Illinois exam glossary
Void contract
The word void has a specific consequence. It should not be a catchall for a missing signature, a disputed deposit or a deal someone regrets. Identify the defect, find the applicable rule and decide whether it affects a clause, a party or the whole agreement.
Last reviewed:
The short answer
A truly void ab initio agreement has no binding contractual effect from the outset and cannot be revived merely by ratification or waiver. An unlawful core purpose or a lack of the statutory power needed to contract can produce that result. Do not assume every statutory violation, capacity issue, agency defect or oral land-sale bargain is void. Voidable and unenforceable describe different consequences, and an invalid term may be severable. Read the precise statute: some rules, including the covered Illinois guardianship provision, specify a consequence against one side while leaving the other bound.
The PSI outline effective June 24, 2026 lists void, voidable and unenforceable contracts at national V.A.6. The whole Contracts domain receives 19% of the 100 scored national broker questions, or 19 questions; this glossary has no separate quota. Start with the classification and controlling fact. The case examples explain the limits of common shortcuts, rather than predicting a private dispute. These are original exercises, not PSI questions or a validated readiness measure.
Name the defect, then its consequence
- Identify the challenged act. Was there no agreement, an illegal purpose, a missing statutory power, a protected-party defense, a writing problem or a later breach?
- Find the applicable legal source. Read its scope and consequence instead of deciding that a violation must mean either automatic invalidity or automatic enforcement.
- Separate a principal's statutory power to contract from an agent's authority to exercise power the principal already has. The same label unauthorized does not decide both cases.
- Check who is protected. The ordinary minor rule and the covered guardianship statute do not have identical consequences, and neither can be reduced to age or diagnosis alone.
- Ask how far the defect reaches. An invalid nonessential term may be separable; a severability clause does not require a court to preserve an unlawful essential bargain.
- Distinguish ratification from a new lawful agreement. A truly void bargain cannot be revived simply by waiver, but an ordinary agency or voidability issue needs its own analysis.
- Keep contractual enforcement, restitution, title and escrow separate. An allegation of voidness does not automatically decide who owns the property or who receives disputed money.
| Facts | Issue to test | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| The essential bargain is to commit fraud | Unlawful purpose | Do not facilitate the illegal plan |
| A covered association omitted statutory membership prerequisites | Statutory contracting power | A silent statute does not necessarily permit enforcement |
| An ordinary minor contracts for nonnecessaries | Voidability under the applicable minority rule | Necessities, emancipation and other rules matter |
| Section 11a-22(b) applies to the person's contract | Void as against the person and estate | The other contracting person remains bound |
| Land-sale signed writing is missing | Frauds Act enforcement defense | Not automatically void or exempt because closing is soon |
| A prohibited nonessential term appears | Actual legislative remedy and severability | No automatic whole-contract invalidation or guaranteed cure |
| Unlicensed work violated the license requirement | Section 10-15 compensation restrictions | License timing is when the work occurred |
The distinctions that matter
| Distinction | How it works | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| Void and voidable | A truly void ab initio agreement cannot be enforced as that contract or revived by mere ratification. A voidable agreement can have effect unless the protected party properly avoids it, subject to the applicable rules. Specific statutory consequences still control. | Do not give either party an unrestricted right to walk away. |
| Void and unenforceable | An enforcement defense can bar the requested contract remedy even though a bargain formed. An oral land-sale agreement with a writing defect is not automatically void for every purpose. | Name the writing issue before choosing a label. |
| An illegal purpose and a regulatory violation | A bargain designed to accomplish an unlawful purpose is a classic void-contract example. A violation in connection with a transaction does not automatically invalidate every related agreement. Read the actual legislation and the relevant policy. | Do not treat every violation as harmless or every related bargain as void. |
| Statutory silence and permission to enforce | A statute may omit the word void but still define conditions necessary for legal contracting power. In MP Road, the Supreme Court rejected enforcement despite that silence. K. Miller addressed a different public-policy question. | The absence of an express void label does not settle the case. |
