Privacy-minded Americans have a new demand for listing services: remove interior listing photos after a home is sold.
In a recent nationwide survey by Hypewired, 76% of respondents said states should require MLS associations and real estate websites to take down photos showing a home’s interior after a sale.
Sellers give listing agents the indefinite right to use photos when they sign a listing agreement, but don’t address the possible ramifications of keeping these photos public long-term.
Most notably, while the seller may be fine with searchable photos of the home they’re leaving, the buyers may not agree, but have to jump through hoops to have them taken down.
“The seller doesn’t have to live with the risk once they’ve moved on. It’s the new homeowner – the person who never signed anything – who’s left exposed,” Tony Gilbert, Founder & CEO of Hypewired, commented.
“It’s shocking how little control homeowners actually have once those images go live.”
Homeowners worry that keeping photos online poses a security risk, as well as infringes on buyers’ privacy.
Expectant parents were especially supportive of the idea and overwhelmingly agreed with new laws that require the removal of photos from the listing service.
Hypewired noted that law enforcement in several states have raised similar concerns, arguing that interior photos can help criminals case houses and scam home shoppers.
“Your home is literally where you live, so it’s a very different security threat than, say, a random cyberthief hacking an old email address and spamming your contacts. There are obvious concerns for your physical safety,” Monica Eaton, founder of fraud-fighting company Chargebacks911, said of similar data.
Of growing concern are rental scams, where criminals post fake listings online and coerce renters into making deposits, just to find that the house is already occupied. Devin Todd Ramsey, a Kentucky real estate agent, explained one experience to WLEX earlier this year.
“We had just closed on my seller’s property, the buyer had moved in, and I happened to find photos of my listing online saying it was available for a rental… well no, no it’s not,” she said.
More than 60% believe the homebuyer should have control over whether interior photos stay online after the sale. Only 3% of respondents would let the MLS decide if photos stay up.
Until local governments address these issues, homeowners can protect their privacy by asking their MLS or Realtor association, as well as major portals like Zillow and Redfin, to take down photos or the entire listing.
You can also make accounts on each site and claim ownership of the home, allowing you to change or remove information and pictures.
Searching your home on Google can reveal cached images, and removal can be requested.
Discussing removal with the seller’s agent before closing can also allow the seller to revoke permission before the final sale.
1 thought on “More Americans Want Interior Photos Removed From Listing Services – The Mortgage Note”
I vote for having the pictures removed but not only after the sale but before the sale. As sad as it is, it gives a crook full advantage as to the entire layout of the house. Where the doors are, the windows, the view from the neighboring homes, it’s just bad all around. And if I may add my own personal story, I think it is false advertising to take pictures with the zoom lens stretched out to make rooms look much bigger than they actually are. I found what I thought was the perfect house until I went to see it. In the picture it had a very big kitchen, very spacious, when in fact it was tiny, tiny as in maybe five feet by six feet. False advertising for sure.
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