Aussies up in arms after real estate agency accidentally exposed unedited photos on a listing: 'Fake advertising'

By MATT JONES, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 05:45, 5 June 2026 | Updated: 05:45, 5 June 2026 A real estate agency has been called out by Aussies after it accidentally exposed unedited photos of a property alongside the enhanced images.  Homes4Rent has listed a four-bedroom, two-bathroom family home at 7 Moonie Street in Holmview, 40km south of Brisbane, for $630 a week. Eagle-eyed Aussies were quick to notice the original photos taken at the property had been uploaded alongside the retouched ones. Photos of a lush green lawn were followed by the same lawn, this time dry and dead.  Under Australian Consumer Law (ACL), Queensland real estate agents are strictly prohibited from publishing fake, digitally altered or AI-generated photos if the overall impression misleads or deceives potential renters. Photos must truthfully and fairly represent the property's actual condition. Only basic enhancements like adjusting brightness, boosting contrast or clearing up an image for lighting are generally permitted. Aussies were quick to blast the agency over the retouched images after they were shared in the Facebook group 'Don't Rent Me'.  How the front lawn looked in this unedited picture of the family home in the suburbs  The next photo on the listing showed the lawn looking lush and healthy The barren-looking backyard is seen here in the original shots The lush lawn looks a lot more appealing in this photo 'It's not even well-edited. Who do they think they are kidding? A p***take,' one said.  'This makes me so mad that this is allowed. It's literally false advertising,' a second person agreed, while a third said it 'should genuinely be illegal'.  'Whoever rents this needs to keep these pictures. Guessing the landlord will use it as evidence on the entry report,' a fourth said.  'I laugh but my ex-landlord took me to tribunal over a yard and used edited photos and won,' another warned. Agencies caught breaching the ACL can face substantial fines, reaching up to $10million for a corporation and $500,000 for individuals. The Daily Mail has contacted Homes4Rent for comment. In March 2023, another real estate company was called out after an unedited photo of a Queensland home revealed the listing image had been altered. Retouching manager at real estate marketer CampaignTrack Paul Gal told agents in a Real Estate Business industry memo: 'We are allowed to make a home look as good as it would look on its best day. 'So, if the lawn is in a bad way now but a month ago it was green, we can touch it up, but if it's a dirt patch we won't, unless it's going to be returfed,' he said. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.