Illinois exam glossary
Agency in real estate
Start with whose interests the licensee represents. A buyer can be one agent's client and another agent's customer in the same sale. The commission check and the name on the office door do not answer that question. Identify the relationship, the named agent and the required writing before choosing what the agent should do.
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The short answer
Agency is a consensual relationship in which a broker or licensee represents a consumer in a real-property transaction. In Illinois, Section 15-10 starts with designated representation of the consumer the licensee is working with unless a written sponsoring-broker agreement provides a different relationship. A client is represented by that licensee; a customer is not. Current written-agreement and disclosure rules still apply. One licensee representing both sides requires informed written consent from all clients, subject to the ownership prohibition.
The PSI outline effective June 24, 2026 places agency relationships at national VI.A.1. The whole Agency domain receives 13% of the 100 scored national broker questions, or 13 questions; this glossary topic has no separate published quota. Illinois Article 15 and the brokerage-agreement rule amended July 13, 2026 supply the state-specific rules below. These are original study questions, not PSI questions or a validated pass prediction.
Work through the relationship before the duty
- Name the consumers and identify whom this particular licensee represents. A customer may have a different agent of their own.
- Find the sponsoring broker's agreement and named designated agent or agents. The statutory reference to express or implied consent does not remove current writing requirements.
- Check each clock separately: seller listing agreement, buyer or tenant agreement, agency disclosure, no-agency notice and any dual-agency documents.
- Assign client advocacy and customer protections correctly. Both sides are entitled to honest dealing; the customer does not thereby receive this agent's advocacy.
- Keep confidential strategy separate from material physical-condition information. Read the statutory exceptions rather than following an instruction to hide a defect.
- Test the conflict: same agent for both sides, different agents in one firm, competing clients, or a licensee with an ownership interest as a party.
- Match the required action to the facts. Written notice, consent, confirmation, referral and disclosure do different jobs.
- At termination, check surviving accounting and confidentiality duties and the actual written terms. Use qualified advice for a disputed live file.
| Document or step | What it does | Timing cue |
|---|---|---|
| Seller or owner agreement | Sets the written brokerage relationship | Before marketing or listing |
| Buyer or tenant agreement | Sets the written representation terms | Before engaging, or as soon as reasonably practical after licensed assistance; check the specific dual route |
| Designated-agency disclosure | Identifies the relationship and named agents | No later than beginning designated-agency work |
| Listing-side no-agency disclosure | Explains that the listing agent does not represent the unrepresented prospect | Before assistance under Rule 1450.770(i)(1) |
| Dual consent | Authorizes eligible dual representation with informed written consent of all clients | Before acting as dual agent |
| Dual confirmation | Confirms prior consent for this transaction | Required in writing; statutory execution guidance is explained below |
The distinctions that matter
| Distinction | How it works | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| Client and customer are relative to the licensee | A consumer seeks or receives licensed activities. A client is represented by the licensee; a customer is not represented by that licensee. The buyer can be the buyer agent's client and the listing agent's customer. | Customer does not necessarily mean unrepresented by everyone. |
| Agency and the brokerage agreement | Agency is representation with consent, which the definition recognizes as express or implied. Sections 15-50 and the current rule require written brokerage terms. A missing writing does not authorize ignoring the law or automatically erase consumer remedies. | Consent in the definition is not an oral-agreement compliance shortcut. |
| The current default and an older ministerial exception | Current Section 15-10 treats the licensee as the consumer's designated agent unless the sponsoring broker and consumer have a written agreement providing a different relationship. Its old ministerial-acts exception was removed in 2019. | Use current law and the specified assistance route rather than an old two-exception list. |
| Seller and buyer agreement timing | Rule 1450.770(g) requires the seller or owner agreement before marketing or listing. Subsection (h) requires a buyer or tenant agreement before engaging in, or as soon as reasonably practical after, licensed purchase or lease assistance. | These are different clocks. Do not replace the rule with a universal deadline at every greeting. |
| Listing-side assistance and representing the buyer | Under Rule 1450.770(i)(1), the agent with an executed written listing agreement can provide specified listing-side services to an unrepresented buyer or tenant after written no-agency disclosure. To provide services on that person's behalf as a dual agent, subsection (i)(2) requires executing the buyer or tenant agreement and complying with Section 15-45 first. | Written no-agency disclosure comes before assistance under the listing-side route. |
| Agency disclosure and no-agency disclosure | Section 15-35(a) requires written designated-agency disclosure no later than beginning that work, including the agent names and a consumer copy. Subsection (c) requires written no-agency disclosure in time to prevent confidential disclosure and never later than preparation of an offer to purchase or lease. | The offer-preparation limit does not postpone the earlier listing-side assistance condition. |
