Illinois real estate exam glossary
Lead-based paint disclosure: coverage, timing and the right documents
A signed lead form does not test a home, certify that it is safe or complete every Illinois requirement. Start with coverage, deliver the required information before obligation and distinguish the buyer’s evaluation choice from the seller’s disclosure duties.
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The short answer
For a covered sale or lease of target housing, complete the federal lead disclosure process before the buyer or tenant is obligated: provide an approved pamphlet, disclose known lead information, deliver available reports and complete the required warning, acknowledgments, certifications, signatures and dates. Covered purchasers also receive a 10-day evaluation opportunity unless the parties choose a different period in writing or the purchaser waives it in writing. Apply the current housing definition and transaction exceptions first. Illinois requirements and renovation rules remain separate.
Reviewed for October 2026 using the current eCFR text shown up to date October 22, 2026, EPA guidance and the identified Illinois provisions. PSI places environmental and government disclosures at national VII.B. Property Disclosures has seven of the 100 scored national broker questions; this glossary has no separate published quota. Examples are original exam education, not completed transaction documents, environmental findings or medical guidance.
Five checks for a covered transaction
- Confirm coverage. Start with housing constructed before 1978, then apply section 745.103 and the transaction exceptions in 745.101. The current definition’s under-six-child qualifier matters for the elderly/disability and zero-bedroom exclusions. The certified lead-based-paint-free exception in 745.101(b) concerns leases.
- Disclose before obligation. Provide the EPA-approved pamphlet, known lead-based paint and hazard information, available details and available reports. Available includes reasonably obtainable records, not just papers in the owner’s drawer. If the offer arrives first, complete disclosure before acceptance and allow review and possible amendment.
- Use the proper sale or lease documentation. Section 745.113 specifies different warning language and elements for the two transactions, in the language of the contract. Sales use an attachment; leases can include the required material in the lease or an attachment. Complete the required statements, acknowledgments, signatures and dates.
- Document the purchaser’s evaluation choice. The default is ten days for inspection or risk assessment. A different period requires mutual written agreement; waiver requires the purchaser’s writing. This purchaser provision does not give every lessee a federal ten-day right and does not waive the rest of the disclosure packet.
- Check responsibilities and retain records. Covered agents inform the seller or lessor and ensure required performance or personally ensure compliance. The federal minimum is three years after sale completion or lease commencement, as applicable. Check longer Illinois brokerage retention, state lead notices and any separate mitigation or renovation duties.
| Fact or document | What it establishes | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-1978 construction | Start the federal coverage analysis | Lead is proven or every transaction has no exception |
| No knowledge of lead | An honest knowledge statement | A tested lead-based-paint-free condition |
| Certified paint-free lease finding | Potential section 745.101(b) lease exception | An automatic exception for a later sale |
| Written evaluation waiver | Purchaser declines that opportunity | Known information and reports may be withheld |
| Sale disclosure attachment | The required sale statements and acknowledgments | A lease warning is interchangeable or a hazard was removed |
| Illinois compliance certificate | A state compliance record under its actual scope | All prior-history or federal disclosure duties disappear |
| RRP certification and work rules | Separate requirements for covered paint-disturbing work | The sale disclosure packet authorizes every renovation |
The distinctions that matter
| Distinction | How it works | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| A housing exclusion and a transaction exception | The target-housing definition and section 745.101 exemptions are separate screens. | A short lease must be 100 days or less with no renewal or extension possible. A qualifying renewal needs prior complete disclosure and no new information; a new report changes the analysis. |
| Disclosure, inspection and risk assessment | Disclosure communicates known information and available reports. Inspection investigates paint presence; risk assessment investigates the nature and location of hazards. | Section 745.107 does not itself impose a positive evaluation or reduction duty. Other laws, orders or agreements can impose separate obligations. |
