Illinois real estate exam glossary
Bilateral contracts
The buyer has not paid the full price, and the seller has not delivered a deed. Can they already have a contract? Yes. In a typical accepted purchase agreement, their promises create the bargain before closing carries it out.
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The short answer
A bilateral contract exchanges a promise for a promise. In a typical real estate purchase agreement, the buyer promises to purchase and pay, and the seller promises to convey on the agreed terms. Those reciprocal commitments ordinarily supply consideration. Bilateral describes how the bargain is formed; executory describes remaining performance. The agreement still needs the other formation and enforcement requirements, and its actual contingencies can affect whether particular duties become due.
Reviewed October 27, 2026. Bilateral and unilateral contracts appear in national V.A.7 of the PSI Illinois broker outline. The whole Contracts domain has 19 of 100 scored national questions across multiple subjects, not 19 on bilateral contracts alone. These original practice questions are not recalled PSI items or a validated readiness score.
Find the promises, then test the rest of the agreement
- Identify the actual parties and commitments. Who promises to buy, pay, sell, convey, deliver possession or do something else? Each party can be a promisor for one commitment and a promisee for the other. Count the legal commitments, not the people at the signing table. A deed or a completed gift is not automatically a bilateral purchase contract.
- Check formation separately. A definite offer must receive an effective acceptance on the required terms, with consideration and the other applicable requirements. Read communication, timing, authority and any formation condition. A seller’s private signature without the required communication is not automatically effective acceptance. A changed proposed bargain can be a counteroffer rather than acceptance.
- Locate the bargained exchange. A buyer’s real promise to pay and a seller’s real promise to convey can support one another before the money or deed changes hands. The price need not be paid at acceptance merely to make the agreement bilateral. Earnest money may be required by the particular agreement; it is not the sole possible consideration.
- Ask whether the apparent promise commits the party to anything. A statement leaving performance wholly optional, without another meaningful limit or bargained consideration, can be illusory. Do not treat every cancellation right as illusory. The whole agreement, timing, costs, standards, related duties and other consideration can change the analysis.
- Keep consideration distinct from equal burdens. Illinois Supreme Court authority explains that valid consideration does not require equivalent values or an additional independent mutuality requirement. If reciprocal promises are the only claimed consideration, however, they must be real commitments. This principle is not permission to enforce a sham promise or ignore fraud, capacity or another defense.
- Separate a condition from a promised act. A financing condition can affect the duty to close, while a prompt-application covenant creates a duty to apply. A borrower who applies as required but receives a denial is different from someone who deliberately never applies. Review efforts, cooperation, notice, waiver and deadlines. The label contingency alone does not decide the result.
- Read whether the condition affects formation or performance. Some language postpones an obligation under an existing contract; other language makes the existence of the agreement dependent on approval. Do not call every attorney-review provision the same kind of condition. Apply its wording and the governing authority rather than assuming a standard statewide review window. For example, “no agreement exists until the named approval” raises a different question from an expressly formed agreement whose closing duty depends on a later event. The examples stipulate their effect; a broker should not decide an ambiguous live clause.
- Classify performance separately. An accepted purchase agreement can be bilateral and executory at the same time. In exam terminology, fully executed generally means fully performed, while an executed document can simply mean signed. Closing does not automatically extinguish every collateral or surviving promise.
- Handle nonperformance under the actual agreement and law. A late deposit is not automatically proof that no contract ever formed. A failed condition is not automatically a breach. A clear refusal to perform before the due date can raise anticipatory-repudiation issues, but a question or nervous comment is not the same thing. Materiality, notice, cure, waiver and remedies require their own analysis.
- Keep the writing and authority screen. Ordinary land-sale enforcement raises the Illinois Frauds Act even when closing is planned within a year. Electronic form can satisfy relevant requirements under current UETA when its scope, agreement, attribution and other requirements are met. It does not create missing assent, capacity, authority or definite terms.