| Client duties and customer protections | Section 15-15 requires performing the agreement, promoting the client's best interest, reasonable skill and care, confidentiality, accounting and compliance with law. Section 15-25 requires honest customer treatment and prohibits negligently or knowingly supplying false information. | Give advocacy to the client while applying the customer's own statutory protections. |
| Known latent physical facts and negotiating secrets | A seller-client agent must timely disclose to prospective buyer customers all actually known latent material adverse physical facts that a reasonably diligent customer inspection would not discover. Material physical-condition information is excluded from the statutory definition of confidential information. | Check every qualifier; a seller's instruction cannot make a required physical disclosure confidential. |
| Designated agents and a shared sponsoring broker | The written brokerage agreement names the legal agents to the exclusion of other affiliated licensees. Different designated agents can represent opposite parties without sharing a firm alone making them dual agents. The sponsor must protect client confidences. | Ask whether the same licensee represents both sides, not whether the office logo matches. |
| Compensation and representation | Section 15-40 says payment or a promise of payment does not determine agency. Under Section 15-35(b), the representative discusses the sponsor's compensation policy, including terms and amounts offered to cooperating brokers representing other parties. | Seller-funded buyer-agent compensation does not itself change the buyer client into a seller client. |
| Dual consent and transaction confirmation | Section 15-45 requires informed written consent of all clients before acting as dual agent. The disclosure is presented when the brokerage agreement is entered; it may be signed then or before dual representation begins. Written transaction confirmation is required. The statute says it should be obtained when clients execute any offer or purchase or lease contract. If embedded in another document, the client must sign that document and initial the confirmation. | An unsigned form, oral permission or one client's signature is insufficient. |
| A dual-agent conflict and the ownership prohibition | A licensee cannot serve as dual agent when the licensee, or an entity in which the licensee has or will have any ownership interest, is a party. Rule 1450.820 includes direct or indirect ownership. | There is no one-percent safe harbor, and consent does not cure this prohibition. |
| Confidentiality and office access | Protect confidential information from unauthorized disclosure. Section 15-50(c) permits a designated agent to seek advice or assistance for the client's benefit from the sponsor or specified persons, with restrictions on their further disclosure. | Working for the same firm is not permission to circulate the client's bottom line. |
| Termination and surviving duties | Unless the written agreement provides otherwise, Section 15-30 preserves accounting and confidentiality after termination, expiration or completed performance. The confidential-information definition still has permission, legally required disclosure and public-from-another-source exceptions. | An expired listing does not itself release a seller's secret minimum price. |
| Cooperation and MLS subagency | Section 15-55 rejects subagency based solely on MLS or similar affiliation and prohibits offering subagency through that source. Sharing a listing and cooperating on a transaction do not establish representation of the other broker's client. | Do not convert a payment or an information-sharing arrangement into automatic subagency. |
| Competing clients and dual representation | A single designated agent preparing contemporaneous offers for multiple clients on the same parcel or unit must provide the applicable written disclosure and refer a requesting client to another designated agent. Rule 1450.830 addresses knowledge or reason to know the owners or their representative will consider the offers at the same time. | Physical or electronic written notice is required; do not disclose either client's confidential price or call this automatically buyer-seller dual agency. |
| Two false-information provisions | Under Section 15-25, the safe harbor for client-provided false information passed to a customer requires no actual knowledge of falsity. Under Section 15-15(d), customer-provided false information passed to a client uses knew or should have known. Section 15-15(e) preserves common-law material-misrepresentation duties. | Do not replace both knowledge standards with the same phrase or turn a narrow safe harbor into general negligence immunity. |
| Exclusive minimum services and an all-duties waiver | Section 15-75 supplies minimum services for an exclusive agreement. Under Rule 1450.770(b)(2), an agreement omitting or waiving those minimum services is nonexclusive. That consequence does not erase every other statutory duty or automatically void every relationship. | Read a generic offers-unless-waived statement together with the exclusive minimum-service requirements. |
| Dual-agent information and negotiating advice | The statutory dual form permits information such as sold comparables so both clients can decide. It prohibits recommended or suggested buyer offer terms and seller counter or acceptance terms, along with specified confidential disclosures without permission. | Providing comparable facts is different from recommending how one client should negotiate against the other. |
Work through the facts
Seller pays, buyer remains the client
A buyer signs a written agreement naming Bea as the designated buyer agent. At closing, compensation to Bea's brokerage is funded through the transaction from seller proceeds.
