- Official section
- Illinois II.K: Licensed and Unlicensed Assistants
- Broker weight
- Part of 40% of the Illinois state portion
- Expected scored items
- The current PSI broker outline assigns 16 of 40 scored state items to the Real Estate License Act area
Illinois personnel comparison
Licensed vs. unlicensed real estate assistant
Ignore the badge and inspect the verb. Scheduling may be clerical; soliciting is licensed. Entering an approved fact may be clerical; explaining a clause is not. A license expands the available tasks only within the credential's scope and valid sponsorship, while supervision never turns prohibited unlicensed conduct into clerical work.
Last updated: August 1, 2026
What is the difference at a glance?
Short answer: An Illinois unlicensed assistant may perform supervised administrative, clerical, or personal tasks listed or allowed by Rule 1450.740, but cannot solicit, show property, host a public open house, interpret transaction information, explain documents, recommend terms, or negotiate. The assistant may enter directed facts, place approved advertising, gather feedback, and perform certain directed money-handling steps. Pay cannot be transaction based. A licensed assistant may perform activities within an active license's scope, but only through the licensee's sponsoring broker or a same-sponsor licensee. The supervising licensee is responsible for the assistant's acts and omissions.
This comparison applies the Illinois Real Estate License Act and Part 1450 as of August 1, 2026, especially Rule 1450.740 as amended effective July 7, 2025. A sponsoring broker's written policy may be more restrictive than the regulatory maximum. Residential leasing agents remain limited to residential leasing activities. This is exam preparation, not employment, licensing, or legal advice.
What changes from one term to the next?
- Terms
- Licensed assistant vs. unlicensed assistant
- Difference
- A licensed assistant may perform activities within an active license and sponsorship. An unlicensed assistant stays within supervised administrative, clerical, or personal tasks.
- Question cue
- Credential plus sponsorship versus clerical permission only.
- Terms
- Scheduling vs. solicitation
- Difference
- Scheduling places an existing request on a calendar. Solicitation initiates or persuades consumer interest in brokerage activity.
- Question cue
- Route a request versus create a prospect.
- Terms
- Published fact vs. interpretation
- Difference
- The assistant may repeat an exact approved fact. Explaining what it means, predicting its effect, or applying it to a consumer requires judgment.
- Question cue
- Quote the source, then transfer the follow-up.
- Terms
- Data entry vs. term selection
- Difference
- Entering directed names, dates, and figures is clerical. Choosing a contingency, deadline, remedy, or clause is substantive work.
- Question cue
- Type the decision versus make the decision.
- Terms
- Key administration vs. showing
- Difference
- The assistant may obtain and safeguard a key. Admitting a prospect and conducting a tour is prohibited showing activity.
- Question cue
- Possess access credentials versus use them for consumer access.
- Terms
- Broker tour vs. public open house
- Difference
- An unlicensed assistant may sit at a nonpublic broker tour. The assistant cannot host a public open house, kiosk, booth, or fair.
- Question cue
- Industry-only event versus public consumer access.
- Terms
- Record funds vs. release funds
- Difference
- Directed recording and deposit can be clerical. Deciding entitlement, account, dispute, or release requires responsible licensed control.
- Question cue
- Mechanical entry versus custody decision.
- Terms
- Hourly pay vs. closing bonus
- Difference
- Hourly pay compensates work time. A closing bonus depends on a transaction outcome and is prohibited for an unlicensed assistant.
- Question cue
- Time-based pay versus deal-based pay.
- Terms
- Licensed broker assistant vs. leasing-agent assistant
- Difference
- An active broker can perform the broader broker activities. A residential leasing agent remains limited to residential leasing even while serving as an assistant.
- Question cue
- Read the credential, not the shared assistant title.
- Terms
- Direct supervisor vs. sponsoring broker
- Difference
- The assigning licensee is responsible for the assistant's acts and omissions. The DMB and sponsoring broker maintain office-level supervision and policy.