- Keep brokerage work within its scope. Record the facts, deliver documents, track the applicable dates and seek prompt legal review of disputed formation, termination or remedies. A bilateral label does not authorize a broker to decide a breach, order specific performance or release disputed earnest money to a preferred party. Under Illinois Rule 1450.775, the specified post-signature changes require all signatories’ written consent and direction, and each change must be signed and initialed at the time by all signatories. A broker cannot silently alter the price after acceptance. For an exclusive brokerage agreement, Section 15-75 includes assistance until the purchase agreement is signed and all contingencies are satisfied or waived; signature alone does not end that stated minimum service.
| Stage or issue | What the facts establish | What they do not establish alone |
|---|---|---|
| Accepted reciprocal promises | A bilateral structure, if the other requirements are met | That all formation or enforcement questions are resolved |
| Deposit required later | A contractual deposit duty | That no consideration exists until deposit receipt |
| Closing still ahead | Material performance remains: executory | That no binding agreement can exist |
| A contingency remains | The relevant condition must be analyzed | A cost-free cancellation or automatic breach |
| Document signed | A signature event | All contractual duties fully performed |
| Closing completed | Important purchase duties performed | Every surviving or collateral undertaking extinguished |
The distinctions that matter
| Distinction | How it works | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| Bilateral vs. unilateral | A bilateral offer seeks a return promise. A unilateral offer seeks acceptance through the requested performance. | Promise for promise versus promise for act. |
| Promisor vs. promisee | One makes the identified promise; the other receives it. Both roles can belong to each party for different commitments. | Name the promise before assigning the role. |
| Bilateral vs. executory | Bilateral classifies the exchange. Executory describes duties still to be performed. | The same agreement can be both. |
| Signed document vs. fully performed contract | Executed can describe a signature or completed performance, depending on context. | Do not turn a signature into a completed closing. |
| Consideration vs. symmetry | A real bargained exchange matters; identical duties or equal dollar values are not required. | Unequal does not automatically mean unsupported. |
| Conditional vs. illusory promise | A defined condition and related duties can constrain performance. Wholly optional language may provide no real commitment. | Read the limits and other consideration. |
| Condition vs. covenant | A condition affects the relevant duty or agreement. A covenant is promised performance. | An unmet trigger and a broken promise are different inquiries. |
| Formation vs. closing | Formation establishes the agreement. Closing performs important purchase and conveyance duties. | A future closing can follow a present contract. |
| Counteroffer vs. modification | A counteroffer proposes a changed bargain before formation. A modification changes an existing agreement. | First establish whether a contract already exists. |
| Purchase contract vs. deed | The contract creates the agreed obligations. A properly effective deed conveys the stated interest. | A promise to transfer is not the completed conveyance. |
| Failed condition vs. breach | A condition may fail despite proper efforts. A party may also breach a separate duty connected with that condition. | Failure alone does not decide fault or deposit rights. |
| Classification vs. enforceability | Bilateral identifies the exchange structure. Authority, writing, legality and other requirements remain. | The label is the beginning of the analysis. |
Work through the facts
Typical purchase agreement
A buyer offers $390,000. The seller communicates an unchanged acceptance in the required manner before expiration. Assume capacity, authority, required writing and the other formation requirements are satisfied.
- The buyer promises to purchase and pay.
- The seller promises to convey and perform.
- Their exchanged promises form a bilateral structure when the other contract elements are present.
Answer: The agreement is bilateral because promises were exchanged, and executory while material closing duties remain.
Earnest money arrives late
A signed purchase agreement requires earnest money in three days, but the buyer delivers it on day four.
- The exchanged sale promises can already supply consideration.
- The late deposit is analyzed under the default, notice, waiver, cure, and remedy clauses.
- It does not automatically change the contract from bilateral to nonexistent.
Answer: The late deposit calls for the actual default, condition, notice, cure and waiver analysis. It is not automatic proof that the reciprocal promises supplied no consideration, and no deposit recipient is selected by this example.
Financing contingency
The buyer promises to purchase subject to timely mortgage approval and must apply promptly and cooperate with the lender.
- The buyer has a defined financing condition.
- The prompt-application and cooperation duties constrain discretion.
- The condition does not make the promise wholly optional.
