of AI-edited images delivered through the Better Listing Media platform (the “Platform”) in connection with real-estate marketing. It is incorporated into our Terms of Service and complements our AI Processing Disclosure.

This Use Policy is informational only. It is not legal advice and does not create any warranty by Better Listing Media. The legal landscape for AI-altered real-estate imagery is fragmented, evolving, and jurisdiction-specific. Always consult your MLS's current rules, your brokerage's policies, your state real-estate commission's guidance, and qualified counsel.

1. Categories of edits and typical regulatory treatment

The Platform produces a range of AI-edited outputs. Common categories — and the kinds of rules that typically govern them — include:

• Color, exposure, white-balance, and HDR correction. Generally treated as conventional photo editing. Most MLSs and brokerages permit it without specific disclosure, provided the edit does not materially misrepresent property condition.
• Sky replacement, virtual twilight conversion, and weather/season changes. Increasingly subject to disclosure requirements. Some MLSs require a watermark, a caption note (“digitally enhanced” or similar), or a flag in the listing's photo metadata.
• Virtual staging, virtual decluttering, and virtual renovation. Widely require a clearly visible disclosure (commonly “virtually staged”), an unedited “before” image alongside the staged image, or both. Some jurisdictions consider undisclosed virtual staging a material misrepresentation.
• Object removal, structural alteration, or any edit that changes a material feature. Almost always prohibited or requires very explicit disclosure. Removing or hiding defects, code violations, neighboring structures, fixtures, or features that affect value or use can support a misrepresentation, deceptive-trade-practices, or fair-housing claim.
• Fully synthetic imagery (rooms or features that do not exist). Generally prohibited in MLS marketing without an explicit “artist's rendering” or “conceptual” label. Misuse can constitute fraud.

These groupings are illustrative; specific rules vary. Use them as a starting point for your own compliance review, not as an authority you can rely on.

2. State and federal disclosure regimes you should consider

The list below identifies regulatory regimes that frequently apply to AI-edited real-estate imagery. It is non-exhaustive and changes as states and agencies update their rules. You are responsible for tracking the current rules in every jurisdiction where you market a listing.

• State real-estate license law and commission rules (every U.S. state). Most prohibit material misrepresentation in marketing. Many states have issued AI-specific guidance.
• State consumer-protection / unfair-and-deceptive-acts-and-practices (UDAP) statutes. Misleading marketing claims, including misleading imagery, are commonly actionable.
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advertising guidance on truthful and non-misleading representations, endorsements, and digital alteration. The FTC has signaled increasing scrutiny of AI-generated marketing.
• Federal Fair Housing Act and state fair-housing statutes. AI-edited imagery that signals preference based on a protected class — including by adding or removing people, religious symbols, or neighborhood signifiers — can support a discrimination claim.
• MLS / NAR rules and local MLS Citation policies. Many MLS associations now require explicit labeling of AI-edited or virtually staged photos and may fine or suspend members for violations.
• Brokerage internal policies. Many brokerages have stricter internal policies than the MLS or state require.

State legislatures are actively considering new AI-disclosure bills targeting real-estate marketing. Examples include statutes and proposed bills in California, New York, Texas, Florida, Washington, Colorado, Illinois, and Massachusetts. The status of any specific bill is outside the scope of this policy; check current state-government sources.

3. Recommended baseline disclosure language

Where your jurisdiction or MLS does not specify exact language, the following baseline phrases are widely accepted as a starting point. They are not safe-harbor language; you remain responsible for compliance.

• For virtual staging: “Virtually staged — furnishings shown are digital and do not convey.”
• For virtual decluttering: “Some images digitally edited for clarity. Property condition may vary.”
• For sky replacement / twilight conversion: “Sky / lighting digitally enhanced.”
• For any AI-edited image: “Image digitally enhanced. Buyer to verify all material features.”

You should add jurisdiction-specific language where required and place the disclosure prominently — in the photo caption, the listing remarks, or directly on the image — per the rules that apply to you.

4. Per-image review obligations

Before publishing any AI-edited image, you agree to:

• visually inspect the output against the source image for accuracy;
• confirm that no material feature of the property has been added, removed, or altered in a way that misrepresents condition, value, or compliance;
• confirm that the edit complies with the current rules of your MLS, brokerage, and jurisdiction;
• add any required disclosure language, watermark, or metadata flag;
• retain the unedited source file independently of the Platform for the record-keeping period required by your brokerage or law; and
• not use the Platform to conceal a property condition that is required to be disclosed to buyers.

5. Fair housing

You will not use AI editing — directly or indirectly — to depict, suggest, or signal a preference for or against any protected class under federal, state, or local fair-housing law. This prohibition includes, without limitation, AI-generated demographic signals (people added, removed, or altered), religious or cultural signifiers, or neighborhood characteristics edited in or out.

6. Prohibited edits in real-estate marketing

You may not use Platform outputs in real-estate marketing for any of the following purposes:

• concealing a material defect that must be disclosed by law, MLS rule, or brokerage policy;
• misrepresenting the size, finish, materials, or layout of a property;
• adding, removing, or altering improvements (e.g., a deck, addition, garage) that do not exist;
• misrepresenting neighborhood features (removing power lines, billboards, commercial properties, or other off-property elements that materially affect the listing);
• misrepresenting environmental hazards (water, smoke, mold, damage);
• any other use that constitutes fraud, deceptive trade practices, false advertising, or violation of fair-housing law.

Any such use is a material breach of our Terms and may result in account termination, indemnification obligations to us, and personal regulatory liability for you.

7. We do not warrant compliance

Better Listing Media makes no warranty or representation that any AI output is compliant with any MLS, brokerage, state, or federal rule. No statement on our marketing pages, no product label, and no support communication should be read as a compliance certification. Our outputs are software products. Compliance is yours.

8. Indemnification

You will defend, indemnify, and hold Better Listing Media harmless from any claim, demand, action, investigation, fine, penalty, or proceeding arising out of: (a) any use of an output in violation of this Use Policy; (b) any failure by you to make a required disclosure; (c) any MLS, brokerage, regulator, or consumer claim against you arising from imagery you published; or (d) any third-party claim alleging that an output you published misrepresents a property — on the terms set out in Section 20 of our Terms of Service.

9. Reporting violations

If you become aware of a use of our Platform that violates this Use Policy (for example, an obviously fraudulent listing using our outputs), report it to support@betterlistingmedia.com. We may suspend or terminate the offending account upon investigation.

10. Updates

We may update this Use Policy as the regulatory landscape evolves. Material changes will be communicated at least 14 days before they take effect. Continued use of the Platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance.