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I wonder how large the fines are.

I've seen plenty of SV real estate guys using drones for aerial shots for their listings, and since the revenue per deal is large in a residential real estate sale, unless the fine is substantial it'll just get rolled up into "cost of doing business".

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There aren't many instances of actual fines, but this is the most prominent one: The FAA tried to fine drone pilot Raphael Pirker $10,000 [1] for being paid by the University of Virginia Medical Center to film a promo video with a drone. Pirker challenged the fine and won. The FAA changed its rules after that decision and Pirker eventually settled for $1,100.

[1] http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/features-issue-...

IANAL, but I think that (drone photos of real estate) falls under "flight in furtherance of business," which is legal for those without a commercial certificate.

Taking photos of real estate and then selling those photos to a real estate agent would still be illegal, thouigh.

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