A criminal conviction does not automatically keep you from an Illinois real estate license. The state says so in writing. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) states that no conviction is an automatic bar to a real estate license and that the Department cannot deny a license based solely on conviction history. What the law does require is that every applicant be of good moral character, and that the Department weigh a list of factors if a conviction is in the picture.

This article explains what Illinois law says and what IDFPR says about how it reviews convictions. It is general information. It is not legal advice, and it makes no promise about how any single application will turn out. Every case is reviewed on its own facts by the Department, and the outcome belongs to the Department. If you have a specific question about your record and your rights, a lawyer is the right person to ask, which is also what IDFPR's own FAQ says. We are a brokerage, and we have been bringing new agents into the business in Rockford since 1923. We are not your attorney, and we are not the state. What we can do is lay out the actual text so you know what to expect.

If you are at the beginning and want the full path, our guide to getting your Illinois real estate license covers the steps, and you can find every article in this series on our Illinois real estate guide page.

What The Law Says About Good Moral Character

The starting point is Section 5-27 of the Real Estate License Act of 2000 (225 ILCS 454). It lists what a broker applicant must be and do. The list includes being at least 18, finishing high school or its equivalent, completing 75 hours of approved education, passing the exam, and being "of good moral character." Section 5-28 sets the same character requirement for a managing broker.

The Act does not leave "good moral character" to guesswork. Section 5-25 is titled "Good moral character," and it explains how the Department handles the question when an applicant has a past revocation, a past violation, or a conviction.

What the Department may consider

Section 5-25(a) says that when an applicant has had a license revoked on a prior occasion, or has committed any of the practices listed in Section 20-20 of the Act, or has been convicted of or pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to forgery, embezzlement, obtaining money under false pretenses, larceny, extortion, conspiracy to defraud, or any other similar offense, or has been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude in any court in the United States or a foreign country, the Department may consider it. The statute's word is "may." It says the Department may consider the conviction in deciding the applicant's moral character and whether to grant the license. It does not say the Department must deny.

Notice what the list is made of. The named offenses share a theme of dishonesty and money. That connects to what a real estate licensee does all day, which is to hold other people's money and give them information they rely on. The statute also reaches beyond the named list with the words "any other similar offense" and the phrase "felony involving moral turpitude," so the list is not a complete boundary of what the Department may look at. A reader should not assume that an offense missing from the list is irrelevant, and should not assume that an offense on the list ends the application.

The factors the Department must weigh

Section 5-25(b) uses a different word. It says the Department "shall take into account" a set of factors. The statute lists the nature of the conduct, aggravating or extenuating circumstances, the time elapsed, the rehabilitation or restitution performed by the applicant, mitigating factors, and any other factors the Department deems relevant, including these nine:

• The lack of a direct relation between the offense and the duties, functions, and responsibilities of the license sought.
• Whether 5 years since a felony conviction or 3 years since release from confinement, whichever is later, have passed without a subsequent conviction, unless otherwise specified.
• If the applicant was previously licensed or employed in Illinois or elsewhere, the lack of prior misconduct related to that position.
• The age of the person at the time of the offense.
• Whether federal rules or regulations would explicitly prohibit the applicant from working in the position for which the license is sought.
• Successful completion of the sentence, and for applicants on parole or probation, a progress report from the probation or parole officer documenting compliance with the conditions.
• Evidence of the applicant's present fitness and professional character.
• Evidence of rehabilitation or rehabilitative effort during or after incarceration or supervision. The statute names a certificate of good conduct or a certificate of relief from disabilities under the Unified Code of Corrections as examples.
• Any other mitigating factors that contribute to the applicant's potential and current ability to perform the job duties.

IDFPR's FAQ for real estate applicants with a conviction history repeats these factors in plain language. It lists the direct relation between the offense and the responsibilities of the license, the length of time since the conviction or release, any later convictions, the age at the time of the offense, the circumstances, prior licensure or employment, any federal prohibition, completion of sentence, present professional character, and evidence of rehabilitative effort.

Read the list the way a reviewer would. No single factor is written as decisive. Time passed matters. Relation to the job matters. Evidence that you have changed matters. The statute gives the Department a list of things to weigh and leaves the weighing to the Department, which is why nobody outside the Department can honestly tell you how a given application will come out.

What You Disclose And What You Do Not

The same Section 5-25 draws a line around what the Department may ask for and consider. This part is as important as the factors, and many people with older records never learn about it.

What must be disclosed

IDFPR's FAQ says the Department requires you to disclose on an application any conviction, plea of guilty, or plea of nolo contendere to these types of offenses: forgery, embezzlement, obtaining money under false pretenses, larceny, extortion, conspiracy to defraud, and a felony involving moral turpitude. It also requires disclosure of an administrative sanction by another government agency in any state that involves dishonesty or fraud, and of any conviction that requires compliance with the Sex Offender Registration Act.

The Act uses the same categories when it describes what a licensee must report after licensure. We come back to that below.

What the Department does not require and will not consider

Section 5-25(c) says the Department shall not require applicants to report, and shall not consider, the following:

• Juvenile adjudications as defined in the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, subject to the restrictions in that Act.
• Law enforcement, court, and conviction records of a person who was 17 at the time of the offense and before January 1, 2014, unless the nature of the offense required the person to be tried as an adult.
• Records of arrests not followed by a charge or conviction.
• Records of arrests where the charges were dismissed, unless related to the practice of the profession. Applicants are not to be asked to report any arrests, and an arrest not followed by a conviction cannot be the basis of a denial.
• Convictions overturned by a higher court.
• Convictions or arrests that have been sealed or expunged.