Answer: A real bilateral bargain can have conditional performance. The stated effort duties matter; a financing denial does not automatically establish breach or authorize a deposit payout.
Buyer may cancel for any reason
The only proposed exchange is a seller’s promise to sell for a buyer’s statement, “I will buy only if I feel like it.” Assume no separate option payment, objective standard, good-faith constraint, notice obligation, time limit or other bargained commitment.
- The buyer remains completely free to perform or not.
- No meaningful constraint or exchanged legal detriment is stated.
- The apparent promise may be illusory.
Answer: On these stated facts, the buyer’s wholly optional statement supplies no reliable return promise. This does not decide an arrangement supported by separate consideration or meaningful limits.
Unequal obligations
The buyer has several financing and inspection duties, while the seller's principal obligation is to convey marketable title. Both promises are supported by the bargain.
- The duties are different in kind and number.
- Consideration does not require identical burdens.
- Each side has undertaken enforceable obligations.
Answer: The different number and kind of real duties do not automatically defeat consideration or bilateral structure. Other formation requirements and defenses still apply.
Signed but not performed
The parties have signed and delivered the purchase agreement, but title work, financing, payment, deed delivery, and possession remain outstanding.
- Formation has occurred on the stated facts.
- Material promises remain unperformed.
- Signing does not mean the full contract is executed in the performance sense.
Answer: The formed bilateral contract is executory while those material performances remain. “Signed” does not mean fully performed.
Seller refuses before closing
Two weeks before closing, the seller unequivocally states in writing that the seller will not convey under the binding contract.
- The statement occurs before the seller's performance date.
- It clearly repudiates the promised conveyance.
- The buyer needs legal advice on retraction, tender, mitigation, and remedies.
Answer: The stated unequivocal refusal raises anticipatory-repudiation issues. Obtain prompt legal review; the example does not grant automatic specific performance, damages or a deposit release.
The email is only a draft
The parties have agreed to use electronic documents. A buyer emails an unsigned draft marked “for discussion only,” and the seller assumes the platform itself makes a contract.
- Electronic form is not the same as effective assent.
- UETA recognizes qualifying electronic records and signatures; it does not supply a missing agreement.
- Attribution, authority, intent, terms and the relevant writing requirements still matter.
Answer: Do not treat the electronic platform as a substitute for a formed and properly documented bargain.
A paid choice is not a promise to purchase
A separately supported option gives the buyer 20 days to choose whether to buy. The stated consideration pays for keeping the offer open. The buyer has not exercised and has not promised to purchase.
- The seller’s keep-open commitment has its separately stipulated support.
- The buyer’s paid choice differs from the wholly unsupported optional statement in the earlier example.
- Before exercise, do not invent a buyer promise to close; valid exercise must meet the actual terms.
Answer: Distinguish the supported option from a bilateral purchase obligation. Its later exercise can lead to an executory purchase bargain; this example does not decide a private instrument’s enforcement or refund rights.
Acceptance requires receipt in this exercise
The offer expressly requires an unchanged acceptance to be received in the specified, functioning, agreed system by 5:00 p.m. Assume no waiver, extension, malfunction, contrary rule or other modifying fact. The seller sends it at 4:59 p.m.; the system receives it at 5:02 p.m.
- The stipulated deadline requires receipt, not merely dispatch.
- A send timestamp is not the stated receipt event.
- The exercise supplies the relevant system and receipt facts; it does not establish every email’s legal receipt time.
Answer: The stated receipt condition was not met. This is a reading exercise under an express clause, not a universal mailbox rule or an opinion that every late communication has the same legal consequence.
Mistakes to avoid
- “Two signatures always mean bilateral.” Identify reciprocal promises and effective formation.
- “No deed yet means no contract.” Formation can precede conveyance.
- “No earnest money means no consideration.” Real exchanged sale promises can supply consideration; deposit terms still matter.
- “Different duties invalidate the bargain.” Consideration does not require identical obligations or equivalent values.
- “Every contingency makes a promise illusory.” Read meaningful conditions, duties, limits and other consideration.