- Question cue
- Immediate task responsibility plus firm-level oversight.
How does the distinction change the answer?
Facts entered, advice withheld
Scenario: A broker directs an unlicensed assistant to enter the buyer's name, property address, and offered price into a selected form. The buyer then asks whether to waive inspection.
- Entering directed factual information with required approval is clerical.
- Choosing or recommending an inspection contingency requires substantive transaction judgment.
Answer: The assistant may enter the directed facts and must refer the inspection question to the responsible licensee.
The early prospect and the key
Scenario: An unlicensed assistant arranged a lockbox code for the brokerage. A buyer arrives before the broker, so the assistant unlocks the home and begins the tour.
- Obtaining or safeguarding access credentials can be administrative.
- Using the code to admit a prospect and conduct a walk-through is showing property.
Answer: The assistant crossed into prohibited licensed activity when the consumer was admitted for a showing.
The published fee plus an opinion
Scenario: A caller asks about the condominium association fee. The assistant reads the approved listing amount and adds that the association is financially excellent and will never raise the fee.
- The exact approved fee can be quoted directly.
- The financial conclusion and future guarantee are interpretations not supplied by the neutral published fact.
Answer: Only the direct quotation is permitted. The assistant should transfer the remaining inquiry to a licensee.
The transaction bonus
Scenario: An unlicensed transaction coordinator earns $24 per hour plus $200 whenever a file closes. Every assigned task is clerical.
- Task boundaries and compensation limits are separate tests.
- The extra $200 is triggered by the transaction's successful closing rather than hours or a fixed administrative role.
Answer: The hourly wage can fit, but the per-closing bonus is prohibited transaction-based compensation.
The nonpublic broker tour
Scenario: An unlicensed assistant sits at a listing during a broker tour restricted to real estate licensees. The assistant checks names and distributes approved brochures without discussing the property.
- Rule 1450.740 distinguishes a nonpublic broker tour from a public open house or booth.
- The assistant performs controlled administrative tasks and does not show or interpret the property for consumers.
Answer: The assistant may sit at the nonpublic broker tour under the stated limits.
A licensed assistant takes outside work
Scenario: An active Illinois broker sponsored by Firm A agrees to negotiate inspection credits as a paid virtual assistant for a broker sponsored by Firm B.
- The task is licensed negotiation, so the active credential matters.
- Rule 1450.740 still restricts licensed assistant work to the sponsoring broker or a licensee sponsored by that same broker.
Answer: The broker cannot perform that assistant role across the unrelated sponsorship line.
The TASKS test for assistant questions
- Tag the exact action. Replace vague labels with the verb the assistant actually performs.
- Ask whether judgment is involved. Soliciting, showing, interpreting, explaining, recommending, and negotiating signal licensed activity.
- Select the credential and sponsor. Confirm active status, license scope, and the same-sponsoring-broker chain.
- Keep approvals and controls visible. Identify the directing licensee, DMB approval, approved content, and money-handling procedure.
- Study the pay trigger. Hourly or salary compensation can fit; transaction-based pay for an unlicensed assistant cannot.
- Task
- Answer and forward calls
- Unlicensed assistant
- Yes, neutral routing
- Licensed assistant
- Yes
- Task
- Schedule requested appointment
- Unlicensed assistant
- Yes, no solicitation
- Licensed assistant
- Yes
- Task
- Enter approved listing data
- Unlicensed assistant
- Yes, with approval
- Licensed assistant
- Yes
- Task
- Show property
- Unlicensed assistant
- No
- Licensed assistant
- Yes, within license scope
- Task
- Host public open house
- Unlicensed assistant
- No
- Licensed assistant
- Yes, within license scope
- Task
- Quote published listing fact
- Unlicensed assistant
- Yes, directly
- Licensed assistant
- Yes
- Task
- Interpret contract clause
- Unlicensed assistant
- No
- Licensed assistant
- Licensed boundary still applies
- Task
- Negotiate compensation
- Unlicensed assistant
- No
- Licensed assistant
- Yes, with authority and scope
- Task
- Receive per-closing bonus
- Unlicensed assistant
- No
- Licensed assistant
- Compensation rules for licensees apply
- Task
- Assist unrelated brokerage
- Unlicensed assistant
- No licensed authority
- Licensed assistant
- No, same-sponsor rule
Where do similar terms create traps?
