- Official section
- National V.A.3: Effect of the Statute of Frauds
- Broker weight
- 19% of the national broker portion
- Expected scored items
- Contracts account for about 17 of 100 items
Illinois exam glossary
Statute of Frauds
The phrase sounds like a fraud rule, but it is really a proof rule. For an Illinois land-sale problem, look for a sufficient written record and the signature of the person against whom enforcement is sought. Then keep formation, enforceability, electronic signatures, authority, and equitable exceptions in separate boxes.
Last updated: August 1, 2026
What does this exam area cover?
Short answer: Illinois's Frauds Act generally requires a contract for the sale of land or an interest in land for longer than one year to be evidenced by a writing or memorandum signed by the party to be charged or a lawfully authorized agent. The writing should establish the parties, property, price or pricing method, and essential obligations with reasonable certainty. An electronic record and signature can often qualify. A missing required writing ordinarily creates an enforceability defense, not an automatic finding that no agreement ever existed.
This guide follows the PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet effective June 24, 2026, 740 ILCS 80/1 through 3, 5 ILCS 175/5-120, Illinois decisions on full performance, part performance, and partial payment, and Illinois Pattern Civil Jury Instructions revised November 2025, all checked through August 1, 2026. Trusts, guaranties, marriage promises, credit agreements, securities, UCC sales, brokerage agreements, installment contracts, auctions, and local lease rules can have separate writing requirements.
What is on the official outline?
- Topic
- Name the rule correctly
- What to know
- Frauds Act, Statute of Frauds, evidence, signed writing, covered agreement, enforcement defense, oral promise, and no actual fraud required
- Best exam move
- Do not waste time looking for deception; identify whether the agreement falls within a writing category.
- Topic
- Screen the one-year rule
- What to know
- 740 ILCS 80/1, not to be performed, one year, making date, possible performance, duration, promise, writing, and signature
- Best exam move
- The statutory category concerns an agreement not to be performed within one year from its making.
- Topic
- Screen land transactions
- What to know
- 740 ILCS 80/2, sale, land, tenement, hereditament, interest, lease, easement, option, longer than one year, and contract
- Best exam move
- A land-sale contract is the core real estate exam application.
- Topic
- Identify the enforcement target
- What to know
- party to be charged, plaintiff, defendant, buyer, seller, lessor, lessee, optionor, enforcement, and remedy
- Best exam move
- Ask whose promise the lawsuit seeks to enforce and whether that person supplied the required signature.
- Topic
- Check agent authority
- What to know
- authorized agent, authority in writing, principal signature, scope, power of attorney, entity resolution, trust, executor, and ratification
- Best exam move
- Section 2 expressly describes an agent lawfully authorized in writing signed by the party.
- Topic
- Find a writing or memorandum
- What to know
- contract, note, memorandum, email, electronic record, letter, check notation, platform, counterparts, and connected documents
- Best exam move
- The label is less important than whether the authenticated record supplies the required bargain with certainty.
- Topic
- Identify the parties
- What to know
- legal names, buyer, seller, entity, trustee, agent capacity, signature block, pronoun, ambiguity, and assignee
- Best exam move
- The record must permit the contracting parties to be identified.
- Topic
- Identify the property
- What to know
- legal description, street address, parcel number, unit, parking, acreage, exhibit, survey, adjoining parcel, and reasonable certainty
- Best exam move
- A court must be able to identify which real estate the bargain covers.
- Topic
- Identify price and exchange
- What to know
- purchase price, option price, rent, payment method, formula, financing, earnest money, adjustment, and consideration
- Best exam move
- State the price or an objective method capable of determining it.
- Topic
- Capture essential terms
- What to know
- closing, conveyance, title, possession, financing, contingency, included property, lease term, performance, deadline, and material obligation
- Best exam move
- A signature cannot cure a writing so indefinite that the essential bargain cannot be known.