- “Every failed condition is a breach.” Distinguish the event from the related promised conduct.
- “Every review clause affects only performance.” The actual language can affect formation or an existing duty.
- “Signed means fully performed.” Executed has different meanings in signature and performance contexts.
- “Every refusal guarantees specific performance.” A remedy requires its own legal and factual analysis.
- “A closing within a year needs no land-sale writing.” Do not confuse the general one-year rule with the land-contract screen.
- “Any typed name fixes every defect.” Electronic recognition does not cure missing assent, authority or other requirements.
- “A broker can award disputed earnest money.” Apply the actual escrow rule and agreement; refer the dispute for proper resolution.
Check your understanding
These are original teaching questions, not recalled or predicted PSI questions. Answer first, then explain why the other choices fail.
1. What makes a contract bilateral?
- Full payment before acceptance
- An exchange of promises
- A recorded deed in every case
- Exactly two signatures
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. An exchange of promises
The structure is promise for promise. Signatures, recording and later performance answer different questions.
2. Assuming the other requirements are met, which purchase bargain is bilateral?
- Buyer promises to pay; seller promises to convey
- A seller’s uncommunicated thought
- A public price advertisement alone
- A completed gift alone
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Buyer promises to pay; seller promises to convey
The parties exchange real commitments, even though payment and conveyance occur later.
3. A purchase agreement exchanges real sale promises and requires a deposit three days later. What ordinarily supplies consideration?
- Only recording a deed
- Only a broker’s commission
- The later appraisal alone
- The reciprocal sale promises
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. The reciprocal sale promises
A required deposit creates a separate contractual issue. It is not the only possible consideration.
4. The buyer has more listed duties than the seller. What follows from that fact alone?
- All contingencies disappear
- Unequal duties do not automatically defeat consideration
- The buyer never has to perform
- No contract can exist
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Unequal duties do not automatically defeat consideration
Valid consideration does not require matching duties or equivalent values. Other requirements and defenses remain relevant.
5. The only proposed return commitment leaves the buyer entirely free to act or not, without another limit or consideration. What issue is raised?
- A necessarily completed sale
- A guaranteed unilateral reward
- An automatic recorded lien
- An illusory promise
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. An illusory promise
The stated apparent promise does not meaningfully commit the buyer. Different limits or other consideration can change the analysis.
6. A purchase duty depends on financing, and the buyer promises timely application and cooperation. Which statement is accurate?
- The bargain can be bilateral with conditional performance
- Every financing condition is illusory
- A denial always proves buyer breach
- The broker decides any forfeiture
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. The bargain can be bilateral with conditional performance
Conditional performance and a genuine commitment can coexist. Read the condition and the separate effort, notice and deadline duties.
7. A formed purchase agreement awaits payment and deed delivery. Which classification fits?
- Fully performed simply because signed
- Bilateral and executory
- A deed instead of a contract
- Automatically void
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Bilateral and executory
Bilateral describes the exchanged promises; executory describes the material performance still due.
8. Which statement best distinguishes a condition from a covenant?
- A condition affects a duty or agreement; a covenant is a promise
- Both always guarantee damages
- A condition is always a deed
- A covenant never creates a duty
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. A condition affects a duty or agreement; a covenant is a promise
Read the wording and context. A condition can concern formation or performance, while a separate promise may require efforts toward the event.
9. A question says the document was executed by signature, but closing is pending. What should you avoid assuming?
- That the document has signatures
- That all contractual performance is complete
- That closing remains ahead
- That context affects the word executed
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. That all contractual performance is complete
Execution can mean signing a document. In performance terminology, an executed contract is fully performed.
10. A seller unequivocally refuses before the closing date to perform a binding conveyance promise. What is the broker’s proper response?
- Pay the deposit to the buyer unilaterally
- Award specific performance immediately
- Document the facts and seek prompt counsel review
- Rewrite the remedy without authority
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Document the facts and seek prompt counsel review
The facts raise anticipatory-repudiation issues. The label does not settle retraction, tender, defenses or remedies.