| A changed period and a waiver | Parties can mutually choose a different evaluation period in writing; the purchaser can waive the opportunity in writing. | An oral shortcut is not the specified written alternative. Neither choice waives known-information disclosure or the pamphlet, reports and required documentation. |
| Federal lead disclosure and the Illinois seller report | The federal process concerns covered target-housing transactions. Illinois report item 17 addresses actual awareness of unsafe lead-related concentrations or conditions, including paint, water/plumbing pipes and soil. | A property can require separate analysis under both laws. The Illinois report is not the federal packet, and federal pre-1978 coverage does not define every Illinois condition-report question. |
| Illinois mitigation history and a new lease | Section 9.1 has specific duties for noticed regulated facilities, including mitigation and a compliance certificate before a covered new lease. Rule 845.25 separately addresses prior-hazard notice and supporting records. | Do not treat handing over a form as permission to enter a new lease while a statutory mitigation requirement remains unmet. Do not equate an Illinois certificate with the federal certified paint-free lease finding. |
| Transaction disclosure and RRP | The transaction rule governs information before a covered sale or lease. RRP governs covered paint-disturbing renovation, repair and painting work. | A correctly completed sales form does not supply a contractor’s certification, training or work-practice compliance. RRP and abatement also have different regulatory roles. |
Work through the facts
No knowledge does not cancel the packet
A covered 1962 house is sold by an owner with no known lead information and no available reports after an honest inquiry into what is possessed or reasonably obtainable.
- The construction date and stipulated coverage trigger the process.
- Federal disclosure does not itself require the owner to commission a test.
- Document the no-knowledge and no-report statements, deliver the pamphlet and complete the required purchaser opportunity and sale attachment.
Answer: No knowledge is not lead-free, and the remaining federal process still applies.
A zero-bedroom dwelling with a young child
A pre-1978 studio is a zero-bedroom dwelling. A four-year-old child is expected to reside there. No transaction exception applies.
- The current section 745.103 target-housing definition includes an under-six-child qualifier.
- The zero-bedroom label does not supply a blanket exclusion on these facts.
Answer: Apply the covered transaction requirements. Do not use an old blanket rule that every studio is excluded.
A paint-free finding does not create every exception
A seller has a qualifying certified lead-based-paint-free inspection for a pre-1978 house. The transaction is an ordinary sale of otherwise covered target housing, not a foreclosure.
- Section 745.101(b) identifies a lease exception.
- That wording does not create an automatic sale exemption.
- The report is information to provide under the covered sale process.
Answer: Do not omit the sale packet solely because the owner has the finding.
The offer arrived before the documents
A buyer offers on a covered 1948 home before receiving the pamphlet and an available old risk assessment. The seller has not accepted.
- Complete the required disclosure before acceptance.
- Allow the buyer to review the information and possibly amend the offer.
- Complete the evaluation and contract-document requirements rather than promising to deliver everything after closing.
Answer: An offer can arrive first; acceptance must not bypass the specified disclosure and review sequence.
Five days by mutual written agreement
Buyer and seller agree in writing to a five-day lead evaluation period. The remaining covered-sale disclosures are complete.
- Ten days is the default, not an unchangeable period.
- Section 745.110 allows a different mutually agreed written period.
- The agreed period changes the opportunity’s length, not the owner’s duty to disclose known information.
Answer: The written five-day alternative is permitted under the stated facts.
A tenant asks for the same ten days
A covered lease includes the required lease warning, known-information disclosure, reports, pamphlet acknowledgment, applicable agent statements and dated signatures. The tenant asks whether section 745.110 mandates ten days for testing.
- That section’s opportunity is for purchasers.
- A lease may have negotiated rights or separate legal requirements, but the purchaser-only provision does not establish them.
Answer: The federal disclosure rule does not give every lessee the purchaser’s ten-day opportunity.
A renewal has a new report
A lessor completed the required prior disclosures, but a new lead report arrives before renewing the existing target-housing lease.
- The section 745.101(d) renewal exception requires no new specified information.
- The new report defeats that condition; do not rely only on the old signed form.
Answer: Address the current covered disclosure duties and other applicable state requirements before obligation.