- Topic
- Verify the signature
- What to know
- manual, electronic, typed name, initials, intent, attribution, party charged, agent, counterpart, and final version
- Best exam move
- Determine who authenticated which exact terms and in what capacity.
- Topic
- Use electronic records
- What to know
- 5 ILCS 175/5-120, signature rule, electronic symbol, intent, security procedure, audit trail, consent, platform, attribution, and exception
- Best exam move
- Electronic form can satisfy the rule, but an unauthenticated draft is not automatically a signed contract.
- Topic
- Connect multiple writings
- What to know
- incorporation, reference, attachment, exhibit, email chain, counterpart, signature page, document version, consistent terms, and legal connection
- Best exam move
- Do not assume scattered documents combine; the legal relationship among them and the signed record must support the connection.
- Topic
- Apply consideration proof
- What to know
- 740 ILCS 80/3, need not be expressed, other evidence, proof, disproof, bargain, exchange, and no elimination
- Best exam move
- Section 3 relaxes recital in the writing, not the underlying requirement that consideration exist.
- Topic
- Classify the consequence
- What to know
- unenforceable, defense, void, voidable, valid, formation, remedy, pleading, waiver, and burden
- Best exam move
- Use unenforceable when the only stated problem is failure to satisfy the required form.
- Topic
- Treat part performance narrowly
- What to know
- possession, payment, improvements, reliance, unequivocal conduct, oral agreement, clear proof, equitable remedy, anticipation, and exception
- Best exam move
- Do not invent an exception from one ordinary act that can be explained without the alleged contract.
- Topic
- Treat full performance separately
- What to know
- complete performance, one party, alleged terms, evidence, oral agreement, reliance, false-claim risk, equitable enforcement, and case-specific result
- Best exam move
- Full performance is a demanding legal doctrine and not the same as paying only part of the price.
- Topic
- Reject payment-only shortcuts
- What to know
- deposit, partial purchase price, earnest money, check, refund, possession, improvement, unequivocal reference, and insufficiency
- Best exam move
- Partial payment alone does not automatically defeat the Illinois writing defense.
- Topic
- Separate contract and deed
- What to know
- executory promise, conveyance, deed, delivery, recording, consideration recital, title, transfer, and completed transaction
- Best exam move
- A sales contract promises a future conveyance; a delivered deed is the instrument that conveys the estate.
- Topic
- Protect brokerage practice
- What to know
- approved form, all signatures, authority, delivery, version control, electronic audit, no oral side deal, records, attorney review, and referral
- Best exam move
- Get the complete bargain into a signed record and send exception or sufficiency disputes to counsel.
Which distinctions produce the most mistakes?
- Terms
- Statute of Frauds vs. fraud
- Difference
- The Statute of Frauds requires evidence for covered agreements. Fraud is deception involving a false representation or concealment and other elements.
- Question cue
- Writing rule versus deceptive conduct.
- Terms
- Valid vs. enforceable
- Difference
- Validity concerns legal formation. Enforceability asks whether a court will provide a remedy despite formalities and defenses.
- Question cue
- Agreement formed versus remedy available.
- Terms
- Void vs. unenforceable
- Difference
- A void agreement has no legal force from inception. An unenforceable agreement faces a bar to judicial enforcement.
- Question cue
- No legal effect versus remedy blocked.
- Terms
- Contract vs. memorandum
- Difference
- A contract states the agreement itself. A memorandum can evidence the essential agreement for Statute of Frauds purposes.
- Question cue
- Bargain document versus evidence document.
- Terms
- Party to be charged vs. charging party
- Difference
- The party to be charged is the person against whom enforcement is sought, not necessarily the person bringing the claim.
- Question cue
- Defending promise versus enforcing claimant.
- Terms
- Manual vs. electronic signature
- Difference
- A manual signature is handwritten. An electronic signature is an electronic symbol or process used with intent to sign, subject to proof and scope.
- Question cue
- Different medium, same attribution question.