11. Who is the promisee of the seller’s promise to convey?
- Every neighboring owner
- The seller solely because the seller signs
- The buyer receiving that promise
- Only the recording officer
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The buyer receiving that promise
The seller makes this promise and the buyer receives it. For the buyer’s payment promise, their roles reverse.
12. The required deposit arrives one day late. Which conclusion is justified without reading the agreement?
- No contract ever formed
- The seller necessarily keeps the deposit
- The buyer necessarily receives it back
- The actual condition, default, notice, cure and waiver terms must be examined
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. The actual condition, default, notice, cure and waiver terms must be examined
Late performance and lack of consideration are different issues. Neither a remedy nor a deposit recipient follows automatically.
13. Before any contract exists, a recipient proposes a different price instead of accepting the offered one. What is the usual classification?
- Completed conveyance
- Full contractual performance
- A counteroffer
- A modification of a formed contract
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. A counteroffer
A modification requires an existing agreement. The stated changed proposal occurs before formation.
14. A buyer properly applies and cooperates, but the specified lender denies financing. What does that fact alone establish?
- Automatic seller entitlement to damages
- Automatic fraud
- The financing event failed, not necessarily a breach
- That all notice duties disappear
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The financing event failed, not necessarily a breach
The contract determines the event, required efforts, notices and consequences. A separate breach cannot be inferred merely from denial.
15. A seller signs privately but has not communicated acceptance in the manner the offer requires. What follows?
- Every signature is automatically effective acceptance
- The required acceptance step may still be missing
- The buyer’s silence always cures the issue
- A deed automatically transfers
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. The required acceptance step may still be missing
Apply the actual communication and acceptance requirements. A private signature alone does not establish every formation element.
16. Which statement about Illinois land-sale writing is safest?
- A closing within a year always makes oral enforcement sufficient
- Only agreements recorded before closing matter
- Apply the Frauds Act land-contract requirement, including the required signed writing or memorandum
- Every oral discussion is automatically void for all purposes
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Apply the Frauds Act land-contract requirement, including the required signed writing or memorandum
Do not apply a short closing timetable as a blanket exception. Actual exceptions and enforceability questions require legal analysis.
17. Which law is the current Illinois electronic-transactions reference for this lesson?
- No law can recognize electronic signatures
- Only a private platform’s advertising
- Repealed 5 ILCS 175 as the current Act
- 815 ILCS 333, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. 815 ILCS 333, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act
The former Electronic Commerce Security Act was repealed effective June 25, 2021. UETA’s scope, agreement, recognition and attribution requirements remain relevant.
18. A qualified electronic record is used in forming an agreement. What does electronic recognition alone establish?
- Every typed name is authorized
- Every cancellation email is timely
- Electronic form alone is not a reason to deny qualifying legal effect
- Missing terms are automatically supplied
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Electronic form alone is not a reason to deny qualifying legal effect
UETA does not eliminate the other applicable law or the parties’ actual terms. Agreement, attribution and substantive requirements still matter.
19. After closing, a separate undertaking is expressly stipulated to survive and remains unperformed. Which statement fits?
- The deed creates every possible duty anew
- Analyze the surviving undertaking instead of declaring every duty complete
- Closing necessarily erases it
- Bilateral contracts never have surviving promises
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Analyze the surviving undertaking instead of declaring every duty complete
Closing performs important duties, but collateral or surviving commitments need separate analysis. No actual private clause is construed here.
20. Do the words bilateral contract choose a party’s remedy after a dispute?
- No; the actual agreement, facts and governing law control
- Yes, always specific performance
- Yes, always no damages
- Yes, always automatic deposit forfeiture
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. No; the actual agreement, facts and governing law control
Classification is not a remedy ruling. Materiality, conditions, notice, cure, defenses and other requirements matter.
21. An option is separately supported and keeps an offer open for 20 days. The buyer has not exercised or promised to purchase. What should you conclude?
- The buyer already owes the full purchase price
- A broker can select the refund outcome
- The supported purchase choice is not yet a buyer promise to close
- The option is necessarily unsupported
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The supported purchase choice is not yet a buyer promise to close
Separate keep-open consideration differs from a supposed purchase promise that commits the buyer to nothing. Apply the actual exercise terms.