The mitigation notice concerns this unit
An owner of a regulated facility received a section 9 mitigation notice for a dwelling unit and proposes to enter a new lease for that unit. The statutory mitigation and certificate requirements are not yet satisfied.
- Section 9.1 specifically requires mitigation and a compliance certificate before this covered new lease.
- Rule 845.25 also addresses prior-hazard notice and supporting documentation.
- Completing the federal packet alone does not satisfy an outstanding state mitigation requirement.
Answer: Do not reduce this fact pattern to merely handing the new tenant a disclosure form.
Common-area and building-wide information
A covered multifamily transaction involves an available evaluation of the common stairwell and a building-wide evaluation that includes other units.
- Section 745.107 includes available common-area records.
- Other-unit records are included when part of evaluation or reduction of target housing as a whole.
- Available also includes reasonably obtainable records. A verbal summary is not delivery of the required reports.
Answer: Provide the required available records with the remaining disclosures.
An informed agent is not omniscient
A covered agent informed the seller of the federal obligations. The seller concealed known lead information from the agent.
- Section 745.115(b) provides a limited protection for the seller’s known lead information not disclosed to the informed agent.
- The agent’s separate duty to ensure required activities or personally ensure compliance still matters.
- This is not immunity for ignoring information the agent actually knows or leaving required documents incomplete.
Answer: Analyze the actual information and performance rather than assuming either automatic liability or blanket immunity.
Mistakes to avoid
- Every old home is proven to contain lead. Construction date screens coverage; known information and evaluations supply property-specific facts.
- A written inspection waiver cancels disclosure. It concerns the purchaser’s evaluation opportunity, not the rest of the packet.
- A compliance certificate erases all history. Check each document’s actual scope and the separate state and federal duties.
- A short or renewed lease is always exempt. Apply every condition, including possible extension and any new information.
Check your understanding
These are original teaching questions, not recalled or predicted PSI questions. Answer first, then explain why the other choices fail.
1. Which date generally starts the federal target-housing screen?
- Only a positive test, regardless of construction
- Construction before 2000
- Every structure of any age without exceptions
- Construction before 1978
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Construction before 1978
Start with housing constructed before 1978 and then apply the current definition and transaction exceptions. Date is a coverage screen, not proof of lead presence. The other choices misstate that screen.
2. A pre-1978 zero-bedroom unit will house a four-year-old child. No transaction exception applies. Under current 745.103, what is correct?
- Only the landlord’s age matters
- Every studio is excluded regardless of occupancy
- A positive laboratory result is required before the rule can apply
- The under-six qualifier matters; the studio label alone does not exclude it
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. The under-six qualifier matters; the studio label alone does not exclude it
The current definition includes the under-six-child qualifier after its elderly/disability and zero-bedroom categories. The stated expected child occupancy defeats the blanket studio assumption. Coverage does not require a positive test.
3. Which transaction does 745.101(b)’s qualifying certified lead-based-paint-free exception identify?
- Every sale and lease automatically
- Only new construction after 1977
- A lease of target housing meeting the stated inspection requirements
- Every gift and all later resales
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. A lease of target housing meeting the stated inspection requirements
The regulation identifies leases with the qualifying certified finding. Do not turn that lease-specific wording into an automatic exemption for an otherwise covered sale. An Illinois compliance certificate is not automatically that finding.
4. A 90-day target-housing lease can be renewed or extended. Does length alone establish the short-term exception?
- Yes, if the tenant signs a waiver
- Yes, every lease under 100 days qualifies
- Yes, if the owner has no knowledge
- No; the exception also requires that no renewal or extension can occur
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. No; the exception also requires that no renewal or extension can occur
Section 745.101(c) requires 100 days or less and no possible renewal or extension. Both conditions matter. A tenant waiver or no-knowledge statement does not create the missing condition.
5. An offer arrives before the lead disclosures and has not been accepted. What is required?
- Complete disclosure before acceptance and permit review and possible amendment
- Discard an available report because it is old
- Accept first and provide the report after closing
- Require the buyer to accept without reviewing it
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Complete disclosure before acceptance and permit review and possible amendment
Section 745.107(b) addresses an offer arriving first. It requires disclosure before acceptance and review with possible amendment. The other choices bypass that process or withhold an available report.
