Is day-to-dusk allowed on the MLS?

Short answer: no public MLS rule we could read mentions day-to-dusk, twilight or dusk at all — it is neither named as allowed nor named as forbidden. But the rules that do exist exempt lighting adjustments, not a changed time of day, and one of them lists sky replacement as an alteration by name. Treat a day-to-dusk photo as digitally altered and disclose it, with the original alongside.

What follows is the reasoning, with every rule quoted from its source. Where we could not read a rulebook, we say so rather than guess.

What a day-to-dusk edit actually changes

A twilight conversion does three things to a daytime exterior: it replaces the sky, it adds a warm glow to the windows, and it usually lights up exterior fixtures. The house is the same house. What the photo now depicts (the time of day, the sky, and lights that were not on) is not what the camera recorded.

That matters because every exemption below is written for adjustments to a photo, and the question is whether a new sky and synthetic window light are adjustments or additions.

In one study, sky replacement was the most common edit of all. Reporting on that study of listing photos, HousingWire wrote: “Sky replacement alone appeared in 69% of altered images, making it the single most common editing technique.” (HousingWire, reporting Coraly’s US study; we have not seen the report itself.)

California: AB 723

Since 1 January 2026, California Business and Professions Code §10140.8 has governed altered images in real estate advertising. Its definition is broad:

(b) (1) For purposes of this section, “digitally altered image” means an image, created by or at the direction of the real estate broker or salesperson, or person acting on their behalf, that has been altered through the use of photo editing software or artificial intelligence to add, remove, or change elements in the image, including, but not limited to, fixtures, furniture, appliances, flooring, walls, paint color, hardscape, landscape, facade, floor plans, and elements outside of, or visible from, the property, including, but not limited to, streetlights, utility poles, views through windows, and neighboring properties.

And the exemption is the sentence every day-to-dusk argument turns on:

(2) “Digitally altered image” does not include an image 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.

The statute never mentions a sky. Two readings are available. On one, a twilight edit is “lighting”. On the other, a replaced sky is a changed element “outside of, or visible from, the property”, and window glow suggests lights that were not on. The exemption also carries a condition: the adjustment must “not change the representation of the real property” — and a photo that shows the house at an hour it was not photographed is hard to call unchanged.

We do not think the “lighting” reading is safe to rely on. If an image is digitally altered, the statute requires this with the advertisement:

(a) (1) 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 shall include in the advertisement or promotional material a statement disclosing that the image has been altered and a link to a publicly accessible internet website, URL, or QR code that includes, and clearly identifies, the original, unaltered image. The statement shall be reasonably conspicuous and located on or adjacent to the image and shall include language indicating that the unaltered images can be accessed on the linked internet website, URL, or QR code.

Source: Bus. & Prof. Code §10140.8, added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 497 (AB 723).

What the MLSs we can read say

MLS	Names dusk or twilight?	What it exempts	Closest thing to a sky
CRMLS	No	“brightness, color correction, sharpening, or lighting”	None
San Diego MLS	No	Its rules adopt the statute’s list, including “lighting”; its FAQ’s plain-English list leaves lighting out	“Modifying views or backgrounds”
Bay East	No	The statute’s list, including “lighting”	“sky replacement”, by name
Canopy MLS	No	Not stated	Visual elements “not within a property owner’s control” are prohibited

CRMLS

CRMLS is the most permissive-sounding of the four:

Does this rule apply to all edits to an image? No. Minor photographic adjustments, such as brightness, color correction, sharpening, or lighting are not affected by this rule.

It also says what to do when unsure:

When in doubt, err on the side of caution. If you can’t determine if an image is digitally altered, it is advised to disclose that it is via the process established above.

Where the rule applies, CRMLS’s guidance on Rule 11.5.2 requires the original next to the edit: “the original, unaltered version must appear in the listing immediately before or after the digitally enhanced image.” CRMLS does not require a watermark. It asks for the label in the photo description. Source: CRMLS digitally altered image guidance.

San Diego MLS

San Diego MLS’s rules (Rule 7.4.2) adopt the statute’s definition word for word, lighting exemption included. Its FAQ lists what does not need disclosure in plainer terms, and “lighting” is not on that list:

5. What types of photo edits do NOT require disclosure?
Edits that do not materially alter the property are not considered digitally altered and do not require disclosure, including:
Brightness, exposure, or contrast adjustments · Color correction · Cropping or resizing · Straightening or sharpening · Other standard image quality enhancements

Its examples of what is altered include “Modifying views or backgrounds”. It does not say whether a sky is a background. Source: SDMLS AB 723 FAQ, answers 4 and 5.

San Diego is also the one MLS here that forbids putting the disclosure on the photo:

(a) Include the label “Digitally Altered” on the digitally altered image. The listing broker is not permitted to watermark or embed the disclosure directly onto the photo itself.

The rule goes on to have you upload the unaltered original to the MLS, which assigns it a public URL, and paste that URL into the altered photo’s description field. Rule 7.4.4 adds that altered images “must not include text, watermarks, contact information, or promotional material.” Source: SDMLS Rules and Regulations, July 2026, Rules 7.4.2–7.4.4.