- Trap
- A job title determines whether work is licensed.
- Correction
- Illinois tests the actual task. A coordinator who negotiates still performs licensed activity.
- Trap
- An unlicensed assistant can do anything while a broker watches.
- Correction
- Supervision controls permitted clerical work but does not legalize an unlicensed showing, solicitation, explanation, or negotiation.
- Trap
- Having a key authorizes an assistant to show the property.
- Correction
- Key administration is permitted under controls; admitting and guiding a prospect is showing and is prohibited.
- Trap
- An assistant may answer any question found online.
- Correction
- The assistant may quote published information directly, not interpret, compare, predict, or apply it.
- Trap
- Typing into a form includes choosing the best clause.
- Correction
- The assistant may enter directed factual or business information but cannot select substantive terms or explain legal effect.
- Trap
- A public open house is the same as a broker tour.
- Correction
- The unlicensed-assistant rule permits sitting at a nonpublic broker tour and prohibits hosting the public events it lists.
- Trap
- Clerical work makes a per-closing bonus acceptable.
- Correction
- Unlicensed-assistant pay cannot be transaction based even when every task is administrative.
- Trap
- An assistant can decide where earnest money belongs.
- Correction
- The permitted role is recording and depositing under DMB direction and approval, not deciding account, release, or entitlement.
- Trap
- A licensed assistant can work for any Illinois broker.
- Correction
- The role is limited to the licensee's sponsoring broker or a licensee sponsored by that same broker.
- Trap
- A residential leasing agent assistant may negotiate home sales.
- Correction
- The assistant title does not expand a residential leasing agent's license beyond residential leasing activities.
- Trap
- The supervisor is not responsible for an assistant's statement.
- Correction
- The supervising licensee is responsible for the assistant's acts or omissions, alongside the office supervision structure.
- Trap
- Approved advertising can be altered freely by the assistant.
- Correction
- The assistant may place or distribute approved material, but substantive changes require the applicable licensee approval.
Can you separate the terms in a new fact pattern?
These questions are original study items aligned to the published outline. They are not copied, recalled, or predicted PSI questions.
1. Which task may an Illinois unlicensed assistant perform under proper supervision?
- Show a listed home
- Negotiate a repair credit
- Submit approved listing data
- Explain an inspection contingency
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Submit approved listing data
Rule 1450.740 permits controlled listing-data entry. The other choices require licensed transaction activity or judgment.
2. At which event may an unlicensed Illinois assistant sit under the specific assistant rule?
- A public open house
- A nonpublic broker tour
- A consumer home fair
- A public leasing kiosk
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A nonpublic broker tour
The rule draws an express line between the permitted nonpublic broker tour and prohibited public events.
3. Which compensation arrangement can fit for an Illinois unlicensed assistant?
- Five percent of each commission
- $100 for each signed lease
- A bonus for every closing
- A fixed hourly wage
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A fixed hourly wage
The hourly wage is based on work time rather than a transaction outcome. The other choices are transaction based.
4. A consumer asks an unlicensed assistant what a financing term means for the consumer's eligibility. What should the assistant do?
- Interpret the term from memory
- Recommend a lender product
- Transfer the question to a licensee
- Guarantee approval if the score is high
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Transfer the question to a licensee
The assistant may quote an approved published fact but cannot interpret financing or apply it to a consumer's circumstances.
5. An active broker works as a licensed assistant. For whom may the broker perform that role?
- Any broker who pays directly
- Only the sponsor or a same-sponsor licensee
- Any out-of-state brokerage
- Only an unlicensed consumer
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Only the sponsor or a same-sponsor licensee
An Illinois license does not authorize freelance assistant activity across unrelated sponsoring brokers.