22. In the express receipt-based example, acceptance is sent at 4:59 p.m. and received at 5:02 p.m., after the 5:00 p.m. deadline. Which statement follows from the stipulated facts?
- Electronic records never count
- Sending always controls every offer
- A broker can backdate receipt
- The stated receipt condition was not met
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. The stated receipt condition was not met
The example expressly supplies a receipt requirement and excludes modifying facts. It is not a universal rule for all electronic acceptances or options.
23. A broker wants to change the accepted price after signature. Which response fits Illinois Rule 1450.775?
- Obtain the required all-signatory written consent and direction, with each change signed and initialed at the time
- Wait until closing and omit consent
- Silently edit the shared file
- Obtain only the broker’s initials
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Obtain the required all-signatory written consent and direction, with each change signed and initialed at the time
The rule’s change safeguards apply to the specified written agreements in physical or electronic format. An electronic platform does not authorize unilateral alteration.
24. For the stated Section 15-75 exclusive-agreement minimum assistance, which event is sufficient?
- Only the broker’s commission estimate
- The purchase agreement is signed and all contingencies are satisfied or waived
- Only a preapproval letter
- Only the first buyer signature
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. The purchase agreement is signed and all contingencies are satisfied or waived
The statute joins signature and the stated contingency resolution. This does not erase other ongoing duties or make every agreement exclusive.
Common questions
What is a bilateral contract in real estate?
It is a bargain exchanging promises. A typical buyer promises to purchase and pay, while the seller promises to convey on the agreed terms. Both can have duties before closing. The label identifies the exchange, not automatic satisfaction of every formation or enforcement requirement.
Is a purchase agreement bilateral or unilateral?
A typical accepted purchase agreement is bilateral because the parties exchange real promises. Read the actual agreement rather than classifying it solely by its title or number of signatures. A deed, gift, option or performance-based offer raises different questions.
When does a bilateral purchase contract form?
When the required offer and effective acceptance, consideration and other applicable formation requirements are satisfied. Apply the offer’s communication and timing rules and any genuine formation condition. Paying the full price and delivering the deed can occur later.
Is earnest money the consideration?
Reciprocal sale promises ordinarily supply consideration. The agreement may also require a deposit by a stated deadline. A missing or late deposit calls for the actual condition, default, notice, cure and waiver provisions; it does not automatically prove no consideration or select who receives the money.
Must both sides have equal obligations?
No. In Carter v. SSC Odin Operating Co., the Illinois Supreme Court explained that valid consideration does not require equivalent values or an additional independent mutuality requirement. If reciprocal promises are the only consideration, they must still be real commitments. The nursing-home arbitration holding is used for that general contract principle, not as a real estate form approval.
What is an illusory promise?
It appears to commit someone but, on examination, leaves the person without a real undertaking. An entirely optional “only if I feel like it” statement can raise that issue when there is no other limit or consideration. A defined contingency, paid option or meaningful cancellation limit requires its own analysis.
Can a bilateral contract have a financing contingency?
Yes. A binding agreement can have conditional performance. Separate the financing event from promises to apply, cooperate and give notice. A proper denial despite required efforts differs from deliberately failing to apply. The complete wording controls the actual consequences.
Is every attorney-review clause a performance contingency?
No. Read whether the particular wording concerns formation, an existing duty or a right to terminate. Do not import one court’s treatment of a particular clause into every form, or assume a universal Illinois review period. Prompt legal review is appropriate when the effect is disputed.
Can a contract be bilateral and executory?
Yes. Bilateral describes exchanged promises. Executory means performance remains. A buyer and seller can have a formed bilateral bargain while payment, title work, conveyance and other material duties remain due.
Does executed mean signed or fully performed?
Both usages exist. An executed document can mean one that has been signed. In exam questions comparing executed with executory contracts, executed generally means fully performed. Read the context and any surviving or collateral undertaking rather than assuming closing settles every obligation.
Does a failed contingency mean breach?
