NYC to Require Landlords to Disclose AI-Altered Rental Listing Photos

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is moving to force landlords and realtors to disclose when rental listings have been generated or edited with AI. The requirement is one recommendation in a newly published “Rental Ripoff Report,” which grew out of hearings his administration held across the five boroughs where roughly 2,400 residents described untreated mold, ignored pest problems, unexplained fees, and other deceptive practices.

The AI-disclosure rule targets a growing problem in real estate advertising: listing photos that have been digitally enhanced or fabricated to make units look more appealing than they are. The gap between marketing images and reality is especially damaging for renters who sign leases sight-unseen, such as people relocating for work who can’t inspect a property in person before committing.

The report bundles the disclosure proposal with broader tenant-protection measures, including formal recognition of tenant unions, expanded bargaining rights, and modernized code enforcement. The move follows a separate “click-to-cancel” subscription rule the mayor announced a day earlier, signaling a wider consumer-protection push. As with many such recommendations, enforcement details and legal mechanics will determine how much the disclosure requirement actually changes landlord behavior.