New York City Targets ‘Housefishing’ With Proposed Crackdown on AI-Altered Rental Photos
Landlords and brokers could face strict disclosure rules for digitally altered apartment listings.
Prospective tenants in New York City may soon get relief from “housefishing”—the practice of using deceptively altered or AI-generated photos to market rental properties. A new legislative proposal aims to force landlords, real estate brokers, and online listing platforms to clearly disclose when rental photos or videos have been modified using artificial intelligence or other digital manipulation tools.
The initiative, announced by Zohran Mamdani at Manhattan’s Tenement Museum, is part of a broader “Rental Ripoff Report.” This package features 23 tenant-protection measures compiled after city officials gathered testimony from more than 2,400 renters during public hearings across all five boroughs. The goal is to establish clear boundaries for online real estate marketplaces, where the rapid proliferation of generative AI has made it incredibly easy to fabricate appealing but entirely fictional living spaces.
The scale of digital alteration in the housing market is substantial. An analysis by tech firm Coraly of approximately 40,000 property photos across major platforms—including Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, and Homes.com—revealed that nearly 11 percent showed signs of AI manipulation. The trend has prompted the New York Department of State to issue official warnings advising house hunters to look out for telltale signs of digital editing, such as mismatched window views, blurry backgrounds, and inconsistent architectural details.
This digital face-lifting, often derided by critics as “AI real-estate slop,” has led to severe real-world consequences for renters. In one viral case, a Detroit bungalow gained millions of views after a tenant exposed how Zillow photos featured a nonexistent repainted facade and refinished floors. In another instance, an apartment seeker arrived at a viewing to find a missing fireplace and a stove without knobs, despite online images showing a fully functional, modern kitchen. Social media platforms like TikTok have similarly been flooded with videos of renters comparing pristine online listings on platforms like StreetEasy with the dilapidated realities of the actual units.
According to Justin Brookman, the director of technology policy at Consumer Reports, the stakes are particularly high for individuals relocating from other cities. Renters moving from out of town frequently sign year-long leases sight unseen, leaving them legally bound to properties that look nothing like their online advertisements. Brookman advocates for basic guardrails, such as requiring platforms to display the original, unedited photos side-by-side with the virtually staged versions.
Some states have already taken legislative action to address these concerns. California has enacted laws requiring explicit disclosures when real estate listings feature materially altered images, while lawmakers in New Jersey are currently debating similar consumer protection measures.
Major listing platforms are also reacting to the shifting regulatory environment. Zillow, which also operates StreetEasy, expressed support for increased transparency in digital listings. A spokesperson for the company stated that Zillow backs clear disclosures when AI is used to materially alter property images, adding that consumers should ideally have access to the original photos for comparison. While Zillow notes that digital staging is not a new phenomenon, the company acknowledged that modern AI tools have made these alterations faster to produce, more widespread, and significantly harder for the average consumer to detect.
