Posts from October 13th, 2026

An Illinois broker answers to two fair housing laws at the same time. The federal Fair Housing Act, found at 42 U.S.C. 3601 and the sections after it, names 7 protected grounds on HUD's own overview page. Article 3 of the Illinois Human Rights Act, 775 ILCS 5/3-101 and following, lists 15 grounds of "unlawful discrimination" and then adds 4 more that apply to real estate transactions. Both laws reach the licensee directly, and Illinois reaches an unlicensed person who brokers a deal as well.

This guide reads those statutes and the license law that sits beside them, section by section, so a new licensee knows what the text says before the first listing appointment. It is the legal backdrop to the choice described in how to choose your first brokerage, because every office you interview with works under the same two laws. It explains what the rules say. It is...

Click Here to Read More...

An unlicensed assistant in Illinois may handle administrative, clerical and personal work for a real estate licensee, and the state lists 19 tasks it has in mind. The same rule, 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.740, also names five things an assistant may never do, including showing property and explaining a contract. If you are starting out, this is one of the first rules to understand, and it sits right beside the choice of how to choose your first brokerage, because the broker you join is the one who answers for any assistant you use.

This guide walks through the rule line by line, then connects it to the Real Estate License Act of 2000 (225 ILCS 454) and the rest of Part 1450. It explains what the text says. It is not legal advice, and a question about a specific task belongs with your sponsoring broker, your designated managing broker or the Illinois Department...

Click Here to Read More...

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...

Click Here to Read More...

The Illinois Real Estate Recovery Fund can pay a person up to 50,000 dollars in damages, plus costs of suit and attorney's fees, when a licensee's fraud, embezzlement or deceit causes a loss of actual cash. That limit sits in 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.945, and the right to claim comes from Section 20-85 of the Real Estate License Act of 2000, which is 225 ILCS 454. The fund does not pay on a complaint alone. It pays only after the person has won a court judgment and a second court order directing payment, so a claim is a long, formal road and not a refund request.

Gambino Realtors has been in business since 1923, and the fund is part of the legal frame every Illinois license sits inside. Anyone weighing a license career should know it exists, because a payout from it ends a license. Our guide on how to choose your first brokerage covers the business side of th...

Click Here to Read More...

To become a managing broker in Illinois you need two consecutive years of broker licensure out of the preceding three, 165 hours of education, and a pass on a state exam of 50 items with a 75 percent passing score. Section 5-28 of the Real Estate License Act of 2000 (225 ILCS 454) sets those terms, and 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450 supplies the application steps.

This guide follows the order you would live it in. First the requirements, then the exam, then the application and sponsorship, then what the license costs to keep. If you are earlier in the process and still picking where to start, read how to choose your first brokerage first.

What Section 5-28 Requires

Section 5-28 lists seven requirements for a managing broker applicant. They are short, so here they are in plain order.

• Be at least 20 years of age.
• Be of good mo...

Click Here to Read More...