Imagine that you’re a potential buyer or tenant and see photos of the ideal home with a spacious yard of lush, green grass where you can picture your children playing. You make an appointment to see the property and drive there, full of excitement. When you arrive at the home, you see smokestacks on a hill behind the property and a yard full of mostly dead grass with patches of crabgrass and a mound of rusty car parts. How would you react? Would you trust the listing broker and seller or landlord? 

Strong photos attract buyers to a listing. Good lighting, the right camera lens, the right angle, filter, or digital enhancement, can make the difference between a gorgeous photo and an average one. But when does the use of photographic “tricks of the trade” cross the line into misrepresentation? Article 12 of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics prohibits REALTORS® from using misleading images to misrepresent a property to consumers. Rhode Island law prohibits real estate licensees from engaging in misrepresentation, and State-Wide MLS Rules hold MLS Participants and Subscribers for the accuracy of the listing data, which includes images.

State-Wide MLS does not prevent listing licensees from using filters in photographs to enhance the colors of the property, the sky, grass, water, the home, etc. MLS also will allow a listing broker to use virtual staging, such as changing wall colors or adding different types of furniture to enhance the look of a property, but recommends that the listing agent labels each photo that has been enhanced and discloses in property remarks what has been changed. However, MLS also recommends that listing licensees do not remove from photos, items, such as utility poles, a pile of junk, smokestacks, a water tower, a fire hydrant, etc., or adding a view, because this is misleading to consumers.

For more information, please contact State-Wide MLS at (401) 432-6904 or [email protected].