A complaint against an Illinois real estate licensee goes to the Division of Real Estate at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), and the Real Estate License Act of 2000 lets the Department fine a licensee up to 25,000 dollars for each violation. The Act lists grounds for discipline numbered 1 through 47, and the Department's choices run from a reprimand to a revoked license.

That matters before you ever hold a license, because the brokerage that sponsors you is part of the process. The Act says the Department may notify the designated managing broker and the sponsoring broker of an investigation, and the charging notice, hearing notice and final order must go to them. If you are still comparing offices, read how to choose your first brokerage next to this guide and ask each office how it handles compliance.

This guide follows a complaint from the first form to the final order. It covers who can file, what the Division can and cannot do, what the Act and the rules treat as a violation, the steps and deadlines in a hearing, and the outcomes the law names. It explains what the Act and the rules say. It is not legal advice, and a licensee facing a complaint should talk to an attorney.

How a Complaint Reaches the Division and What the Division Can Do With It

The form, the email address and the mailing address

IDFPR runs separate complaint forms for appraisal, auction, home inspection and other real estate professions, and the one for brokers and leasing agents is the Real Estate Brokerage Complaint form. The Division of Real Estate's complaint page lists a phone number for real estate complaints, 312/793-8724, and a mailing address at the Complaint Intake Unit, 555 West Monroe Street, 5th Floor, Chicago, IL 60661. The form itself says to email the completed complaint to FPR.REcomplaint@illinois.gov or to mail it to the Division of Real Estate, Attn: Complaints, at the same Chicago address.

The form opens with a plain statement of purpose. The Division will investigate complaints to determine whether there has been unlawful or unprofessional conduct by a real estate broker, a real estate company or a leasing agent. It also admits something a complainant should hear first. The investigation process "can be lengthy depending upon a variety of factors inside and outside of our control." The form gives no timetable, and neither does this guide.

What the form asks you to provide

The form asks for the complainant's name and contact details, and for a contact person if someone is acting on the complainant's behalf. It asks for the name of the broker or leasing agent, the license number if known, their address, email and phone, the date or dates of the events, and the address of every property involved. It asks whether you already contacted the licensee and when. It asks for witnesses and for any other agency that has received the same complaint. Then it gives a space to describe what happened.

A checklist on the form names the paper that supports a complaint: the listing agreement, the purchase contract and riders, disclosures, the MLS sheet, a signed escrow release form, a contract cancellation form, canceled checks, leases, written correspondence such as emails, texts and private messages, an addendum, and images such as photos, advertisements, web addresses and business cards. One warning is printed in capital letters. Do not include personally identifiable information such as a social security number, bank account numbers or a driver's license number.

Two housekeeping lines are worth knowing. The complainant keeps a copy, because the form says no copies will be provided. And the certification at the bottom has two parts. The complainant swears the information is true and correct to the best of their knowledge, and also authorizes IDFPR, after its initial review, to share the complainant's identity, contact information and complaint with any other governmental agency that may be able to help resolve it.

Anonymous complaints and confidentiality

A person can ask to remain anonymous, and the form attaches a condition. An anonymous complaint must be supported by evidence or it will be closed. Complaints that are not anonymous are acknowledged in writing, and the complainant is told when the Division has closed the matter.

The form also makes a promise and a qualification in the same paragraph. The Division makes every effort to keep the complainant's identity confidential during the investigation. The Prosecutions Unit may still require the complainant's testimony in an administrative proceeding, and a complainant who testifies can be required to appear as a witness and be subject to cross-examination.

What the Division says it cannot do

The form lists limits in a short block, and it is worth reading before you file. The Division cannot provide legal advice or act as the complainant's attorney. It cannot order the refund of fees, award damages, or enforce or cancel contracts. It cannot mediate commission disputes.

So a complaint is a request that the State look at a licensee's conduct against the Act. It is not a way to get a deposit returned or a listing contract ended. A person who lost money has a separate route, covered at the end of this guide, and a person with a contract dispute is dealing with a court rather than the Division.

What the Act lets the Department do once it has a complaint

Section 20-60 gives the Department power to investigate the actions of any applicant, of anyone rendering or offering services for which a license is required, and of anyone holding or claiming to hold a license. That last phrase reaches people who say they are licensed and are not. Section 20-10 separately gives the Department authority to investigate any and all unlicensed activity, and it sets a civil penalty for practicing without a license of up to 25,000 dollars for each offense, assessed after a hearing.

The same section says the Department "may notify the designated managing broker and sponsoring broker of the pending investigation." The word is may. The notice at the charging stage is not optional, and that comes up below.

