HomeCloakRemoval guides / MLS Listing Photos
How to Remove Your Photos from the MLS (2026)
Last updated September 1, 2026
The MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is where listing photos originate — roughly 500 independent regional systems run by local realtor associations. Most listing sites copy their photos from it, so removals that skip the MLS often see photos reappear.
Before you start: the honest math
- This site: about 90 minutes to file, then a reply to read, then up to three follow-ups over the 45 days the law gives them to act. Many sites go quiet until you follow up.
- Your home and your name are on 925 sites like this one, each with its own process, its own inbox, and its own excuses. Done by hand, that's 250+ hours spread across months.
- Then it comes back. These sites re-import from public records and each other. What you removed in March can reappear in September, and the whole list starts over.
- HomeCloak: $109.99 a year. Every request filed the moment you subscribe, with a signed authorization brokers can't bounce. Every reply read and answered. Every silence followed up at 14, 30, and 45 days. Everything re-filed when it comes back, and every new site we find added automatically. You just watch the statuses change.
What it takes to get this removed
Roughly 90 minutes to file on your own, plus reading the reply and following up when they don't answer. Here's what it involves.
- First you have to know which of the ~500 regional MLS systems holds your listing, and what that specific system's photo-removal policy is — they differ, and most publish nothing.
- The request generally has to go through the listing broker of record from the sale, with proof of ownership, worded so the change flows out to the listing sites.
- Your MLS removal letter does the lookup and the drafting for you: your region's process, the right contact, a ready-to-send letter with your ownership document attached.
Worth knowing
- Many MLSs are legally required to retain the internal listing record for years (California, for example, mandates 3+ years) — what comes down is the public-facing copy, not the internal record.
What to expect
- Because this process runs through people rather than a form, timelines vary — a responsive listing agent can resolve it in days; an unresponsive one can take weeks of follow-up.
Common questions
Is it legal to have my home's photos and information removed from MLS Listing Photos?
Yes. State consumer-privacy laws — the California CCPA/CPRA and a growing list of similar laws in other states — give you the right to ask for your personal information to be deleted. Most sites also honor removal requests under their own published privacy policies, no matter which state you live in.
How long does MLS Listing Photos take to remove a listing?
Privacy laws generally allow up to 45 days for a verified deletion request, with one 45-day extension in complex cases. In practice many sites act within days to a couple of weeks. If you hear nothing by day 45, send a follow-up referencing your original request date.
Will my home's photos and information come back after removal?
It can. Sites like MLS Listing Photos routinely re-import from public records and upstream data brokers, so a successful removal today can quietly reappear months later. That's why re-checking periodically matters — or using a monitoring service that re-files the removal automatically when something resurfaces.
MLS Listing Photos is 1 of 925 sites showing your home or your name.
You just read what one of them takes. Working through all 925 yourself is 20+ hours of filing, reading replies, and following up on silence over two months, and then doing it again when your listings come back. HomeCloak files every one the moment you buy, with a signed authorization attached, reads every reply, follows up at 14, 30, and 45 days, shows you each status as it changes, and re-files anything that comes back. $109.99 a year, up to 3 properties.