Where do these ideas appear on the outline?
- Topic
- Task-based classification
- What to know
- Assistant, transaction coordinator, administrator, concierge, marketing coordinator, employee, independent contractor, job title, actual conduct, administrative work, clerical work, personal work, licensed activity, judgment, and consumer contact
- Best exam move
- Underline the action verb in the question and classify that task instead of assuming the job title decides authority.
- Topic
- Licensed-activity boundary
- What to know
- Sell, exchange, purchase, rent, lease, offer, negotiate, list, advertise brokerage, procure lead, refer prospect, open real estate to public, auction, BPO, CMA, compensation, expectation of compensation, and broker definition
- Best exam move
- When the assistant exercises brokerage judgment or performs a statutory broker activity, require the proper active license and sponsorship.
- Topic
- Telephone and inquiry routing
- What to know
- Answer telephone, receive inquiry, forward call, forward message, schedule appointment, calendar, inbound consumer, published fact, exact quotation, follow-up question, opinion, comparison, telemarketing, cold call, prospecting, and solicitation
- Best exam move
- Permit routing and neutral scheduling, but transfer persuasion, solicitation, interpretation, and recommendation to a licensee.
- Topic
- Listing data and advertising
- What to know
- Enter listing data, submit change, MLS, draft copy, promotional material, factual information, approved content, sponsoring broker name, blind ad, distribute material, place sign, social media, licensee approval, designated managing broker approval, and correction
- Best exam move
- The unlicensed assistant can prepare or place approved material; a responsible licensee supplies and approves the substantive representation.
- Topic
- Contract follow-up
- What to know
- Signed contract, administrative follow-up, deadline reminder, document receipt, scheduling, checklist, inspection appointment, closing package, amendment, contingency, extension, notice, performance demand, negotiation, and interpretation
- Best exam move
- Allow mechanical reminders and file movement after signing, but stop before changing a term or advising a party about performance.
- Topic
- Forms and factual entries
- What to know
- Approved form, business information, factual information, buyer name, seller name, address, price, directed entry, broker approval, new broker, 45 post-license hours, designated managing broker approval, blank, clause choice, drafting, explanation, and legal effect
- Best exam move
- Typing directed facts is clerical; choosing, drafting, interpreting, or recommending a substantive provision requires licensed or legal judgment.
- Topic
- Public records and closing assembly
- What to know
- Courthouse, recorder, assessor, sewer district, water district, tax record, public document, copy request, factual retrieval, closing document, file assembly, delivery, signature check, title issue, opinion, interpretation, and legal advice
- Best exam move
- Permit collection and assembly of records while reserving any conclusion about title, rights, or legal sufficiency for the proper professional.
- Topic
- Published-information rule
- What to know
- Listing sheet, approved advertisement, website, public record, quote directly, association fee, room size, tax amount, school data, financing term, meaning, implication, quality claim, prediction, recommendation, and source attribution
- Best exam move
- An exact published fact can be repeated; a synthesis, assurance, or application crosses into judgment.
- Topic
- Keys and access credentials
- What to know
- Have key made, secure entry code, lockbox, store credential, safeguard, owner authorization, broker direction, prospect arrival, unlock door, property access, showing, unattended entry, tour, liability, and return
- Best exam move
- Treat key administration as separate from using the key to admit or guide a consumer through the property.
- Topic
- Showings and open houses
- What to know
- Show property, walk-through, point out features, answer prospect, public open house, kiosk, home-show booth, fair, broker tour, not open to public, sign-in sheet, lead capture, solicitation, and licensed presence
- Best exam move
- Reject unlicensed public showing activity even when a broker is nearby or the assistant reads only from a listing sheet.
- Topic
- Feedback and concierge work
- What to know
- Gather showing feedback, record response, survey, transmit comment, existing tenant, maintenance request, amenity request, service coordination, new prospect, lease solicitation, qualification, rent term, persuasion, and negotiation
- Best exam move
- Allow collection and resident support, but stop when follow-up becomes lead conversion, tenant procurement, or negotiation.