| No statutory power and an ordinary agency defect | MP Road concerned an association's failure to satisfy the statutory membership prerequisites for its real-estate agreement. Apparent authority, ratification and estoppel did not cure that void bargain. A private agent exceeding instructions presents different questions. | Check whether the principal had the legal power in the first place. |
| An ordinary minor contract and covered guardianship | An ordinary nonnecessaries contract by a minor is generally voidable under the applicable rules. Section 11a-22(b) makes its covered contract void as against the person and estate, while the other contracting person remains bound. | Do not call every capacity defect voidable or assume both sides are always released. |
| Capacity and a stereotype | Old age, physical illness or defective memory alone does not establish incapacity under the official contract guidance. Capacity at contracting, actual facts and an applicable order or statute matter. | A diagnosis or age is not the whole legal test. |
| Induced agreement and missing assent | Fraud inducing a knowingly entered agreement can support voidability under the applicable requirements. A supposed signature or acceptance that is not the person's act raises a different assent and authority issue. Do not call every disputed signature permanently incurable. | Identify the actual act and applicable law before deciding its effect. |
| Public policy and regret | A party's dissatisfaction or unequal exchange is not the whole public-policy analysis. Use established legal sources and the actual circumstances. Dohrmann's exceptional shocking gross inadequacy is not a universal market-price test. | A poor bargain and a legally prohibited bargain are different issues. |
| Severance and a rewritten bargain | VG Marina discusses preserving the remainder for a party not engaged in serious misconduct when the unenforceable performance is not essential to the exchange. The governing legislation and actual terms still matter. | A severability sentence does not guarantee enforcement of everything else. |
| An allegation and the actual severability holding | VG Marina did not hold its attorney-fee clause invalid: the majority found its qualified language lawful. It declined to invalidate the whole lease because of a different allegedly prohibited term that had not been enforced. | Do not turn an allegation or a dissent into the majority holding. |
| Contract recovery and return of benefits | An unavailable contract claim does not automatically decide every restitution or statutory remedy. The governing law, fault, benefits and policy matter. K. Miller allowed contract and quantum-meruit theories in its particular setting. | No automatic refund, forfeiture or damages award follows from the label alone. |
| Licensing at service and licensing later | Section 10-15 bars the specified compensation payment and recovery for activities unlawfully performed without the required license. The relevant license timing is when the act was done or service performed. | A license obtained before the lawsuit does not itself cure the statutory bar. |
| A void agreement and a terminated agreement | A truly void agreement lacked the claimed binding effect from inception. Termination concerns ending an existing agreement under the actual right, terms and law. Surviving duties and accrued claims require their own analysis. | Do not use cancellation, voidness and termination as interchangeable words. |
Work through the facts
Agreement to commit mortgage fraud
Assume the buyer and seller's separate bargain has the unlawful essential purpose of deceiving a lender with a fabricated down-payment record. This is not merely an allegation about an incidental term.
- The plan is designed to deceive the lender.
- The unlawful conduct is central to the bargain, not an incidental defect.
- A court will not enforce a contract whose designed purpose is fraud.
Answer: The illegal bargain is void and can expose participants to further liability.
Public body lacks legal power
A local officer signs a land contract that the governing statute gives the public body no power to make under any circumstances.
- The stipulated facts deny statutory power under any circumstances, rather than merely omitting a private internal approval.
- MP Road illustrates the legal-power distinction in a different setting involving a covered unincorporated association and its membership prerequisites.
- Mere waiver or ratification cannot revive the stipulated truly void bargain; this does not decide every public-body or private-agent defect.
Answer: The agreement is void if the body truly lacked legal power to contract.
Minor signs a purchase agreement
A 17-year-old enters an ordinary nonnecessaries real estate purchase contract and seeks timely disaffirmance. Assume no emancipation order or special statutory exception; any restoration or ratification issue requires its applicable rules.
- Minority is a capacity protection.
- Illinois contract guidance describes the ordinary non-necessities agreement as voidable.
- The protected minor's election matters.
Answer: Classify the contract as voidable, not automatically void.
Oral land bargain
Two competent adults orally agree on a parcel and price, but no signed memorandum exists and one party invokes the Illinois Frauds Act.
- The defect concerns the statutory writing and signature requirement.