- The written relationship and designation identify the buyer client.
- Section 15-40 says compensation does not determine agency.
- Seller funding does not transfer Bea's loyalty to the seller.
Answer: Bea remains the buyer's designated agent.
Listing agent helps a buyer customer
An agent has an executed written seller listing agreement. Before giving an unrepresented buyer listing-side assistance, the agent gives written no-agency disclosure. The agent then supplies a brochure and explains factual fields on an approved form without representing the buyer.
- The seller is the client under the stated executed agreement.
- Rule 1450.770(i)(1) places written no-agency disclosure before this listing-side assistance.
- The agent has not undertaken buyer advocacy or established a dual-agency relationship.
Answer: The buyer is a customer of the listing agent, not that agent's client.
Two agents in one firm
Agent N is designated for the seller and Agent R is designated for the buyer. Both are sponsored by the same brokerage and neither represents the other side.
- Each client has a different named designated agent.
- The statutory dual-agency test follows the designated agents, not firm identity alone.
- The sponsoring broker must protect each client's confidential information.
Answer: This is designated agency on opposite sides, not automatic dual agency.
One agent for both sides
The same licensee represents a seller client and buyer client in one sale after only the seller signs a dual-agency disclosure.
- One licensee would represent both sides.
- Every client must provide informed written consent.
- Seller-only consent cannot authorize representation of both clients.
Answer: The licensee may not act as dual agent on these facts.
Unlawful client instruction
Assume ordinary covered rental housing with no applicable familial-status exemption. A landlord client tells the designated agent not to show an available unit to families with children.
- Client obedience is limited to lawful directions.
- The instruction conflicts with fair-housing requirements.
- The agent must refuse, document, and follow brokerage compliance procedures.
Answer: The agent must not follow the discriminatory instruction.
Known hidden physical problem
A seller-client agent actually knows that a finished basement wall conceals repeated water entry. Assume this is a latent material adverse physical fact that a reasonably diligent buyer-customer inspection would not discover. An unrepresented buyer asks whether the basement is dry.
- The prospective buyer is the seller agent's customer and receives Section 15-25 protections.
- All stated physical-disclosure conditions are supplied, including actual knowledge and the inspection limitation.
- Material physical-condition information is not confidential information under Section 1-10.
Answer: The licensee must disclose the known latent material adverse physical fact.
Expired listing and seller's bottom line
A listing expires. With no permission, applicable disclosure exception or contrary written agreement, the former agent tells a new buyer that the seller had privately said she would accept $25,000 less than list price.
- The pricing floor was confidential negotiating information.
- Section 15-30 carries confidentiality beyond termination unless an applicable exception or agreement changes it.
- Expiration does not make the former client's secret public.
Answer: The disclosure violates the surviving confidentiality duty on the stated facts.
A client of one agent, a customer of another
A buyer has their own designated buyer agent. The seller has a different designated listing agent. The buyer asks the listing agent a property question.
- Representation is relative to the particular licensee.
- The buyer is the buyer agent's client but is not represented by the listing agent.
- The listing agent still owes applicable customer protections; answering the factual question does not itself establish dual representation.
Answer: Classify the buyer separately in relation to each agent.
Two buyers request the same unit
One designated agent represents two buyer clients. The agent has reason to know the owner will consider both clients' offers for the same unit at the same time. One buyer asks for another designated agent.
- The same-agent, same-unit and same-time conditions are supplied.
- Give both affected clients the required written disclosure, physically or electronically.
- Refer the requesting buyer to another designated agent and protect both clients' negotiating information.