- Topic
- Money recording and deposit
- What to know
- Earnest money, security deposit, rent, record, deposit, direction, designated managing broker, approval, receipt, special account, ledger, commission-check computation, bookkeeping, account choice, release, disbursement, entitlement, and dispute
- Best exam move
- Keep the unlicensed role mechanical and directed; the assistant does not decide custody rules or who receives the money.
- Topic
- Unlicensed compensation
- What to know
- Salary, hourly wage, administrative pay, fixed periodic pay, transaction-based pay, per closing, per lease, percentage of commission, success bonus, referral fee, finder fee, gift card, lead payment, and valuable consideration
- Best exam move
- Reject any assistant pay formula triggered by a transaction, closing, lease, referral, or commission.
- Topic
- Licensed assistant scope
- What to know
- Active broker, managing broker, residential leasing agent, license privilege, broad broker scope, residential leasing limit, showing, negotiation, CMA, sale, commercial lease, expiration, inactive status, sponsorship, and assistant title
- Best exam move
- Match the task to the actual credential; a residential leasing agent assistant does not acquire a broker's sales or commercial authority.
- Topic
- Same-sponsor requirement
- What to know
- Sponsoring broker, sponsored licensee, same firm, same sponsor, team, other brokerage, outside broker, freelance, side job, remote assistant, referral, compensation channel, affiliation, termination, and inactive license
- Best exam move
- A licensed assistant works for the sponsor or a same-sponsor licensee, not for an unrelated brokerage on the side.
- Topic
- Supervising licensee responsibility
- What to know
- Assignment, direction, approval, training, written limits, acts, omissions, mistake, unauthorized statement, consumer harm, corrective action, document review, licensee responsibility, and discipline
- Best exam move
- Place responsibility on the supervising licensee for the assistant's conduct while preserving higher office oversight.
- Topic
- DMB and sponsor supervision
- What to know
- Designated managing broker, sponsoring broker, office policy, written procedure, training, monitoring, license status, advertising review, escrow control, records, branch office, new broker, delegation, aid, assist, permit, and unprofessional conduct
- Best exam move
- Supervision structures the task but never authorizes an unlicensed person to perform licensed activity.
- Topic
- Escalation and evidence
- What to know
- Consumer question, published source, script, handoff, responsible licensee, attorney, accountant, inspector, lender, file note, approval record, advertisement version, instruction, activity log, compensation record, and audit
- Best exam move
- When the request needs meaning, judgment, persuasion, or a decision, stop and transfer it to the responsible professional.
How do you make the distinction stick?
- Session
- Session 1
- Focus
- Learn the task boundary
- Proof you are ready
- Classify thirty verbs as clerical, licensed, or dependent on added facts without looking at a job title.
- Session
- Session 2
- Focus
- Practice consumer contact
- Proof you are ready
- Rewrite fifteen assistant responses so exact published facts remain and interpretation, solicitation, and advice are transferred.
- Session
- Session 3
- Focus
- Review forms, ads, and access
- Proof you are ready
- Explain the difference between directed data entry and clause choice, approved placement and ad claims, and key custody and showing.
- Session
- Session 4
- Focus
- Master money and compensation
- Proof you are ready
- Solve fifteen scenarios covering directed deposits, unauthorized release, hourly pay, commission percentage, and closing bonuses.
- Session
- Session 5
- Focus
- Apply license scope and sponsorship
- Proof you are ready
- Correctly classify broker, residential leasing agent, inactive licensee, same-sponsor, and outside-firm assistant scenarios.
- Session
- Session 6
- Focus
- Complete a mixed assistant set
- Proof you are ready
- Score at least 90% and justify each answer by task, judgment, credential, sponsor, approval, supervision, and pay trigger.
Do not count recognition as mastery. Close the notes and explain the rule, apply it to a new fact pattern, and identify why each distractor fails.