- The Frauds Act frames the issue as barring an action on the agreement.
- Special exceptions and restitution questions require separate proof.
Answer: Treat it as an enforceability problem, not automatically a void contract.
Statute violated without void language
A party identifies a regulatory violation but points to no text declaring the related private agreement void and no analysis of the statute's purpose or remedy.
- Illinois does not make every statutory violation automatically fatal to a contract.
- The court weighs enforcement interests and the policy protected by legislation.
- A direct statutory consequence would change the analysis.
Answer: The violation alone is not enough to label the entire contract void.
Severable prohibited fee
A long lease contains one prohibited fee clause. The lawful rent and possession exchange can operate exactly as negotiated without that clause, and the law does not require invalidating the full lease.
- The hypothetical stipulates that the prohibited term is not essential and the lawful exchange can stand.
- The applicable law must permit that result; a clause alone cannot override it.
- VG Marina supports a bounded lawful-remainder analysis, including the absence of serious misconduct and a nonessential unenforceable performance, rather than automatic deletion in every case.
Answer: The prohibited clause may be severed while the rest remains enforceable.
Unlicensed compensation claim
A person, unlicensed when performing the work, undertakes activities prohibited by the Illinois Act to unlicensed persons and sues for the promised transaction commission. Assume the license requirement applied, the conduct violated it and no applicable exemption.
- Section 10-15(a) prohibits compensation for unlawfully unlicensed licensed activities.
- Subsection (b) bars the specified compensation action and recovery unless duly licensed when the act was done or service performed.
- Later licensing and the distinct consumer or transaction-party provisions do not themselves cure the stipulated prohibited work.
Answer: The unlicensed compensation claim is barred by the Act.
The protected party and estate are specified
Assume a person personally makes a contract after a plenary guardian has been appointed and Section 11a-22(b) applies. This is not an authorized contract made by the guardian.
- The statute supplies the consequence rather than the ordinary minor-voidability shortcut.
- The contract is void as against the person and estate.
- The other contracting person remains bound under the stated provision.
Answer: Do not replace the asymmetric statute with an assumption that both sides are free.
A later board resolution does not supply the missing power
Use the identified MP Road facts as a case illustration: the covered association did not satisfy the statutory membership notice and vote prerequisites before its real-estate agreement. A later board consent, occupation and rent payments were offered as reasons to enforce it.
- The Supreme Court treated the missing statutory prerequisites as a lack of the necessary contracting power.
- Ratification, estoppel and apparent authority did not cure the agreement held void ab initio.
- This is the particular 2019 holding, not a universal rule that every private entity's internal approval defect is incurable.
Answer: Follow the Supreme Court's reversal on enforcement, not the earlier appellate outcome.
The allegation does not decide the whole lease
In a hypothetical, a lease contains an allegedly prohibited nonessential term, but the landlord has not tried to enforce that term. Assume the applicable legislation supplies a term-specific remedy, the lawful exchange can stand and no serious misconduct requiring a different result is established.
- Identify whether the term is actually prohibited and what the legislation does before deciding any relief.
- The allegation alone does not automatically invalidate the entire agreement or prove a private damages award.
- VG Marina offers a bounded analogy; this hypothetical is not a current Chicago remedy, attorney-fee or tenancy-compliance ruling.
Answer: Analyze the actual remedy and lawful remainder rather than declaring the whole lease void from the allegation alone.
Mistakes to avoid
- Using void for every defect Identify the particular rule, protected person and scope of the consequence.
- Treating statutory silence as approval MP Road shows that necessary statutory power can be absent even without an express void label.
- Following the reversed MP Road appellate ruling Use the 2019 Supreme Court ruling on the contract-enforcement issue.
- Calling every capacity problem voidable Apply the ordinary minority rule and the specific guardianship provision separately.
- Treating a fee allegation as a holding VG Marina found the qualified attorney-fee clause lawful; its severability discussion has its own facts.
- Assuming a severability sentence saves any bargain Essentiality, serious misconduct, legislative purpose and the actual exchange matter.
- Releasing disputed escrow because someone says void Use the actual contract and escrow-rule process, including its controversy trigger.