What Can Get a Licensee Disciplined

The Act's list, grouped by subject

Section 20-20(a) is the center of Illinois real estate discipline. It says the Department may refuse to issue or renew a license, place a license on probation, suspend it, revoke it, reprimand the licensee, or take any other disciplinary or non-disciplinary action it deems proper, and impose a fine not to exceed 25,000 dollars for each violation. It applies to licensees, to applicants, to anyone who holds themselves out as one, and to a licensee handling their own property. The 47 numbered grounds are easiest to read by subject.

Money comes first because several grounds deal with it. A licensee can be disciplined for failing to account for or remit moneys or documents that belong to others, for failing to keep escrow moneys in a special account separate from personal and other business accounts and leave them there until the transaction closes or ends, and for commingling the money or property of others with their own. Failing to make escrow records available to the Department within 24 hours of a request is its own ground. The rules for that account are in the guide to escrow and trust account rules for Illinois brokers, and the record keeping rules are in the guide to what Illinois brokers have to keep.

Advertising and promises take up several grounds. The Act names advertising that is inaccurate, misleading or contrary to the Act, substantial misrepresentation or untruthful advertising, false promises of a character likely to influence, persuade or induce, and using the trade name or insignia of an organization the licensee does not belong to. It also names displaying a for sale or for rent sign, or advertising a property by any means, without the written consent of an owner or authorized agent, and advertising by blind advertisement except where Section 10-30 allows it. The detail on those rules sits in the guide to Illinois real estate advertising rules for brokers.

A third group is about who the licensee works for. A licensee can be disciplined for acting for more than one party in a transaction without written notice to all parties, for representing or performing licensed activities for a broker other than the sponsoring broker, and for failing as a sponsoring broker or licensee to give the Department timely sponsorship or termination information. Practicing without a license, or after the license or temporary permit expired or while it was inactive, revoked or suspended, is a ground too.

Fair housing has its own entries. The Act names influencing a prospective seller, purchaser, occupant, landlord or tenant so as to promote racially and religiously segregated housing or to obstruct integrated housing. It also names any act that violates Article 3 of the Illinois Human Rights Act, whether or not a complaint has been filed with or decided by the Human Rights Commission. Section 20-50 adds a hard line. When a civil or criminal proceeding has found that a licensee illegally discriminated, the Department, after notice, a hearing and a Board recommendation, shall suspend or revoke the license unless the finding is on appeal, and the licensee cannot re-argue the merits of that finding at the hearing.

Some grounds concern the person rather than a transaction. Fraud or misrepresentation in applying for a license or a renewal is a ground. So is conviction of or a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a felony or misdemeanor, an administrative sanction by a government agency, or a crime that requires compliance with the Sex Offender Registration Act. Failure to tell the Department within 30 days about the information Section 5-25(e) requires is a separate ground, which is why the criminal record guide covers what a license applicant has to disclose. Discipline by another state or governmental agency counts if at least one of the grounds is the same as or equivalent to a ground under the Illinois Act, and a certified copy of that record is prima facie evidence. Inability to practice with reasonable judgment, skill or safety because of physical illness, mental illness or disability is listed, and so is habitual or excessive use of alcohol, narcotics, stimulants or another chemical agent that results in an inability to practice with reasonable skill or safety.

The last group is about dealing with the Department itself. Failing to provide information the Department requested, or to respond, within 30 days is a ground. So is violating the terms of any order the Department has issued, and so is disregarding or violating any provision of the Act or the published rules, or aiding or abetting someone else to do so. Cheating on the licensing exam or a continuing education exam, and helping an applicant cheat, are listed as well.

Conduct the rules spell out

Section 20-20(a)(21) makes dishonorable, unethical or unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud or harm the public a ground, and it includes conduct set out in the Department's rules. Rule 1450.900 does that work. It says unprofessional conduct "includes, but is not limited to" a list of seventeen items, lettered (a) through (q).

Several of them describe a licensee's duty to a client. Failure to act in the best interests of a client. Deliberately misleading a client as to the market value of property. Failing to advertise the property under the terms of the listing agreement. Deliberately misrepresenting the condition of property to prospective purchasers or their agents, or misrepresenting the availability of access to show it. Inducing a seller to list the property through false representations. Inducing a seller, through false representations or false promises, to transfer property to the licensee. Buying or transferring property through an intermediary in order to conceal the licensee's own purchase.

Others describe conduct toward people. The rule names taking unfair advantage of a client's or customer's age, disability or lack of understanding of the English language, and engaging in licensed activities with the public or other licensees in a manner that is abusive, harassing or lewd. Failing to reasonably safeguard confidential information, or improperly using it, is on the list.

A few address the structure of a brokerage. The rule names representing oneself as a sponsoring broker or designated managing broker without providing actual supervision and management, and using a managing broker license to let a broker, a residential leasing agent or another individual operate or manage a licensed entity without the designated managing broker's actual participation and control. Section 20-20(a)(46) adds that a designated managing broker's failure to provide an appropriate written company policy, or to perform the duties in Section 10-55, is a ground. The difference between a broker and a managing broker is explained in Broker vs Managing Broker in Illinois.

