Original research · Q3 2026 baseline
State of Virtual-Staging Disclosure
A transparent baseline of 32 public-source checks across national bodies, states, MLSs, and major property portals.
The finding
Disclosure is fragmented. Some MLSs prescribe exact image and remarks treatment, while several major portals publish no useful public virtual-staging rule. An agent cannot safely infer one universal workflow from general advertising law alone.
Practical baseline
Use an image-level “Virtually staged” label, retain and expose the original, never change permanent facts, and check every applicable state, MLS, brokerage, and portal rule before publishing.
How to cite the numbers
The counts describe this dataset—not every authority in the world—and reflect sources verified on 2026-08-09. See the methodology, entry-level evidence, and downloadable data.