- Using a later license to recover for prohibited work Section 10-15 focuses on licensing when the act was done or service performed.
- Assuming every unlicensed payment is a prohibited commission Read the separate transaction-party and consumer provisions and retained RESPA limits.
- Having a broker issue a validity ruling Document the facts and obtain appropriate legal direction within the broker's actual role.
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 is the legal status of a void contract?
- It is merely a valid contract awaiting performance
- It has no binding effect from inception
- It necessarily becomes valid once someone pays money
- It is enforceable until either party changes their mind
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. It has no binding effect from inception
The question concerns a truly void ab initio agreement, not merely a writing defense or voidable bargain. A specific statute may instead prescribe an asymmetric effect, as Section 11a-22(b) does for its covered person and estate.
2. Can parties ratify a truly void contract?
- Yes, ordinary waiver always restores its original enforceability
- Yes, an agent's signature necessarily overrides the principal's lack of legal power
- No
- Yes, any continued performance supplies missing statutory power
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. No
Mere ratification or waiver does not revive a truly void agreement. A new lawful agreement may be possible, with all current requirements met, but does not retroactively cure the old bargain. Ordinary private agency and voidability questions require their own rules.
3. How is a minor's ordinary non-necessities contract classified?
- Always enforceable against the minor with no protected-party defense
- Fully performed because the minor signed the document
- Void in every case involving anyone under age 18
- Voidable
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Voidable
The protected minor may avoid it under applicable law.
4. Is an oral land-sale agreement automatically best classified as void?
- Yes, any writing defect makes every oral bargain nonexistent for every purpose
- Yes, a short closing creates an exception only after notarization
- No, analyze enforceability under the Frauds Act
- Yes, the seller always receives every payment as an automatic forfeiture
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. No, analyze enforceability under the Frauds Act
The statutory writing issue generally concerns the ability to maintain an action.
5. Does every statutory violation automatically invalidate a contract?
- Yes, unless the violating party has already performed
- No
- Yes, any regulatory violation voids every related private agreement
- Yes, statutory silence automatically prohibits every remedy
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. No
Read the actual legislation and distinguish the source of statutory power from an incidental violation. MP Road shows that silence about voidness does not necessarily permit enforcement; K. Miller does not erase explicit bars or missing contracting power.
6. What makes public-policy invalidation appropriate?
- One party later decides the price was disappointing
- The parties had unequal negotiating preferences, without more
- Clear conflict with established law or manifest public injury
- A party applies the word unfair without a legal or factual analysis
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Clear conflict with established law or manifest public injury
The conflict must be supported by the governing law and circumstances, not merely personal regret. A legal source does not make every alleged conflict automatic invalidity; apply the actual doctrine and stated statutory consequence.
7. Can an invalid clause be severed?
- Never, every invalid clause voids the entire agreement
- Always, any severability sentence overrides every statutory policy
- Sometimes, if the lawful bargain can stand and policy permits
- Always, even when severance would replace the essential bargain
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Sometimes, if the lawful bargain can stand and policy permits
The governing legislation, essential exchange, terms and misconduct matter. VG Marina discusses a lawful remainder for a party not engaged in serious misconduct when the unenforceable performance is not essential. A savings clause does not guarantee that result.
8. An agreement is designed to defraud a lender. How is it classified?
- Merely contingent on successful deception
- Illegal and void
- Enforceable if the lender does not discover the plan
- Valid because the participants signed it
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Illegal and void
Its designed purpose is unlawful.
9. May a person recover the promised commission for acts unlawfully performed without the required Illinois license, assuming no applicable exemption?
- Yes, written agreement to the fee overrides the statutory bar
- Yes, an unlicensed outsider can treat every commission as a consumer gift
- Yes, a license obtained before the lawsuit always cures the violation
- No, 225 ILCS 454/10-15 bars the compensation claim
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. No, 225 ILCS 454/10-15 bars the compensation claim
Section 10-15 focuses on the required licensing when the act was done or service performed. A later license does not itself cure that bar. Its transaction-party and consumer provisions do not authorize unlawfully unlicensed licensed work.