- Terms
- One writing vs. multiple writings
- Difference
- One document can contain the complete terms. Multiple records may work only when law permits them to be connected into a sufficient signed memorandum.
- Question cue
- Complete record versus connected record set.
- Terms
- Part performance vs. full performance
- Difference
- Part performance is incomplete but allegedly unequivocal reliance. Full performance means one side completed the entire promised performance.
- Question cue
- Some performance versus all performance.
- Terms
- Partial payment vs. part performance doctrine
- Difference
- Partial payment is one act. The equitable doctrine requires a fuller legal showing and is not automatically satisfied by a deposit.
- Question cue
- Single fact versus demanding exception.
- Terms
- Land-sale contract vs. lease
- Difference
- A land-sale contract promises conveyance. A lease transfers possession for a term, and the duration affects the writing analysis.
- Question cue
- Future title versus possessory term.
- Terms
- Contract vs. deed
- Difference
- The contract creates performance duties. The deed, when validly delivered, transfers the estate described.
- Question cue
- Promise to convey versus conveyance.
- Terms
- Writing sufficiency vs. contract certainty
- Difference
- Writing sufficiency asks whether the formal evidence requirement is met. Certainty asks whether the obligations are definite enough to enforce.
- Question cue
- Required form versus knowable terms.
The W-R-I-T-E check
- What agreement is covered: classify land sale, interest in land, lease term, one-year promise, guaranty, option, brokerage agreement, or another statutory category.
- Read the record: collect the contract, memorandum, emails, platform audit, attachments, exhibits, amendments, counters, and delivery proof.
- Identify essentials: verify parties, property, price or method, performance, time, contingencies, consideration, and other material obligations.
- Test signature and authority: find the party to be charged, authentication, final version, signer's capacity, written agency authority, and electronic proof.
- Evaluate only stated exceptions: distinguish full performance, part performance, estoppel, admission, waiver, restitution, and partial payment, then refer live issues.
- Question
- Land-sale agreement
- Core rule
- Section 2 signed writing
- Exam-safe answer
- Use a complete signed contract
- Question
- Whose signature
- Core rule
- Party to be charged or authorized agent
- Exam-safe answer
- Identify enforcement target
- Question
- Agent authority
- Core rule
- Lawfully authorized in writing
- Exam-safe answer
- Verify principal's written authority
- Question
- Consideration recital
- Core rule
- Not required by section 3
- Exam-safe answer
- Consideration must still exist
- Question
- Electronic signature
- Core rule
- Can satisfy signature rule
- Exam-safe answer
- Confirm intent and attribution
- Question
- Partial payment
- Core rule
- Not an automatic exception
- Exam-safe answer
- Do not bypass the writing rule
How do the rules work in scenarios?
Signed Illinois sale contract
Scenario: Buyer and seller sign the same written contract identifying the parties, parcel, $480,000 price, closing obligations, and contingencies.
- The transaction concerns sale of land.
- The writing identifies the essential bargain.
- Both sides signed, exceeding the minimum party-to-be-charged signature issue for either ordinary enforcement direction.
Answer: The stated contract satisfies the basic Statute of Frauds form screen.
Oral sale discussion
Scenario: An owner orally agrees to sell a lot for $90,000, but neither the owner nor an authorized agent signs a contract or memorandum.
- The promise concerns sale of land.
- No signed record by the party against whom enforcement would be sought is stated.
- No exception facts are supplied.
Answer: The oral bargain faces the Illinois Statute of Frauds enforcement defense.
Unauthorized agent signature
Scenario: A friend signs a sale memorandum in the owner's name, but the owner gave no written authority and refuses to ratify it.
- The friend purports to sign for the party to be charged.
- Section 2 refers to an agent lawfully authorized in writing signed by that party.
- The facts do not establish that authority.
Answer: The friend's signature does not satisfy the stated authority requirement.
Electronic platform record
Scenario: The seller intentionally signs the complete final land contract electronically, and the platform preserves attribution, timestamp, delivery, and an audit trail.
