Illinois Residential Leasing Agent

The 1866 Act bars all racial discrimination in every property transaction with no exemptions whatsoever, while the 1968 Act covers seven protected classes but has limited exemptions (e.g., certain owner-occupied dwellings, religious organizations/private clubs).

Federal law explicitly protects seven classes (race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, disability), while Illinois adds many more, including source of income, sexual orientation (incl. gender identity), ancestry, age, marital status, pregnancy, military status/unfavorable discharge, order of protection status, immigration status, and arrest record.

An accommodation is a change to rules, policies, or services (e.g., providing a sign language interpreter) generally at the housing provider's cost, while a modification is a structural change to the premises that the landlord must permit but which, in non-federally assisted housing, is made at the tenant's expense (with possible restoration of interior changes at move-out).

A client is represented by the licensee and is owed fiduciary duties including promoting the client's best interests over the licensee's self-interest and confidentiality, while a customer is a consumer who is not represented and is owed only honest treatment and no negligently or knowingly false information.

A residential leasing agent may only lease/rent residential real property, attempt/offer/negotiate such leases, and supervise rent collection, but may not sell, offer, negotiate, list, show, or refer real estate for sale or commercial lease — and supervision by a managing broker does not expand that scope.

Under Section 5-5(b), residential leasing agents must be sponsored and employed by the sponsoring broker, whereas brokers may be either employed by or associated with a sponsoring broker by written agreement.

Records from the prior 2 years must be kept in the office and produced within 24 hours of a Division request, while older records may be stored elsewhere and must be produced within 30 days.

Escrow accounts must be noninterest bearing unless payment of interest is otherwise required by law or the principals to the transaction specifically require in writing that the deposit be placed in an interest-bearing account.

Escrow funds may be disbursed before consummation or termination only per the principals' written direction, written contract provisions, or court order, whereas funds may be deemed abandoned and transferred to the State Treasurer only if no disbursement was made, no court claim was filed, and 6 months have elapsed after a principal's written demand.

Section 15-50(a) requires brokerage relationships to be set out in a written brokerage agreement, but Section 15-50(a-5) provides the absence of a writing does not bar a client from enforcing an oral agreement and creates no affirmative defense to the existence of an agreement or performance of licensed activity.

An item permanently attached or installed so it becomes part of the real estate (e.g., a furnace connected to ductwork) is a fixture and real property, while an item merely resting in place and removable without damage (e.g., a window AC unit) remains personal property.

A trade fixture installed by a commercial tenant for business purposes retains its character as personal property and may generally be removed before lease expiration if the premises are restored, while an ordinary fixture becomes part of the real estate.