Mayor Zohran Mamdani sends 'AI warning' to landlords in New York
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani raises concerns over the use of AI in apartment listings. His administration is crafting regulations to mandate the disclosure of any AI-generated or altered images. This initiative is designed to guarantee that renters have access to genuine depictions of properties online, addressing tenant protection needs highlighted by renter testimonies. The ultimate aim…
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has issued an AI warning to landlords, brokers and rental platforms regarding the use of artificial intelligence in apartment listings. In a recent X post, Mamdani emphasized that New Yorkers need to know whether the online apartment they are viewing is genuine. His administration is currently crafting rules to mandate clear disclosure in rental listings when images and videos are generated or manipulated using AI.
"Finding a home in New York is hard enough without artificially creating more issues," Mamdani wrote, referencing a New York Times article on the matter. "New Yorkers should know whether the apartment they're examining is real," he added. This comes following Mamdani's initial proposal for AI disclosure rules in July. The proposal is part of a broader collection of 23 tenant-protection initiatives known as the Rental Ripoff Report, which emerged from testimony from over 2,400 New York renters during citywide hearings.
Mamdani argued that renters shouldn't have to discover after visiting an apartment that an online listing doesn't accurately represent the property. He jokingly remarked, "After all, it's called StreetEasy, not StreetHard." The problem has intensified as AI tools have simplified the creation or modification of realistic property images.
A Coraly analysis of around 40,000 listing photos from Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, and Homes.com revealed that nearly 11% displayed signs of AI alteration, according to a Fortune report. New York's Department of State has also advised homebuyers to identify AI-induced alterations, such as distorted details, blurry backgrounds, and mismatched window views, which have been termed "housefishing."
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