- Illinois generally recognizes electronic signatures for legal signature rules.
- The record is attributable to the seller and tied to the final terms.
- Other contract elements and statutory requirements still apply.
Answer: The electronic signature can satisfy the writing-and-signature screen.
Partial deposit only
Scenario: A buyer pays $10,000 after an oral land discussion but has no possession, signed writing, improvements, or other exception facts.
- Payment is evidence that negotiations or a transaction occurred.
- Illinois decisions do not make partial purchase-price payment an automatic exception.
- The exact agreement and equitable facts would require legal proof.
Answer: Do not treat the $10,000 payment alone as defeating the Statute of Frauds.
Insufficient property description
Scenario: A signed note says seller will convey one of my lots to buyer for $50,000, but supplies no selection method or identifying facts.
- The note has a signature and price.
- It does not identify which parcel is promised.
- A court cannot safely determine the subject real estate from the stated record.
Answer: The signed note still has a material property-certainty problem.
Two-year lease
Scenario: A landlord and tenant orally agree to a fixed two-year lease, and no writing is signed.
- The bargain creates an interest in land for longer than one year.
- It also cannot be fully performed within one year of making on the stated term.
- Other facts or exceptions are not provided.
Answer: The lease faces the Illinois signed-writing requirement.
What are the common exam traps?
- Trap
- Looking for actual fraud
- Correction
- The Statute of Frauds is a writing rule; deception is not required.
- Trap
- Calling every oral agreement void
- Correction
- Use unenforceable when the stated defect is failure of required form.
- Trap
- Requiring only the plaintiff's signature
- Correction
- The statutory focus is the signature of the party against whom enforcement is sought.
- Trap
- Ignoring written agent authority
- Correction
- Section 2 expressly addresses an agent lawfully authorized in writing signed by the party.
- Trap
- Accepting a signature without terms
- Correction
- The signed record must still identify the essential bargain with sufficient certainty.
- Trap
- Using a street address that identifies two parcels
- Correction
- Resolve the property description so the exact real estate can be determined.
- Trap
- Assuming scattered emails automatically combine
- Correction
- The writings must be legally connected and collectively satisfy the signed memorandum requirement.
- Trap
- Rejecting electronic signatures
- Correction
- Electronic form can qualify when statutory scope, intent, and attribution are established.
- Trap
- Treating a typed name as automatically authentic
- Correction
- Verify who placed it, with what intent, on which final terms.
- Trap
- Requiring consideration to be recited
- Correction
- Section 3 permits consideration to be proved or disproved by other legal evidence.
- Trap
- Saying consideration need not exist
- Correction
- The section changes proof in the writing, not the underlying contract element.
- Trap
- Using any payment as part performance
- Correction
- Partial payment alone does not automatically remove the writing defense.
- Trap
- Using anticipatory conduct as an exception
- Correction
- Conduct taken before or merely in hope of a later agreement may not be reliance on the alleged contract.
- Trap
- Confusing contract and deed
- Correction
- The contract promises a future transfer; the deed conveys the estate upon valid delivery.
- Trap
- Letting the broker declare an exception
- Correction
- Preserve evidence and refer part-performance, estoppel, waiver, and remedy questions to counsel.
Can you answer these original practice questions?
These questions are original study items aligned to the published outline. They are not copied, recalled, or predicted PSI questions.
1. What is the main purpose of the Statute of Frauds?
- Require reliable signed evidence for specified agreements
- Punish every lie
- Set commission rates
- Calculate property tax
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Require reliable signed evidence for specified agreements
Actual fraud is not required for the writing rule to apply.
2. What agreement is central to Illinois section 2?
- A contract for sale of land or an interest in it
- A one-day hotel booking
- A brokerage advertisement
- A property appraisal
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A contract for sale of land or an interest in it
The section addresses the writing and party-to-be-charged signature.