6. Does the federal disclosure rule itself require every covered seller to commission testing or remove lead before sale?
- No; known information, available reports and the prescribed process are required, while separate duties may still apply
- Only if the home is vacant
- Only when a broker is involved
- Yes, in every case
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. No; known information, available reports and the prescribed process are required, while separate duties may still apply
Section 745.107 says it does not imply a positive evaluation or reduction duty. That does not erase a government order, another law or negotiated obligation. The suggested universal testing distinctions are not its rule.
7. What does an honest no-knowledge statement establish?
- A buyer is forbidden to inspect
- No report or pamphlet is required
- The owner reports no known lead information, not a physical guarantee
- The house is certified lead-free
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The owner reports no known lead information, not a physical guarantee
No knowledge is not a test or certification. It does not eliminate the remaining covered disclosure process or the purchaser’s opportunity.
8. Which evaluation alternative is permitted under 745.110?
- An oral seller-imposed reduction in every case
- A mutually agreed different period in writing, or the purchaser’s written waiver of the opportunity
- Waiver of all known-information disclosure by silence
- The seller alone chooses whether a covered buyer gets any opportunity
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. A mutually agreed different period in writing, or the purchaser’s written waiver of the opportunity
The rule permits the specified written period agreement or purchaser waiver. It does not let silence, an oral unilateral shortcut or the evaluation choice erase the rest of the disclosure duties.
9. Does 745.110 give every covered tenant a ten-day evaluation right?
- Yes, because lease and sale warnings are identical
- Only if rent exceeds a state threshold
- No; this regulatory opportunity is for purchasers
- Yes, if a broker is paid
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. No; this regulatory opportunity is for purchasers
The provision identifies purchasers. Lease disclosures remain required where applicable, while any negotiated tenant testing right or separate law must be assessed independently. Payment and a rent threshold do not change this text.
10. A lessor previously disclosed everything required but receives a new lead report before renewal. Which conclusion is sound?
- The new report can be omitted if the old form was signed
- Only the purchaser opportunity must be repeated
- The no-new-information condition for the renewal exception is not met
- Every renewal is automatically exempt
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The no-new-information condition for the renewal exception is not met
Section 745.101(d) requires prior complete disclosure and no new specified information. The new report changes that condition. Renewal does not automatically excuse disclosure, and this is not a sale-only evaluation issue.
11. Which available records are within 745.107’s specified multifamily scope?
- Only reports naming the exact buyer
- No reports if the seller gives a verbal summary
- Only reports produced within the last 30 days
- Common-area reports and other-unit information forming part of a whole-target-housing evaluation or reduction
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Common-area reports and other-unit information forming part of a whole-target-housing evaluation or reduction
The rule expressly includes the common-area and qualified other-unit records. It does not impose a blanket 30-day age cutoff, restrict reports to a buyer’s name or allow oral summary to replace delivery.
12. Which statement correctly describes the federal recordkeeping anchors?
- Exactly three years total under every state and federal record law
- At least three years after sale completion, or lease-period commencement, for the seller/lessor and any agent as applicable
- Three years after lease termination for every file
- Three years after any initial inquiry
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. At least three years after sale completion, or lease-period commencement, for the seller/lessor and any agent as applicable
Section 745.113(c)(1) uses the specified sale and lease events. These are federal minimums. They are not every other record law’s maximum, a lease-end trigger or a first-inquiry period.
13. What is the effect of 745.115(b) when an agent informed the seller but the seller hid known lead information from that agent?
- The agent must have medically tested every occupant
- The agent can ignore every other requirement
- The buyer loses every claim automatically
- There is a limited protection for that undisclosed known information, not blanket immunity for the agent’s own failures
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. There is a limited protection for that undisclosed known information, not blanket immunity for the agent’s own failures
The provision concerns the seller’s known information not disclosed to the informed agent. Other required performance and the agent’s actual information still matter. It neither mandates medical testing nor decides every buyer claim.