IDFPR's FAQ lists the same categories, with one difference in wording. It says convictions that have been "sealed, vacated, or expunged" do not need to be reported. That line is useful if your record includes something a court has already cleared. Sealing and expungement are decided by courts under separate laws, so a question about whether your record qualifies is a question for an attorney or the court, not the Department.

The one rule that applies to everyone

Section 5-25(d) states that if an applicant makes a false statement of material fact on the application, the false statement may in itself be sufficient grounds to revoke or refuse to issue a license. Section 20-20 lists fraud or misrepresentation in applying for a license as a ground for discipline, with fines up to $25,000 per violation. The practical lesson is simple, and it is the one point where the statute leaves little room. Answer every question truthfully. A conviction the Department is allowed to weigh is one thing. A false answer about it is a separate problem.

How The Review Works In Practice

The statute describes the standard. IDFPR's FAQ describes what happens after you submit.

The Department may contact you to ask for more information. Sometimes the application is forwarded to the Department's Enforcement unit for further review. While it is there, you may receive a call from a Department attorney, or be offered an informal conference where you can discuss your past and present support for your application. The Department can also file a Notice of Intent to Deny licensure. If it does, you can request a hearing in front of an administrative law judge and present evidence in support of your application.

IDFPR's licensing flyer adds a point about responsiveness. It says that when you disclose a conviction, you may be required to submit additional information before a license can be issued, and that it is critical to respond to any communication from the Department and provide what it asks for. The flyer also reports that in 2023, no applicants were denied a license solely because of a conviction if they responded to requests for more information. That is a statement about one past year, from the Department itself. It describes what happened. It is not a prediction, and nobody should treat it as a guarantee.

What the documents tend to look like

We have not read the initial application's disclosure questions, because that application is filed through the state's online system. IDFPR's real estate restoration application, which a previously licensed person uses to restore a license that has expired for more than two years but less than five, shows the sort of documentation the Department asks for. It asks whether you have ever been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor or felony, or received an administrative sanction, and excludes minor traffic violations. If the answer is yes, it asks for an official copy of the court or agency document showing the offense and the final disposition, whether probation was served, and whether all conditions of the sentence or sanction have been met. It also asks for a brief statement describing what you have been doing since the conviction, release, or offense.

Taken together with the statute's factors, that tells you what a reviewer is looking for: the record, the outcome of the case, the completion of the sentence, and your account of the time since. If you are preparing to apply, the factors in Section 5-25(b) are a reasonable guide to which documents to gather. A probation or parole officer's progress report is named in the statute. So are evidence of present fitness and evidence of rehabilitative effort. Gather the official records first, and check the current application instructions for what is required.

Timing and the exam

Education and exam rules do not change with your record. The 75 hours, the exam, and the sponsorship all apply to every applicant, and the state's rules give you one year from a passing exam score to meet the licensure requirements. That one-year clock is a practical reason to understand the review process before you spend money on a course. We cannot tell you how a review of your own record will go. A question about timing for your own situation is worth putting to the Department directly or to an attorney.

After You Have A License

The conversation about your record does not end when the license is issued. Section 5-25(e) requires a licensee to report to the Department, within 30 days after it happens, any conviction of or plea of guilty or nolo contendere to forgery, embezzlement, obtaining money under false pretenses, larceny, extortion, conspiracy to defraud, or a similar offense, or any conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude. A licensee must also report an administrative sanction by a government agency that has an element of dishonesty or fraud, and any conviction that subjects the licensee to the Sex Offender Registration Act. Section 20-20 lists failing to make that report as a ground for discipline.

Section 20-20(a)(2) also lists a licensee's conviction of or plea to a felony or misdemeanor, or an administrative sanction, among the causes for which the Department may refuse to renew a license, place it on probation, suspend it, or revoke it. The word "may" appears again. The Department decides.

One more rule matters if you ever plan to own a brokerage. Section 5-15(f) says no person, partnership, or business entity may be granted a license if any owner, officer, director, partner, member, or manager has been denied a real estate license by the Department in the previous 5 years, or is currently barred from real estate practice because of a suspension or revocation. It is written for licenses where someone owns or runs the business, so it matters mostly to people who may someday open a brokerage, and it is part of the full picture of how a past denial can affect later plans.

A license and a sponsor are two different steps

Getting licensed is one thing. Working is another. The Act says no applicant may engage in licensed activity until a valid sponsorship has been registered with the Department, and sponsorship means a sponsoring broker certifies that you are employed by or associated with that brokerage under a written agreement. So a license by itself does not let you work. A sponsor does.

We cannot speak for other brokerages, and we are not making any promise about any applicant. We can describe what a new agent gets at Gambino Realtors, so you know what to ask any brokerage you are considering. A new agent has a personal business coach, and we pay that coach for each sale their new agent makes. We hold classes every week and sales meetings twice a month. A mentor goes with new agents on their first few appointments, and we bring leads to our agents. If you want the questions worth asking before you sign anywhere, read how to choose your first brokerage.

The Bottom Line

Illinois law does not treat a conviction as an automatic bar to a real estate license. Section 5-25 requires the Department to weigh the nature of the conduct, the time that has passed, the sentence completed, evidence of rehabilitation, and the other factors the statute lists, and it keeps certain records out of the review altogether, including sealed and expunged convictions, arrests without a conviction, and juvenile adjudications. IDFPR says the Department cannot deny a license solely because of a conviction. None of that is a promise about your application. If you have a record, read the statute and IDFPR's FAQ, gather the official records, answer every question truthfully, respond promptly to anything the Department asks, and talk to an attorney about your specific situation. When you have a license in hand, read how to choose your first brokerage before you pick a sponsor.

Here are the questions people ask most about this subject.

Frequently Asked Questions