The rule reaches the process itself. Obstructing an inspection, audit, investigation, examination or disciplinary proceeding is unprofessional conduct, and so is assisting or inducing a licensee or an unlicensed person to violate the Act, violating the special account rule in Section 1450.750, and accessing a property or granting permission to access it without proper authorization.

One item deserves a second look. Item (o) names any conduct constituting a breach of duty to the client that causes harm to the client in the future, and it adds that in establishing harm the Department need not prove actual economic damage to the client. A complaint under that item does not depend on a dollar loss.

One act is enough

Section 20-15 is two sentences long and does a lot. The commission of a single act prohibited by the Act or the rules, or a violation of a disciplinary order issued under the Act, constitutes a violation of the Act. Nothing in it asks for a pattern. A fine of up to 25,000 dollars is available for each violation, so the number of violations in a file matters to the ceiling.

From Charges to a Final Order

The notice and the answer

Under Section 20-60 the Department has to give written notice before it revokes, suspends, places a license on probation, reprimands or takes any other disciplinary action. The notice goes out at least 30 days before the hearing date. It goes to the person charged and to the designated managing broker and the sponsoring broker. It states the charges, the time and place of the hearing, and whether the license has already been temporarily suspended. It also directs the person to file a written answer to the charges, under oath, within 20 days after service, and it warns that failure to answer will result in a default or that the license may be suspended, revoked or placed on probation, or that other action may be taken, including limiting the scope, nature or extent of the ability to practice.

The Department's hearing rules cover the same ground from the procedural side. Under Rule 1110.20 a contested case starts when the Division files a Complaint and a Notice of Preliminary Hearing with the Clerk and mails or emails them to the respondent's address of record. The complaint is in writing, is signed by a Chief of Prosecution, states the acts or omissions alleged and cites the sections of the statute and the rules involved. For a real estate licensee the notice is also addressed to and served on the person's managing broker and sponsoring broker.

Rule 1110.120 sets the answer in the hearing rules as a written, signed response to each allegation, filed within 20 days after the date the Complaint was filed, in which the respondent admits, denies or states that there is insufficient information, and an insufficient-information response must come with an affidavit. The Act counts its 20 days from service of the notice and the rule counts from the filing of the Complaint, so the safest reading is that a respondent should treat the earlier date as the one that matters and should ask an attorney.

The cost of not answering is spelled out in both places. Under the rule, on the Division's motion the administrative law judge issues a notice to plead or be held in default, and if the respondent files nothing conforming within 15 days after that notice, the respondent is held in default and the allegations of the Complaint are deemed to have been admitted. A respondent who fails to appear at a scheduled hearing without cause can also be held in default. Under the Act, if the person does not answer, the Department may suspend, revoke or place the license on probation, or take other action including a fine, without a hearing, if the acts charged are sufficient grounds.

The hearing and the burden of proof

At the hearing the Board proceeds to hear the charges, and the parties or their counsel receive ample opportunity to present pertinent statements, testimony, evidence and arguments. The respondent can appear alone. Rule 1110.90 says any individual may appear on their own behalf and that a party may be represented by an attorney licensed in Illinois. A corporation or limited liability company must appear through legal counsel.

The burden sits with the Division. Rule 1110.190 says a recommendation for discipline may be made by the administrative law judge only when the Division establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the allegations of the Complaint are true. The rule does not use a looser standard, and it does not require the licensee to prove innocence. The Department's hearing rules apply to all of its administrative hearings, as Rule 1450.940 confirms for real estate.

Settlement by written agreement

Not every case ends with a contested hearing. Rule 1110.80 lets the Division and the respondent stipulate to facts, and lets them sign a written agreement that provides for disciplinary or non-disciplinary action as the settlement of the complaint. A Board member may sign it too. If the Director approves the agreement, it is entered like any other order and is a final decision. If the Director rejects it, the respondent is entitled to a hearing on the merits.

The rule also protects the attempt. A proposed agreement that is not accepted by all parties or is rejected by the Director is confidential as an unsuccessful attempt to settle, and it cannot be referenced in a later pleading or proceeding. Statements made in informal conferences are confidential as well, including proposed dispositions.

The report, the rehearing window and court

After a contested hearing the administrative law judge files a written report with findings of fact and conclusions of law, and where discipline is recommended the report states the type and duration. When the report goes to a Board, the Board reviews it and issues its own report adopting, rejecting or modifying it. Once the report reaches the Director, the parties receive what the rule calls a Twenty Day Notice, and either side may ask for a rehearing within 20 days by written motion stating the grounds. The Act sets the same 20-day window in Section 20-64, and it adds that ordering and paying for a transcript within that window starts the 20 days when the transcript is delivered.