10. Who should decide whether a live contract is void?
- An escrow holder choosing a winner because one party says void
- A court or qualified counsel applying the law
- A broker issuing a legal ruling from one disputed signature
- A platform vendor deciding every statutory power and capacity issue
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. A court or qualified counsel applying the law
Brokers should document facts and avoid unauthorized legal conclusions.
11. If a statute does not expressly say void, must a court enforce every agreement made in violation of it?
- Yes, if either party already performed
- Yes, silence always supplies every required power
- No, because every violation automatically voids all related contracts
- No; statutory scope, contracting power and consequences still need analysis
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. No; statutory scope, contracting power and consequences still need analysis
MP Road rejected enforcement where statutory prerequisites to the association's contracting power were absent. K. Miller's different public-policy analysis is not a cure for that lack of power.
12. What is the key distinction between MP Road and an ordinary private agency dispute?
- Every private unauthorized signature is permanently void
- All agents can bind a principal by claiming authority
- A principal lacking statutory contracting power differs from an agent exceeding authority the principal could grant
- All entities have identical membership rules
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. A principal lacking statutory contracting power differs from an agent exceeding authority the principal could grant
The 2019 Supreme Court opinion rejected apparent authority, ratification and estoppel for the particular void agreement. It does not eliminate all ratification analysis in private agency cases.
13. For a person's contract covered by Section 11a-22(b), which consequence is stated?
- Every authorized guardian contract is void
- Both parties are always released
- Void as against the person and estate, while the other contracting person remains bound
- It is merely voidable in every capacity situation
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Void as against the person and estate, while the other contracting person remains bound
Use the precise statutory wording and stipulated coverage. This is not a ruling on a particular guardianship order or every guardian-made transaction.
14. Does a severability clause guarantee the lawful remainder will be enforced?
- No, because no contract term can ever be severed
- No; the actual legislation, essential exchange, misconduct and terms still matter
- Yes, it always cures an unlawful core purpose
- Yes, it overrides every statute
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. No; the actual legislation, essential exchange, misconduct and terms still matter
A severability clause can help show intent but does not require a court to invent a different bargain or defeat the policy protected by law.
15. A person obtains a license only after unlawfully completing work requiring it. Does that later license alone cure Section 10-15's compensation bar?
- No; the statute focuses on when the act was done or service performed
- Yes, if the promised fee is reasonable
- Yes, if obtained before filing suit
- No, because licensed people can never earn commissions
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. No; the statute focuses on when the act was done or service performed
The question stipulates the original violation and no applicable exemption. Later licensing is not the same as being duly licensed when performing the regulated service.
16. Does calling a contract void automatically decide who gets disputed earnest money?
- Yes, the buyer always receives every payment immediately
- Yes, the broker may choose either side
- Yes, the seller always keeps it
- No; the actual escrow process and applicable rights and remedies remain to be determined
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. No; the actual escrow process and applicable rights and remedies remain to be determined
A written notice or actual knowledge of an earnest-money controversy triggers the applicable rule process. The label alone does not authorize unilateral distribution or prove the ultimate entitlement.
17. Which treatment of the MP Road litigation is accurate for this page?
- The Supreme Court decided every alternative damages and successor issue
- The Supreme Court affirmed the entire 2017 enforcement analysis
- The Supreme Court reversed the contract-enforcement ruling in 2019 and did not reach the alternative liquidated-damages and successor arguments
- The 2017 appellate enforcement ruling is the final approved result
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The Supreme Court reversed the contract-enforcement ruling in 2019 and did not reach the alternative liquidated-damages and successor arguments
Paragraph 45 directed judgment for the defendant on count I. The court also did not need to decide the two-signature issue identified in its footnote 4. Do not substitute the earlier appellate outcome.
18. What did the VG Marina majority actually decide about the attorney-fee clause discussed there?
- It held every Chicago lease fee clause always lawful
- It adopted the dissent's objection to the fee award as its own holding
- It found the qualified clause lawful; it did not strike that clause as prohibited
- It voided the whole lease solely because a fee clause appeared
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. It found the qualified clause lawful; it did not strike that clause as prohibited
The majority separately discussed a different allegedly prohibited holdover provision and the lawful remainder. The case is used here for that bounded reasoning, not a current Chicago fee-compliance or award guide.