Answer: Give the required written notice and requested referral; do not exchange the confidential offer amounts.
Consent is not a cure for the ownership prohibition
The licensee proposes representing both a buyer and an entity seller. The licensee will have an indirect ownership interest in that entity. Both clients offer to sign dual-agency consent.
- The entity is a party and the licensee will have an ownership interest in it.
- The statute and Rule 1450.820 apply to any direct or indirect ownership interest, not only an interest exceeding one percent.
- Client consent cannot override this prohibition.
Answer: The licensee must not serve as dual agent in this transaction.
Mistakes to avoid
- Following the commission instead of the relationship Identify the represented consumer and designated agent; payment or promised payment does not decide agency.
- Using the old ministerial-acts exception Current Section 15-10 no longer contains that exception. Read the current writing and listing-side assistance rules.
- Waiting until offer preparation for every no-agency notice The specified listing-side route requires written notice before that assistance.
- Calling a customer unrepresented by anyone Customer means not represented by this particular licensee.
- Treating dual consent as unrestricted advocacy Dual representation limits negotiating advice and confidential disclosures; the ownership-party prohibition remains.
- Assuming all common-law liability disappeared Article 15 supplies its covered framework, while Section 15-15(e) expressly preserves material-misrepresentation duties.
- Using a memorized percentage as proof of readiness Explain the duty and required action, then change the facts. These exercises do not predict an official exam score.
Check your understanding
These are original teaching questions, not recalled or predicted PSI questions. Answer first, then explain why the other choices fail.
1. Who is an Illinois real estate client?
- Every titleholder
- Every person at an open house
- A person represented by a licensee
- Only the person paying commission
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. A person represented by a licensee
A client is represented by this licensee. The same person can be another licensee's customer and still have their own agent.
2. What relationship does Section 15-10 initially presume while a licensee works with a consumer?
- No relationship
- Designated agency
- Subagency
- Automatic dual agency
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Designated agency
Current Section 15-10 has the written sponsoring-broker agreement qualification. Its former ministerial-acts exception was removed in 2019; do not use the historical two-exception text.
3. Does the source of compensation determine Illinois agency?
- No
- Only in leases
- Yes
- Only in cash sales
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. No
Section 15-40 separates payment or promised payment from the agency determination.
4. Who is the designated agent?
- The mortgage lender
- Every licensee in the county
- The sponsored licensee named as the client's legal agent
- The home inspector
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The sponsored licensee named as the client's legal agent
Other affiliated licensees are excluded unless also designated.
5. When is designated agency disclosed?
- When the commission is paid
- No later than beginning work as designated agent
- Only after closing
- Only after inspection
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. No later than beginning work as designated agent
The written disclosure also names the designated agent or agents.
6. What must a listing agent give an unrepresented buyer customer?
- The seller's confidential minimum
- Timely written no-agency disclosure
- Seller loyalty
- Automatic buyer representation
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Timely written no-agency disclosure
For the Rule 1450.770(i)(1) listing-side route, written no-agency disclosure precedes assistance to the unrepresented buyer or tenant. Section 15-35(c) also addresses preventing confidential disclosure and never waiting beyond offer preparation.
7. When do two agents in the same firm automatically become dual agents?
- Whenever one commission is paid
- Whenever an offer is emailed
- Whenever a sign is posted
- They do not merely because they share a firm
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. They do not merely because they share a firm
The test follows each designated agent's representation.
8. Can a client require an agent to discriminate?
- Yes
- Only in rentals
- Only by written instruction
- No
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. No
No. Section 15-15 requires obedience only to directions consistent with applicable law. Assess the actual fair-housing coverage and exemptions rather than assuming a client can authorize prohibited discrimination.
9. Does MLS membership create subagency in Illinois?
- No
- Only with an open house
- Yes
- Only for buyers
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. No
Section 15-55 rejects automatic subagency through MLS or similar affiliation.
10. Which duties ordinarily survive agency termination under Section 15-30?
- Unlimited negotiation and showings
- Accounting and confidentiality
- New offer preparation and marketing
- Automatic dual representation
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Accounting and confidentiality
A written agreement can affect post-termination obligations, but these are the statutory defaults.