3. Who is the party to be charged?
- The person against whom enforcement is sought
- Always the buyer
- Always the seller
- Always the broker
Show answer and explanation
Answer: The person against whom enforcement is sought
The direction of the claim determines the statutory signature question.
4. What should a land-sale memorandum identify?
- Parties, property, price or method, and essential obligations
- Only the broker's phone number
- Only the county
- Only the signature date
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Parties, property, price or method, and essential obligations
The bargain must be reasonably ascertainable from the legally sufficient record.
5. Can an electronic signature satisfy the Illinois rule?
- Generally yes, subject to scope, intent, and attribution
- Never
- Only after handwriting it
- Only for personal property
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Generally yes, subject to scope, intent, and attribution
The final record and audit evidence remain important.
6. Must consideration be expressed in the signed memorandum under section 3?
- No
- Yes, always
- Yes, only in cash
- No, because consideration never matters
Show answer and explanation
Answer: No
It may be proved or disproved by other legal evidence but must still exist.
7. Does a partial purchase-price payment automatically defeat the Statute of Frauds?
- No
- Yes
- Only if under $1,000
- Only if paid to a broker
Show answer and explanation
Answer: No
Illinois equitable exceptions require a more demanding legal analysis.
8. What is the best exam classification for a land agreement missing its required signed writing?
- Unenforceable
- Executed
- Recorded
- Automatically a deed
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Unenforceable
Do not automatically label every oral agreement void.
9. A writing says one of my lots but gives no selection method. What problem remains?
- The property is insufficiently definite
- The signature is too legible
- The deed tax is too low
- The lease is too short
Show answer and explanation
Answer: The property is insufficiently definite
The writing must permit identification of the subject real estate.
10. Who should evaluate a claimed part-performance exception?
- A qualified attorney and ultimately the court
- A broker acting alone
- The photographer
- The home inspector
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A qualified attorney and ultimately the court
The broker should preserve facts and deadlines without giving an enforceability opinion.
How should you study this area?
- Session
- Session 1
- Focus
- Classify covered agreements
- Proof you are ready
- Sort 35 land sales, interests, options, leases, one-year promises, guaranties, deeds, brokerage agreements, and short-term bargains.
- Session
- Session 2
- Focus
- Audit writing sufficiency
- Proof you are ready
- Review 30 parties, property descriptions, prices, formulas, essential obligations, memoranda, notes, exhibits, and connected records.
- Session
- Session 3
- Focus
- Verify signatures and authority
- Proof you are ready
- Solve 30 party-charged, agent, power-of-attorney, entity, trust, manual, electronic, typed-name, counterpart, and audit-trail scenarios.
- Session
- Session 4
- Focus
- Classify legal effect
- Proof you are ready
- Distinguish formation, validity, void, voidable, unenforceable, breach, waiver, admission, and remedy in 30 problems.
- Session
- Session 5
- Focus
- Treat exceptions carefully
- Proof you are ready
- Audit 30 part-performance, full-performance, possession, payment, improvement, reliance, anticipation, estoppel, and restitution facts.
- Session
- Session 6
- Focus
- Run W-R-I-T-E
- Proof you are ready
- Inspect two Illinois contract records, score at least 90 percent, and identify the signed source for every essential term.
Do not count recognition as mastery. Close the notes and explain the rule, apply it to a new fact pattern, and identify why each distractor fails.
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Questions students ask about Statute of Frauds: Illinois Real Estate Exam Guide
What is the Statute of Frauds?
The Statute of Frauds is a rule requiring specified agreements to be evidenced by a signed writing before an enforcement action can succeed. Illinois calls its statute the Frauds Act. It does not mean that fraud occurred. Its purpose is evidentiary: important promises should not depend only on disputed memory of an oral conversation.
What does Illinois require for a contract to sell land?
Under 740 ILCS 80/2, a contract for sale of land or an interest in land for longer than one year must be evidenced by a contract, memorandum, or note in writing signed by the party to be charged or that party's lawfully authorized agent. For exam purposes, use a complete written contract signed by both parties.