The Director enters the final order after the rehearing question is decided, and the order is served on the licensee's managing broker and sponsoring broker as well. The Secretary can order a rehearing under Section 20-72 if the Secretary believes substantial justice has not been done. The rules say the Director does not consider motions to reconsider, and that the route after a final order is a complaint under the Administrative Review Law. Section 20-75 makes final administrative decisions subject to judicial review in the circuit court of the county where the party resides, or Sangamon or Cook County for a party who lives outside Illinois.

Temporary suspension

Section 20-65 is the exception to the 30-day notice. The Secretary may suspend a license temporarily, without a hearing, at the same moment proceedings under Section 20-60 begin, if the evidence indicates that the public interest, safety or welfare imperatively requires emergency action. A hearing must commence within 30 days after the suspension. The licensee may seek a continuance, and during a continuance the suspension stays in effect. The hearing rules add that if the final order finds no violation, dismisses the Complaint or the Department withdraws it, the order imposing the temporary suspension is vacated.

The Outcomes the Law Names

Discipline and non-disciplinary action

The Act's own list is probation, suspension, revocation, reprimand, refusal to issue or renew, a fine of up to 25,000 dollars for each violation, and any other disciplinary or non-disciplinary action the Department deems proper. Section 20-20(a) lets the Department combine them. The sections do not say which outcome follows which ground, and this guide does not guess.

Rule 1450.910 fills in the non-disciplinary side. Non-disciplinary action "may include, but is not limited to" the following items. A citation for failure to complete, or untimely completion of, required continuing education. Restricting a licensee's access to escrow funds. Requiring the licensee to complete licensed real estate courses. Requiring the licensee to provide any report, record or document about licensed activities that the Department considers relevant. And an administrative fee.

Citations for education that was not finished

Education is the one area where the law sets out a ladder in numbers. Section 20-20.1 and Rule 1450.960 let the Division audit continuing education and post-license education and issue a citation to a licensee who falls short. The licensee has 60 days after service to submit proof and pay, and proof within that window makes the citation null and void. The citation sets the fine and tells the licensee they may request a hearing within 30 days after it is served.

The fine for a first citation is 500 dollars. For a second citation it is 1,000 dollars. A third citation and each one after it is publicly disclosed discipline with a fine not to exceed 2,000 dollars. A first or second citation is non-public. Paying the fine does not excuse the hours, because the licensee still has to complete the missing education. A licensee who neither proves compliance nor pays can face further discipline for violating the order, and cannot do licensed work until the education is complete and the fine and any reinstatement fees are paid.

What becomes public

Section 20-5 requires the Department to maintain an index of formal decisions on issuing, refusing, renewing, revoking and suspending licenses and on probationary or other disciplinary action, and to make the index available to the public during regular business hours. IDFPR's Enforcement Actions page points to its consolidated disciplinary reports, which give the date of discipline and a brief synopsis. The License Look-Up page says documents about a specific individual's or entity's discipline are requested through a Freedom of Information Act request. The same page offers a real estate license look-up.

Money for a person who lost cash

A complaint does not pay anyone back, so the Act sets a separate route. Section 20-85 creates the Real Estate Recovery Fund for a person aggrieved by a licensee's violation of the Act, embezzlement, or an act by which money or property was unlawfully obtained by false pretenses, trickery, forgery, fraud, misrepresentation, discrimination or deceit, where the person lost actual cash money rather than market value. The person has to win a valid judgment in circuit court first, then apply for a post-judgment order. The Act sets a 2-year window to start the suit from the date the person knew or should have known of the acts, and it requires naming every responsible licensee as a defendant. The person has to give the Department written notice within 30 days after the judgment.

The consequence for the licensee is built into the same section. If the Department pays from the Fund, the licensee's license is automatically revoked when the post-judgment order is issued. Section 20-110 adds that none of this limits the Department's authority to discipline the licensee under the Act.

Bottom Line

A complaint to the Illinois Division of Real Estate can end in anything from no action to a revoked license, and the steps in between are written down. The Act sets the grounds and the fine ceiling. The hearing rules set the answer deadline, the burden of proof and the rehearing window. The Division carries the burden, the respondent can appear alone or with an attorney, and the sponsoring broker and designated managing broker receive the notice and the final order.

For a new licensee the practical points are few. Look at the form's own checklist, because it shows the kind of paper a complaint is built from: contracts, disclosures, escrow release forms and written messages. Answer Department requests within 30 days, because failing to respond is its own ground. Treat any citation for education as a deadline with a dollar amount attached. And remember that Section 20-15 treats a single prohibited act as a violation.

If you are weighing where to start, how to choose your first brokerage is the next guide to read, since the office you join is the one that gets copied on every notice. Gambino Realtors has been in business in Rockford since 1923.

That is the path from the first form to the last notice. These answers cover the questions a reader is likely to have next.

Frequently Asked Questions