11. Under current Rule 1450.770(g), when is the seller or owner brokerage agreement required?
- After the first offer is accepted
- At any time before the deed is recorded
- Before marketing or listing the property
- Only when the first commission is collected
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Before marketing or listing the property
The seller or owner timing is before marketing or listing. It should not be replaced with the different buyer or tenant timing rule.
12. What is the current general buyer or tenant timing in Rule 1450.770(h)?
- Only before commission payment at closing
- Only after a financing commitment
- Only when an offer is signed
- Before engaging, or as soon as reasonably practical after engaging, in the specified licensed assistance
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Before engaging, or as soon as reasonably practical after engaging, in the specified licensed assistance
Use the actual current rule. The specified dual-agency route separately requires execution and Section 15-45 compliance before services on that person's behalf.
13. Which circumstance prohibits the licensee from serving as dual agent even if both clients consent?
- An entity in which the licensee will have an ownership interest is a party
- Different designated agents use the same office
- The parties choose the same title company
- The buyer agent is paid from seller proceeds
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. An entity in which the licensee will have an ownership interest is a party
The statute and Rule 1450.820 prohibit the ownership-party situation, including any direct or indirect ownership interest. There is no one-percent safe harbor.
14. A buyer has a designated buyer agent. In relation to a separate seller-only listing agent, the buyer is what?
- A dual agent because two brokerages participate
- A customer of that listing agent
- A subagent of the listing brokerage
- Automatically a second client of the listing agent
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. A customer of that listing agent
Customer is relative to the licensee. The buyer can be represented by their own agent and still be the listing agent's customer.
15. Which fact does Section 15-25 require in its seller-agent physical-disclosure rule?
- Any rumor about any neighboring property
- Only a visible defect already discovered by the customer
- An actually known latent material adverse physical fact not discoverable by a reasonably diligent customer inspection
- Every private reason the seller wants to move
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. An actually known latent material adverse physical fact not discoverable by a reasonably diligent customer inspection
All those qualifiers matter, along with the seller-client and prospective-buyer-customer roles. Material physical-condition information is excluded from confidential information.
16. Does an expired listing alone permit revealing the seller's confidential minimum price?
- Yes, because all duties end on expiration
- Yes, if the new buyer is friendly with the former agent
- Yes, because asking price and confidential minimum are always identical
- No; check surviving confidentiality and its actual exceptions or written terms
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. No; check surviving confidentiality and its actual exceptions or written terms
Section 15-30 preserves confidentiality by default. Permission, legally required disclosure, the statutory public-source exception and actual written terms must be assessed; expiration alone is not permission.
17. A dual-agency confirmation is included in the purchase contract. What does Section 15-45(c) require of the client?
- Give verbal confirmation to the other party
- Sign the document and also initial the confirmation provision
- Initial only the separate confirmation without signing the contract
- Sign only the contract signature page
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Sign the document and also initial the confirmation provision
Written confirmation is mandatory. The statute says it should be obtained at execution of any offer or purchase or lease contract; when embedded, both signing and initialing are required.
18. The same designated agent knows two buyer clients' offers for the same unit will be considered together by the owner. One client requests referral. What is the required response?
- Wait until acceptance to disclose because both clients are buyers
- Disclose each confidential offer amount to the other client
- Automatically treat the agent as the seller's representative
- Give the affected clients written notice and refer the requesting client to another designated agent
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Give the affected clients written notice and refer the requesting client to another designated agent
Rule 1450.830 permits physical or electronic written disclosure. Its knowledge or reason-to-know and same-time consideration conditions matter. Do not reveal confidential strategy or confuse competing clients with one agent representing buyer and seller.
19. For customer-provided false information passed to the licensee's client, which standard appears in Section 15-15(d)?
- Whether the licensee knew or should have known it was false
- Whether a commission was paid before the statement
- Whether the customer signed a dual-agency confirmation
- Actual knowledge only, with no relevance to what the licensee should know
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Whether the licensee knew or should have known it was false
This differs from Section 15-25's no-actual-knowledge safe harbor for client-provided information passed to a customer. Other applicable misrepresentation duties remain.
20. Under Rule 1450.770(b)(2), what is the stated consequence of omitting or waiving the exclusive minimum services?
- Every statutory duty automatically disappears
- The sponsor may market without any written agreement
- The agreement is nonexclusive
- The consumer automatically owes a second commission
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The agreement is nonexclusive
The rule states the nonexclusive consequence. It does not make all services optional, decide an actual fee dispute or erase duties that still apply.