19. A 17-year-old enters an ordinary nonnecessaries contract with no emancipation or special exception assumed. Which is the usual classification?
- Void against both sides in every case
- Automatically the same statutory result as every plenary-guardianship contract
- Voidable under the applicable minority rules
- Fully performed with no need for further action
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Voidable under the applicable minority rules
The ordinary minor rule differs from Section 11a-22(b)'s specified consequence for a covered person's contract. Timely avoidance, ratification, restoration and other requirements still need their applicable facts.
20. The parties now have lawful purpose, capacity, power and authority and satisfy all requirements for a new agreement. What does that establish about an earlier truly void bargain?
- A new lawful agreement is distinct from retroactively reviving the old void contract
- Every remedy for the old bargain is now automatically available
- Every earlier disputed payment must automatically be forfeited
- The old bargain was valid retroactively from its original date
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. A new lawful agreement is distinct from retroactively reviving the old void contract
A new agreement must stand on its own facts and formalities. This is not a private contract approval or a determination of restitution, title or escrow rights under the earlier events.
Common questions
What is a void contract?
A truly void ab initio agreement has no binding contractual effect from the outset and cannot be revived simply by ratification or waiver. First establish that the governing law actually supplies that consequence. Do not use void as a catchall for an enforcement defense, a protected-party right to avoid, a prohibited clause or a later breach. Some statutes specify an effect against one party while leaving the other bound.
What can make a real estate agreement void?
An unlawful essential purpose or the absence of the necessary statutory contracting power can produce voidness. MP Road illustrates a covered association failing to meet statutory membership prerequisites. That is different from assuming every regulatory violation or private agent-authority defect has the same result. The actual rule, its scope and the extent of the defect control.
What does void ab initio mean?
It means void from the outset. In the particular legal-power setting in MP Road, the Supreme Court treated the agreement as though it never existed and rejected ratification, estoppel and apparent authority as cures. This is not a universal rule that every disputed signature, agency instruction or capacity issue must have that classification.
How is void different from voidable?
A voidable agreement can have effect unless the protected party properly avoids it under the applicable rules. An ordinary minor's nonnecessaries contract is generally voidable, subject to such matters as emancipation and the specific legal requirements. Do not extend that shortcut to every capacity issue: Section 11a-22(b) specifies voidness against its covered person and estate while leaving the other contracting person bound.
Is an oral land-sale agreement automatically void in Illinois?
No. Section 2 of the Frauds Act addresses the required signed writing or memorandum for the enforcement action. The charged party or lawfully authorized agent must sign; the agent's authorization must be in writing signed by that party. Legal exceptions and other remedies require their own facts. A short closing schedule does not erase the land-sale rule, but a missing writing alone is not an automatic void-for-all-purposes conclusion.
Does every statutory violation make the contract unenforceable?
No automatic answer follows from the word violation. Read the statutory scope, consequence and source of contracting power. K. Miller allowed contract and quantum-meruit theories despite the particular home-remodeling writing violation. MP Road distinguished that policy issue from a lack of statutory power and refused enforcement. Neither case makes every violation harmless, and an express compensation bar still matters.
Does a public-policy objection automatically invalidate a contract?
A party's dislike of the bargain does not settle the issue. Public-policy analysis uses the applicable legal sources, circumstances and the interest protected by law. K. Miller discusses the competing enforcement and public-policy interests in its particular setting. Do not rely on the reversed 2017 MP Road enforcement ruling as though the Supreme Court had approved it, or assume a court must ignore a necessary statutory power.
Can one invalid clause be separated from the rest of a contract?
Sometimes. The governing legislation, essential exchange, actual terms and relevant misconduct matter. VG Marina discusses enforcing the remainder for a party not engaged in serious misconduct when the unenforceable performance is not essential. A severability clause can help show intent, but it cannot require a court to invent a materially different bargain or undermine the law being protected.
Can parties ratify a truly void agreement?