14. Which Illinois seller-report item addresses unsafe lead-related conditions, including paint, water/plumbing pipes and soil?
- Only the federal inspection waiver
- Item 17
- Only a federal lease warning
- No Illinois item
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Item 17
The current section 35 form’s item 17 addresses actual awareness of the listed unsafe lead-related conditions. That state report question is separate from the federal packet and evaluation choice.
15. A regulated-facility owner received a section 9 mitigation notice for the unit and proposes a new lease before satisfying 9.1’s mitigation/certificate requirement. Is disclosure alone enough?
- No; the applicable statutory mitigation and certificate requirement must also be satisfied before the new lease
- Yes, whenever the owner has a broker
- Yes, if the lease is electronic
- Yes, a signed form always authorizes occupancy
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. No; the applicable statutory mitigation and certificate requirement must also be satisfied before the new lease
Section 9.1 imposes the specific requirement for the covered new lease. Federal paperwork, electronic format or representation does not replace it. Apply the notice history, unit and statutory conditions rather than generalize to every property.
16. What is the relationship between a covered sale disclosure and later paid paint-disturbing work?
- RRP is a separate work-related regulatory analysis; the sale packet does not supply its compliance
- The work is governed only by the buyer’s ten-day period
- The sale form is every contractor’s certification
- Every renovation is exempt after a disclosure
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. RRP is a separate work-related regulatory analysis; the sale packet does not supply its compliance
EPA distinguishes covered RRP work from transaction disclosure and abatement. Applicable certification, training and work requirements are separate; signing the sale documents or completing the evaluation period does not replace them.
17. An old lead report is not in the seller’s drawer but is reasonably obtainable by the seller at disclosure time. Under 745.103, what follows?
- Only reports under 30 days old can count
- The buyer’s written evaluation waiver cancels all report delivery
- It is outside available merely because it is stored elsewhere
- The definition of available includes reasonably obtainable records
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. The definition of available includes reasonably obtainable records
Available means possessed or reasonably obtainable by the seller or lessor at disclosure time. Location outside a drawer and age alone do not exclude a report. The evaluation waiver does not waive the distinct available-record duty. Apply the actual report scope in 745.107 as well.
Common questions
Which housing does the federal rule cover?
Start with housing constructed before 1978 and apply the current 745.103 definition. The under-six-child qualifier matters for its elderly/disability and zero-bedroom categories. Qualifying housing for the elderly is specifically defined; the age of one owner or a generic 55-plus label is not enough to replace that definition.
Which transaction exceptions should I know?
Section 745.101 identifies foreclosure sales; qualifying certified lead-based-paint-free leases; leases of 100 days or less where no renewal or extension can occur; and renewals after complete prior disclosure with no new specified information. Apply the actual conditions. The paint-free exception is lease-specific, not automatic permission to omit a covered sale’s packet.
Must an owner test or remove lead to comply with disclosure?
The federal transaction disclosure rule itself does not impose a positive evaluation or reduction duty. It does require honest known-information disclosure, available records and the rest of the process. Other laws, orders, program requirements or agreements can require additional action, including the specific Illinois noticed-unit new-lease duty discussed below.
What belongs in the disclosure packet?
An approved lead-hazard pamphlet, known paint/hazard information with available details, required available reports and the proper contract documentation. Section 745.113 supplies the sale or lease warning, statements, acknowledgments, applicable agent certification, signatures and dates. Use current official forms rather than treating this glossary as a ready-to-sign substitute. Available means possessed or reasonably obtainable at disclosure time; do not restrict it to documents physically in the owner’s files.
What if the buyer made an offer before receiving the information?
Complete the required disclosures before accepting the offer and give the buyer an opportunity to review and possibly amend it. The same offer-first rule addresses lessees. Do not defer an available report until after acceptance or closing.
Can the buyer change or waive ten days?