Common questions
What does agency mean in real estate?
Agency is representation of a consumer by a broker or licensee, directly or through an affiliated licensee, with the consumer's consent in a real-property transaction. Illinois recognizes express or implied consent in the definition, but current law still requires written brokerage terms and required disclosures. Treat the relationship, agreement and disclosure as related but distinct questions.
What is the difference between a client and a customer?
A client is represented by the particular licensee. A customer is a consumer not represented by that licensee. A buyer can therefore be their own buyer agent's client and the listing agent's customer at the same time. Customer does not mean unrepresented by everyone, and customer status does not remove statutory protections.
What relationship does Illinois presume?
Under current Section 15-10, the licensee is considered the designated agent of the consumer they are working with unless a written agreement between the sponsoring broker and consumer provides a different relationship. The former ministerial-acts exception was removed in 2019. For assistance to an unrepresented prospect, also examine the current listing-side route and its written no-agency condition.
When is an Illinois brokerage agreement required?
Current Rule 1450.770(g) requires a seller or owner agreement before marketing or listing. Subsection (h) requires the buyer or tenant agreement before engaging in, or as soon as reasonably practical after engaging in, the specified licensed assistance. Subsection (i)(2) separately requires executing the buyer or tenant agreement and complying with the dual-agency statute before providing services on that person's behalf as a dual agent. Apply the actual route, rather than one slogan for every interaction.
When must designated agency be disclosed?
Section 15-35(a) requires the consumer to be advised in writing no later than the licensee begins designated-agency work. The writing identifies the relationship and names the designated agent or agents. It can be included in the brokerage agreement or provided separately; the sponsor retains a copy and the consumer receives one. Do not wait until closing or commission payment.
Can the listing agent help an unrepresented buyer?
Rule 1450.770(i)(1) provides a listing-side route for an agent with an executed written listing agreement, after giving the unrepresented buyer or tenant written no-agency disclosure. This is different from representing that person. Section 15-35(c) also requires no-agency disclosure intended to prevent confidential disclosure and never later than preparation of an offer. That outer limit does not delay the route's earlier before-assistance condition.
What does an Illinois agent owe a client?
Section 15-15 requires performance of the brokerage agreement, promotion of the client's best interest over self-interest, reasonable skill and care, confidentiality, and compliance with applicable law. The specific best-interest duties include acceptable price and terms, timely offers unless waived, disclosure of actually known material transaction facts unless confidential, lawful specific directions and timely accounting for property or money in which the client has, may have or should have had an interest. Exclusive minimum-service requirements must also be respected.
What does an agent owe a customer?
Section 15-25 requires honest treatment and prohibits negligently or knowingly giving false information. A seller-client agent must timely disclose to prospective buyer customers all actually known latent material adverse physical facts that a reasonably diligent customer inspection would not discover. Its client-provided-information safe harbor requires no actual knowledge that the information is false. These customer protections do not make the customer this agent's client.
Does paying the commission decide who is represented?
No. Section 15-40 says payment or a promise of payment does not determine agency. Seller proceeds can fund compensation reaching the buyer brokerage while the buyer remains its designated agent's client. This does not remove compensation-policy discussion, contract or other disclosure requirements; it simply separates the source of funds from the representation relationship.
Is the same brokerage on both sides automatically dual agency?
No. With different designated agents representing the opposite clients, sharing a sponsoring broker alone does not make either agent dual. The agreement identifies the designated agents to the exclusion of other affiliated licensees. The sponsor must protect confidential information. Ask whether the same licensee represents both sides of this transaction, rather than deciding from the firm name.
Can one Illinois licensee represent both sides?
Eligible dual representation requires informed written consent of all clients before acting as dual agent, plus written transaction confirmation of their prior consent. Section 15-45 also limits negotiating advice and confidential disclosures. A licensee cannot act as dual agent when the licensee, or an entity in which the licensee has or will have any ownership interest, is a party. Direct or indirect ownership is covered; consent does not cure that prohibition.
Does confidentiality end when the listing expires?
