Illinois Residential Leasing Agent

A client has a brokerage agreement with the licensee and receives full fiduciary duties, while a customer has no such agreement and is owed only honest treatment without knowingly false information.

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibits only racial discrimination and contains absolutely no exemptions, whereas the Fair Housing Act covers seven classes but includes limited exemptions for certain owner-occupied dwellings and religious organizations.

A reasonable accommodation is a change to rules, policies, or services, while a reasonable modification is a physical structural change to the premises that the tenant pays for and the landlord must permit.

A fixture is permanently attached to the structure and becomes real property (e.g., installed furnace), while personal property remains movable and unattached to the structure (e.g., window AC unit).

Trade fixtures are installed by a commercial tenant for business purposes and retain their character as personal property the tenant may remove before lease expiration, while ordinary fixtures become part of the real property and generally stay with the premises.

A residential leasing agent is limited strictly to leasing and rent-collection activities, whereas a broker's license is required for selling, listing, showing for sale, or negotiating sales of real estate.

Both must be in writing, but an exclusive agreement triggers minimum-service requirements (e.g., presenting offers and counteroffers) under RELA Section 15-75, while a non-exclusive agreement does not carry those mandatory minimum services.

Illinois adds source of income, sexual orientation/gender identity, order of protection status, arrest record, immigration status, military status, ancestry, and others to the seven federally protected classes (race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, disability).

Escrow moneys belonging to others must be kept in a separate special account and may not be commingled with the licensee's own business or personal funds in a general operating account.

Transaction and escrow records from the prior two 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.

During an active brokerage agreement the broker owes the full range of fiduciary and statutory duties to the client, but after termination only two duties survive: accounting for all moneys/property and keeping confidential information confidential.

Escrow accounts are noninterest-bearing by default, but may be interest-bearing if required by law or if the principals to the transaction specifically require it in writing.