The parties may mutually agree in writing to another period, and the purchaser may waive the evaluation opportunity in writing. That choice concerns the opportunity, not permission to withhold known information, reports or the rest of the required disclosure.
Does a tenant receive ten days?
Not under the purchaser-only opportunity in 745.110. A covered lease still needs its own warning and disclosure elements before obligation. Any separate negotiated or legally required tenant rights must be assessed on their own terms.
Is no knowledge the same as lead-free?
No. One is a statement about what is known; the other is a finding with a defined scope. Do not certify physical safety from a no-knowledge answer or equate a state compliance certificate with the federal certified lead-based-paint-free lease finding.
What does the agent have to do?
A covered agent informs the seller or lessor of the duties and ensures the required activities are performed, or personally ensures compliance. The limited withheld-information protection does not excuse the agent’s own omissions. The federal definition excludes a purchaser’s representative paid entirely by the purchaser; apply the actual definition and do not treat that exclusion as an exemption from every Illinois duty.
How long must the completed documents be kept?
The federal minimum is three years from completion of a sale for the seller and any agent, or from commencement of the lease period for the lessor and any agent. Illinois brokerage transaction-record requirements can be longer. Do not add the periods together or treat the federal minimum as universal permission to destroy the file.
Does the Illinois seller report replace the federal form?
No. A covered Illinois sale can require both. Item 17 of the state report concerns actual awareness of unsafe lead-related concentrations or conditions in paint, water/plumbing pipes or soil. Federal coverage, records, pamphlet, warning and evaluation requirements have their own scope. The state report’s actual-knowledge standard does not erase information already received.
What if there was an Illinois mitigation notice?
Read section 9.1 and rule 845.25 for the affected regulated facility and unit. Rule 845.25(a) calls for prior-hazard notice and describes supplying the inspection report, mitigation notice and subsequent compliance certificate. Section 9.1 has additional conditions, including mitigation and a compliance certificate before a covered new lease. It also covers a qualifying purchaser who received the notice and addresses Department notification for covered sales. Do not assume a certificate erases every history-disclosure duty.
Are renovation and abatement the same as sale disclosure?
No. RRP concerns covered paint-disturbing renovation, repair and painting work, with applicable certification, training and work practices. Abatement is a separate regulatory category. The transaction disclosure packet communicates information; it does not supply a contractor’s compliance or perform hazard reduction.
Can the required information be delivered electronically?
EPA guidance addresses consent, the ability to access and retain records, paper-document rights and consent-withdrawal procedures. Electronic format does not remove content, signature, timing or access requirements. A casual email or inaccessible link is not proof that the whole process was completed.
Are these official questions or a professional lead assessment?
No. They are original questions based on the identified sources. They do not establish a property’s lead condition, approve a lease or renovation, give medical guidance or predict an exam result. Use actual records and appropriately qualified professionals for a live transaction.
Keep practising
Your next practice step
Put property disclosure into practice
Identify the person, property, knowledge and timing that trigger the duty.
These web resources are free. The app has a separate free starter tier and optional paid full access.
Official sources and scope
The current federal regulation supplies the precise definition, exceptions, documents and timing. EPA guidance links sample forms and addresses electronic access and separate RRP work. Illinois report item 17, section 9.1 and rule 845.25 supply distinct state questions, including mitigation history and covered new leases. Federal and Illinois recordkeeping requirements must be kept separate. The PSI outline supplies exam placement; these practice scenarios are original.
- Current 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F: lead disclosure, exemptions, documentation and agent duties
- EPA real-estate disclosures guidance, May 27, 2026
- 765 ILCS 77/35: Illinois seller-report lead item and scope
- 410 ILCS 45/9.1: Illinois lead notices, new leases and brochure requirement
- EPA renovation, repair and painting program: separate certification and work rules
- 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.755(a)(3): transaction records, including brokerage agreements
- 765 ILCS 77/25: actual knowledge and qualified seller protection
- PSI June 24, 2026 booklet: National VI.A.3 and Illinois II.D
- 77 Ill. Adm. Code 845.25: disclosure and mitigation-history documents
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.