Not by default. Unless the written agreement provides otherwise, Section 15-30 preserves accounting and confidentiality after termination, expiration or completed performance. The statutory definition also recognizes client permission, legally required disclosure and information becoming public from a source other than the licensee. Material physical-condition information is excluded. Expiration alone does not authorize revealing a confidential negotiating floor.
Does MLS participation make a buyer broker the seller's subagent?
No. Section 15-55 says MLS or similar affiliation alone does not create subagency and prohibits offering subagency through that information source. Cooperating on a transaction and receiving compensation are not the same as representing the other broker's client. This is not a statement that every possible representation agreement is universally prohibited.
Are these official exam questions or legal advice?
These are original study exercises, not PSI questions, a validated readiness score or transaction advice. Identify the relationship, required writing, knowledge standard and action, then change the facts and explain why the answer changes. A live dispute requires the complete documents, property and transaction facts, current law and appropriate professional guidance.
When is dual-agency consent confirmed for a transaction?
Section 15-45(c) requires written confirmation of the clients' prior consent. It says confirmation should be obtained when the clients execute any offer or purchase or lease contract for the dual-agency transaction. If confirmation is embedded in another document, the client must sign the document and also initial the confirmation. Keep the mandatory written confirmation, the statutory timing guidance and the embedded-document requirements distinct.
What if the same agent has two buyers making competing offers?
Section 15-15(b) and Rule 1450.830 require written disclosure to the affected clients and referral of any client requesting another designated agent. The rule covers two or more clients of the same designated agent offering on the same parcel or unit when the agent knows or has reason to know that the owners or their representative will consider the offers at the same time. The notice can be physical or electronic. This does not authorize revealing confidential prices or automatically create buyer-seller dual agency.
What client information is confidential?
Section 1-10 covers information obtained from a client during the brokerage agreement that the client requests in writing be confidential, that concerns the client's negotiating position, or whose disclosure could materially harm that position. Exceptions include the client's permission by word or conduct, disclosure required by law and information becoming public from a source other than the licensee. Material physical-condition information is excluded. Rule 1450.800 requires reasonable safeguards; the narrow advice route in Section 15-50(c) exists for the client's benefit, not general office sharing.
Does Illinois replace all common-law liability with Article 15?
No. Section 15-5 supplies the statutory framework for the covered consumer-brokerage agency relationship, subject to its written-relationship qualification, and excludes the former common-law principal-agent and fiduciary framework. It does not govern internal sponsor-affiliate contracts. Section 15-15(e) expressly preserves common-law duties about negligent or fraudulent material misrepresentation. Use the specific statute and applicable law, rather than assuming all common-law liability vanished.
Keep practising
Your next practice step
Put agency into practice
Identify who represents whom, then choose the duty owed in that situation.
These web resources are free. The app has a separate free starter tier and optional paid full access.
Official sources and scope
Reviewed October 28, 2026 against the identified official sources and explicit earlier primary readings. The July 13, 2026 agreement rule matters for assistance timing. Article 15 governs the covered consumer-brokerage agency framework; Section 15-15(e) preserves common-law duties concerning negligent or fraudulent material misrepresentation. This glossary does not decide an actual contract, disclosure dispute or fair-housing exemption.
- PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet: National VI Agency
- 225 ILCS 454/15-5: Illinois statutory brokerage framework
- 225 ILCS 454/15-10: designated-agency default
- 225 ILCS 454/15-15: client duties and competing clients
- 225 ILCS 454/15-25: customer honesty and known latent defects
- 225 ILCS 454/15-35: agency and non-agency notice
- 225 ILCS 454/15-50: written terms, designation and consumer remedies
- 225 ILCS 454/15-40: compensation does not determine agency
- 225 ILCS 454/15-45: prior dual consent, confirmation and limits
- 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.800: confidentiality safeguards
- 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.770: agreements and assistance timing
- 225 ILCS 454/15-75: exclusive minimum services
- 225 ILCS 454/15-30: duties after termination
- 225 ILCS 454/15-55: MLS membership and subagency
- 225 ILCS 454/1-10: client, customer and confidential information
- 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.830: contemporaneous offers
- 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.820: dual agency ownership prohibition
This is exam preparation, not advice for a specific transaction. State law and the applicable facts control. Our editorial and corrections process explains how to report an issue.