Bay East

Bay East is the only source we found that names sky replacement:

Q: What is considered a “digitally altered” image?
A: A digitally altered image is any photo that has been modified after capture in a way that changes or enhances the appearance of the property. This includes, but is not limited to, virtual staging, object removal, sky replacement, AI enhancements, or digital renderings.

That is in Bay East’s Q&A rather than the rule text, but it is the clearest published statement in this set, and it points one way. Bay East also requires the original “immediately after” the altered image, rather than before it. Source: Bay East digitally altered MLS photo rule.

Canopy MLS

Canopy does not mention skies, but it prohibits one thing a careless dusk edit can do:

Prohibited Inclusions: Modifying photo(s)/rendering(s), or virtual tours to include visual elements not within a property owner’s control, or that are not physically possible, is strictly prohibited.

Its example is a skyline view that cannot be seen from the property. Canopy does not say this reaches skies; our reading is that a sunset in a direction the house does not face is the same kind of problem. Canopy also requires the disclosure “directly ON the image or within the virtual tour”. A caption is not enough. Source: Canopy MLS support article 104.

Everyone else

We have not read the rules of most other MLSs. Some are behind a member login and some we have not reviewed yet, so we say nothing about what they require. If you belong to one, your MLS’s own rulebook is the answer.

So why “ambiguous — disclose by default”?

Because that is what the sources support. Nothing we can read names day-to-dusk, so calling it prohibited would be inventing a rule. Calling it exempt would rest on the word “lighting”. The statute has it, and so do CRMLS’s FAQ, Bay East’s rule and San Diego’s rules. But the statute exempts only adjustments that “do not change the representation of the real property”, San Diego’s own FAQ leaves lighting out of its plain-English list, and Bay East’s Q&A lists sky replacement as an alteration by name.

The costs are also lopsided. Disclosing an edit that turns out to be exempt costs you a caption and a link. Not disclosing one that turns out to be covered is a rule violation: at CRMLS, “a warning at first and then, if not corrected in a timely manner, a $250 fine”, and in California a statutory duty on the licensee.

About the fine figures you may have seen

Some vendor pages publish per-MLS fine schedules. Check them against the MLS:

CRMLS does publish one: “Violating this rule will result in a warning at first and then, if not corrected in a timely manner, a $250 fine.” That is an MLS fine, not a fine in AB 723. The statute sets no dollar amount.
San Diego MLS’s FAQ states no dollar figure, but its rules and fine schedule do. Rule 7.4.4 makes an altered image without the required disclosure and original-image access “a violation, subject to citation and removal under Section 14 (Violations, Sanctions).” The heading of Rule 11.5 in the July 2026 rules cross-references the altered-image rules, and SDMLS’s published citation schedule lists 11.5 at a maximum fine of $500, doubled for a second offence of a rule within a year. The schedule also warns that violations “may result in a hearing with the possibility of a penalty in excess of the fine as stated in the schedule”. Sources: SDMLS Rules and Regulations, SDMLS citation schedule of fines.
Canopy MLS states no dollar figure in its public article, and names no penalty process for disclosure violations. (The article’s one reference to its §8.4.2 Category II process is about unauthorised use of listing content, not altered images.)

A per-offence dollar amount attributed to Canopy is not quoting anything Canopy has published. For any other MLS, look for the rule and the schedule before trusting the number.

Outside the US: New South Wales

NSW Fair Trading’s advertising guidelines for property agents say agents must not:

change the appearance of a property by digitally removing or adding features (adjusting the lighting effects only to compensate for poor lighting may be acceptable)

This is guidance rather than legislation, and it does not mention skies. But “only to compensate for poor lighting” is narrower than California’s exemption, and a new sky is hard to describe as compensating for anything. Source: NSW Fair Trading advertising guidelines.

What to do

Label the photo as digitally altered, where your MLS asks for it: in the photo description at CRMLS, on the image itself at Canopy, as “altered”, “digitally altered” or “AI altered” at Bay East, and in the photo remarks at San Diego MLS, never burned into the photo there, which Rule 7.4.3(a) forbids.
Put the unaltered daytime original next to it: immediately before or after at CRMLS and Canopy, immediately after at Bay East. At San Diego MLS, also paste the original’s MLS-assigned URL into the altered photo’s description field.
In California, every advertisement that uses the edit needs a reasonably conspicuous statement, on or next to the image, that it has been altered, with a link or QR code to a public page showing the original, and wording that says the original can be seen there.
Do not add views, landscaping or light sources the property does not have.

Duskly’s paid day-to-dusk edits come with the original paired and hosted at a permanent public link, a QR code to that page for print, and disclosure wording for the MLS, the listing remarks and print. See how it works.

Every quote on this page was re-read at its source on 25 September 2026. Rules change; if one of these has, tell us and we will correct the page. This is a reading of published rules, not legal advice: for a specific listing, your MLS, your broker or a lawyer is the authority.