Not automatically. A condition can fail despite proper required efforts. A party can also breach a separate application, cooperation or notice duty. The actual agreement and conduct control whether a duty arises, is excused or has been broken; neither cancellation nor deposit payout is automatic.
Must a bilateral land-sale contract be written in Illinois?
Apply the Illinois Frauds Act land-contract screen: the required writing or memorandum must bear the signature of the party to be charged or the statutorily authorized agent. A planned closing within one year does not create a blanket oral-land-sale exception. Particular statutory or equitable exceptions require legal analysis; do not call every oral discussion automatically void.
Do electronic signatures count?
Illinois UETA, 815 ILCS 333, recognizes qualifying electronic records and signatures. Its application depends on agreement to transact electronically, context, attribution and the other applicable law. The earlier 5 ILCS 175 statute was repealed in 2021. A platform or typed name alone does not cure missing assent, authority, terms or contractual notice requirements.
Are these official questions or legal advice?
No. These are original teaching questions with explained answers, not recalled PSI items, a validated readiness score or legal advice. The sources support identified principles and stated limits. A live dispute needs the complete documents and qualified Illinois counsel.
How is a supported option different from an illusory purchase promise?
A supported option pays for or otherwise supports keeping an offer open on its stated terms. Before exercise, the buyer may have a choice rather than a promise to purchase. A bare optional statement with no other commitment or consideration is a different problem. Analyze the keep-open contract and purchase offer separately; do not presume a refund or a completed purchase obligation.
Is sending an acceptance always enough?
No universal answer follows from the send timestamp. Apply the offer, relevant law and actual communication requirements. The worked exercise expressly requires receipt by 5:00 p.m.; a 5:02 p.m. receipt misses that stated condition despite a 4:59 p.m. send time. UETA receipt defaults, actual system facts, agreed variations and other applicable law require separate attention in a live matter.
Can a broker change the price after everyone signs?
Not by silently editing the document. Illinois Rule 1450.775 requires the specified written consent and direction of all signatories, and each change signed and initialed at the time by all signatories. Its physical and electronic scope matters. Preserve the actual document history and obtain the required authorized change rather than manufacturing an accepted version.
Does signing end every broker duty connected with the agreement?
No. For an exclusive agreement, Section 15-75 includes the stated assistance until the purchase agreement is signed and all contingencies are satisfied or waived. Other duties can remain as well. The minimum service provision is separate from whether the buyer-seller bargain is bilateral; it is not a declaration that every brokerage agreement must be exclusive.
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Official sources and scope
Reviewed through October 27, 2026. Illinois statutes and published decisions are used for their identified provisions and holdings. General national vocabulary is separate from Illinois enforcement rules. Historical case facts are not current private-contract findings, and a source date is not a new effective date.
- PSI June 24, 2026: national V.A.7 bilateral and unilateral contracts
- Illinois Courts contract instructions: foundational contract concepts
- California DRE chapter 6: general bilateral, unilateral and performance classifications
- Whitelaw v. Brady, 3 Ill. 2d 583 (1954): option structure and writing
- The Terraces of Sunset Park v. Chamberlin (2010): paid purchase choice
- Illinois written-agreement rule
- 225 ILCS 454/15-75: exclusive-agreement minimum services
- Carollo v. Irwin, 2011 IL App (1st) 102765, paragraphs 23-26
- Patel v. McGrath: tentative requests and an existing review clause
- Midwest Builder Distributing v. Lord and Essex (2007): conditions and interference
- 68Ill.Adm.Code1450.750(h): known earnest-money controversy
- 815 ILCS 333/15: electronic sending and receipt
- California DRE glossary: executed and executory terminology
- Illinois Supreme Court: Czarobski v. Lata, 227 Ill. 2d 364 (2008)
- Kelly v. Orrico, 2014 IL App (2d) 130002: unequivocal repudiation
- Carter v. SSC Odin Operating Co., 2012 IL 113204: consideration and mutuality
- 740 ILCS 80/2: land-contract writing and signature
- 815 ILCS 333/5, 7 and 9: electronic agreement, recognition and attribution
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.