Who is the party to be charged?
The party to be charged is the person against whom enforcement is sought. If a buyer sues the seller to compel the sale, the seller is ordinarily the party being charged. The statute's minimum signature wording does not make one-sided signatures good brokerage practice. A complete purchase contract should show both parties' assent and delivery.
What information should the writing contain?
The signed record should identify the parties, the real estate with reasonable certainty, the price or workable pricing method, and essential transaction obligations. It may consist of a contract or legally connected writings, but whether multiple records combine into a sufficient memorandum is a legal question. A vague note saying house deal is not a safe land-sale memorandum.
Does an Illinois lease need to be in writing?
Section 2 expressly covers an interest in land for a term longer than one year, and section 1 separately covers agreements not to be performed within one year. A lease exceeding the statutory period therefore requires careful writing and signature analysis. Other landlord-tenant statutes, local ordinances, and brokerage rules can require additional written terms or disclosures.
Can an electronic signature satisfy the Illinois writing requirement?
Often yes. Illinois law generally allows an electronic signature to satisfy a legal signature requirement, subject to statutory exceptions, consent, attribution, and proof. Emails and platform records can be writings, but a typed name or click must still reflect intent and be attributable to the party. Preserve the complete final record and audit trail.
Must consideration be written in the memorandum?
No. Section 3 of the Illinois Frauds Act states that consideration for an agreement within the Act need not be expressed in the writing and may be proved or disproved by other legal evidence. The rule concerns how consideration is proved. It does not remove consideration as a contract element or excuse missing essential terms.
Does partial payment remove an oral land contract from the Statute of Frauds?
Not automatically. Illinois decisions warn that partial payment of purchase price alone can be insufficient. Performance doctrines require exact facts, clear proof of the alleged agreement, reliance connected to that agreement, and an appropriate equitable remedy. An exam answer should not turn any deposit, improvement, or possession into a universal exception.
What is part performance?
Part performance is an equitable doctrine sometimes invoked to prevent the Statute of Frauds from being used to perpetrate injustice after conduct strongly and unequivocally tied to an oral land agreement. Illinois courts apply demanding standards. Actions merely taken in anticipation of a future contract, or readily explained without the alleged contract, may be insufficient.
Does the Statute of Frauds make every oral agreement void?
No. The careful exam classification is usually unenforceable under the statute, not automatically void. The statutory text limits an action to charge the person on the agreement. Waiver, admission, estoppel, part or full performance, restitution, and other doctrines can affect a case, so a broker should not declare an oral arrangement legally nonexistent.
Are these official PSI questions or legal advice?
No. The practice questions are original. Illinois statutes and Illinois court materials were checked through August 1, 2026. This is exam education, not legal advice. A live matter requires the entire writing, emails, signatures, authority, conduct, payments, possession facts, pleadings, and analysis by a qualified Illinois attorney.
Primary sources
- PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet effective June 24, 2026
- Illinois General Assembly, 740 ILCS 80/1 one-year and other covered promises
- Illinois General Assembly, 740 ILCS 80/2 contracts for sale of land and interests
- Illinois General Assembly, 740 ILCS 80/3 proof of consideration
- Illinois General Assembly, 5 ILCS 175/5-120 electronic signatures
- Illinois Courts, official decision discussing full performance and oral land agreements
- Illinois Courts, official decision rejecting payment alone as an automatic Frauds Act exception
- Illinois Courts, official decision distinguishing performance in reliance from acts in anticipation
- Illinois Courts, Pattern Civil Jury Instructions contract chapter revised November 2025
The current official outline controls the tested scope. Statutes, regulations, and official agency materials control when a general study rule and a jurisdiction-specific rule differ.
Editorial status
Checked against primary sources
The Pass Illinois editorial team last checked this guide on August 1, 2026. Every practice question is an original study item, and the source links above let you verify the rules that support the lesson.