Turn the comparison into a test-day decision
From concept to decision
Drill this topic, then review the explanation
Pass Illinois gives you original national and Illinois questions, topic-by-topic study, clear explanations, timed practice, flashcards, progress tracking, and Math Coach. Start free, find the weak distinction, and focus the next session there.
Questions students ask about Illinois Licensed vs. Unlicensed Real Estate Assistant
What is an unlicensed real estate assistant in Illinois?
An unlicensed assistant is a person who performs supervised administrative, clerical, or personal work that does not require a real estate license. The job title does not create authority. Each task must stay within Rule 1450.740 and outside the licensed activities defined by the Illinois Real Estate License Act.
What is a licensed real estate assistant in Illinois?
A licensed assistant holds an active Illinois license and may perform work within that license's statutory scope and valid sponsorship. Calling the licensee an assistant does not narrow or bypass the rules for agency, advertising, compensation, supervision, or the residential leasing agent's limited scope.
Can an unlicensed Illinois assistant show a home or apartment?
No. Showing property is expressly prohibited. The assistant may have keys made or secure entry codes as an administrative task, but cannot use those credentials to admit a prospect, walk the prospect through the property, or conduct a showing.
Can an unlicensed assistant host an open house in Illinois?
No. An unlicensed assistant cannot host a public open house, kiosk, home-show booth, or fair. The current rule separately permits the assistant to sit at a broker tour that is not open to the public, so the public-access fact is decisive.
Can an unlicensed assistant fill in a real estate form?
The assistant may enter business and factual information at a licensee's direction and with the required approval. The assistant cannot choose substantive terms, draft clauses, explain legal effect, recommend a contingency, interpret rights, or negotiate. Additional designated-managing-broker approval applies when the directing broker has not completed the required 45 post-license hours.
Can an unlicensed assistant answer listing questions?
The assistant may quote directly from published information. Any interpretation, comparison, prediction, opinion, or application to the consumer's circumstances must go to a licensee. Repeating the listed association fee is different from declaring the association financially sound.
May an unlicensed assistant handle earnest money?
The rule permits recording and depositing earnest money, security deposits, and rents at the direction of and with approval by the designated managing broker. That narrow clerical role does not include choosing an account, resolving a dispute, releasing funds, deciding entitlement, or maintaining a personal escrow account.
How may an unlicensed Illinois assistant be paid?
Compensation cannot be transaction based. Hourly wages or a salary can fit the rule, while a percentage of commission, per-closing payment, or success-triggered transaction bonus does not. Clerical duties do not make transaction-based compensation permissible.
Can a licensed assistant work for a licensee at another brokerage?
No. Rule 1450.740 prohibits a licensee from acting as an assistant for anyone other than the licensee's sponsoring broker or another licensee sponsored by that same sponsoring broker. An active credential does not authorize freelance brokerage assistance across sponsorship lines.
Are these official Illinois broker exam questions?
No. They are original questions aligned to licensed and unlicensed assistants in the Illinois broker outline effective June 24, 2026. The Act and Rule 1450.740, including amendments effective July 7, 2025, were checked through August 1, 2026.
Primary sources
- PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet dated June 24, 2026
- 225 ILCS 454/1-10, broker and licensed-activity definitions
- 225 ILCS 454/5-15 and 5-20, licensing requirement and exemptions
- 225 ILCS 454/10-15, compensation for licensed activity
- 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.700, sponsoring-broker responsibility
- 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.705, office supervision
- 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.740, unlicensed assistants, amended July 7, 2025
- 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.900, unprofessional conduct
- Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, broker management CE curriculum
The current official outline controls the tested scope. Statutes, regulations, and official agency materials control when a general study rule and a jurisdiction-specific rule differ.
Editorial status
Checked against primary sources
The Pass Illinois editorial team last checked this guide on August 1, 2026. Every practice question is an original study item, and the source links above let you verify the rules that support the lesson.