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Sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com as well as brokerage IDX websites will only have a single exterior photo for closed, expired, cancelled, and leased listings.
March 5, 2026 – by Scot Campbell Realtor
For a number of years, many buyers who complete purchases of homes have requested that the interior photos, floorplan drawings, and 3D tours be removed from real estate websites.
However, in our area, the California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS) rules prohibited removal of the photos after the property status changed to closed, canceled, expired, or leased.
Now, in an effort to bolster consumer safety and confidence, CRMLS has decided to now automatically remove all photos except the primary photo from listings, both current and historical, in finalized statuses (Closed/Leased/Expired/Canceled) from IDX syndication (which is the system that feeds real estate websites like Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com, and brokerage websites).
Updated “Rule 19.2.4: Display Context (IDX)” reads as follows:
Participants and Subscribers shall not display confidential information fields, as determined by the MLS in the MLSs’ sole discretion, such as that information intended for Buyer Brokers rather than consumers. Participants and Subscribers shall not display any photo or Media other than the primary photo for any CRMLS Listing Record in a status of Closed/Leased, Expired, or Cancelled.
Here is the text of the recent announcement:
“CRMLS implemented this rule to ensure consumer security. We get frequent requests from agents and their clients to remove photos of a closed property so that a homeowner’s privacy isn’t violated.
Recently, media outlets have reported that, nationally, there’s been an increase in criminal activity in areas that have multiple images of a sold property from public real estate listing portals. From using interior photos as burglary blueprints to fraudulently repurposing photos for fake listings, there is real concern about leaving such information available on the internet for anyone to see.
Per this Fox News report, “Listing photos often stay online long after a home is sold. That means photos of your home, taken when you listed it three, five, even 10 years ago, could still be sitting there right now showing every room, every door, every window and exactly where your security cameras are mounted.”
To proactively combat potential criminal activity and assuage consumer concerns, CRMLS found the most efficient answer was to remove all but the primary photo of a listing in IDX syndication to public portals.
To be clear, the photos will ONLY be removed from IDX syndication. Listing photos in the MLS will NOT be affected. That means the MLS remains a valuable resource of listing data for agents to use in their routine office work, such as compiling CMAs. Listing images will remain on historical records in the MLS, they simply won’t be publicly available.
You may be wondering what the exception of the “primary photo” means. In your listing, you’ll find a space to designate the first image in a listing’s photo library. That’s the primary slot. That image alone will remain in IDX syndication, so please choose it accordingly.
CRMLS users don’t have to take any action. We will handle the removal of photos. This is a new, ongoing, automated security process that will help protect consumers and save agents time. Agents and brokers still retain the usual rights to their images.
While this may seem like some monumental shift in how listing photos are handled, this is actually only going to affect the general public, not the average MLS user.
Keeping photos of a lived-in home’s intimate details off the internet helps homeowners sleep at night. We are happy to help facilitate any and all means to alleviate consumer anxiety while providing continued service to our brokerage community.”
SCOT CAMPBELL | Global Luxury Property Specialist | Coldwell Banker-Campbell Realtors
714.336.0394 Mobile / scot@campbellrealtors.com / www.scotcampbell.com / DRE #00943759