Mere ratification or waiver does not revive a truly void ab initio agreement. A new lawful agreement may be possible if the parties now satisfy capacity, authority, assent, consideration and applicable formalities, but it does not retroactively make the old void bargain enforceable. An ordinary private agency or voidability problem has different rules and should not be assumed identical.
Does voidness automatically require a refund?
No single refund or forfeiture follows from the label alone. Restitution, statutory remedies, benefits, fault and public policy can matter separately from enforcing the contract. The page does not decide a private repayment claim. An escrow holder also cannot distribute disputed earnest money merely because one party asserts voidness; the actual contract, rule process and legally established entitlement remain relevant.
Are these official PSI questions or legal advice?
They are original teaching exercises based on the identified primary materials, not secure PSI questions or a validated readiness score. They explain how to classify a defect, not how a private dispute will be decided. A live matter requires the complete agreement, communications, authority, applicable law and facts. Legal, escrow and title consequences need their own appropriate review.
Can a person obtain a license later and recover for earlier prohibited brokerage work?
A later license does not itself cure Section 10-15's bar. Subsection (b) focuses on being duly licensed when the act was done or service performed. The question must first establish that the activity actually required the license and was performed in violation of the Act, with no applicable exemption. Consumer inducements and compensation to transaction parties have distinct provisions, and RESPA limits remain.
Does a disputed signature always create a permanently void contract?
Do not jump to that conclusion. Identify the actual signer, assent, principal's power, agent's authority and the governing law. A principal's lack of statutory contracting power differs from an agent exceeding authority that could otherwise be granted. Ratification, new agreement and applicable formalities need their own facts; a platform label or a party's assertion does not settle them.
Can a broker declare a contract void and release the deposit?
A broker can document the issue, preserve records and obtain managing-broker and legal direction. The narrow factual form-completion role recognized in Quinlan and Tyson and the current document rules do not authorize a disputed validity ruling or unrestricted legal drafting. Written notice or actual knowledge of an earnest-money controversy requires the applicable escrow-rule process. It is not an automatic distribution order.
What did the Illinois Supreme Court decide in MP Road?
In 1550 MP Road LLC v. Teamsters, 2019 IL 123046, the association had not satisfied the statutory membership notice and vote prerequisites for its real-estate agreement. The court held the agreement void ab initio and rejected ratification, estoppel and apparent authority as cures. It reversed the enforcement ruling and directed judgment for the defendant on count I. It did not reach the alternative liquidated-damages or successor-liability arguments, or need to decide the two-signature issue. The reversed 2017 ruling is not the current enforcement outcome.
What does VG Marina show about severability?
The majority declined to invalidate the whole lease because of an allegedly prohibited holdover provision that had not been enforced. It discussed the specific legislative remedy and preserving a remainder where the unenforceable performance was nonessential and the party seeking enforcement had not engaged in serious misconduct. The attorney-fee clause was separately held lawful as qualified. The dissent disagreed about the fee award but agreed that the clause did not violate the ordinance and the whole lease should not be voided. This is not a current Chicago fee or lease-compliance checklist.
Are contracts covered by a plenary guardianship always merely voidable?
Do not apply that shortcut. Section 11a-22(b) describes a contract made by a person for whom a plenary guardian has been appointed or who has been adjudged unable so to contract. For its covered contract, the stated effect is voidness against the person and estate, while the other contracting person remains bound. It does not declare every authorized agreement made by a guardian void or interpret a particular limited order.
Is every payment to an unlicensed consumer prohibited?
No. Section 10-15 separately addresses compensation to an actual transaction party and consumer inducements, with their conditions and other-law limits. Those provisions are not blanket permission for an unlicensed outsider referral fee or unlawfully unlicensed licensed work. Subsections (a), (b) and (e) address those prohibited situations, and subsection (f) preserves RESPA. Identify the actual recipient, activity and statutory category rather than renaming a prohibited commission a gift.
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Official sources and scope
Reviewed October 28, 2026 against identified Illinois statutes, official contract instructions, published opinions and the PSI outline. Earlier actual primary readings are explicitly reused. The Supreme Court's 2019 MP Road ruling controls the contract-enforcement issue over the reversed 2017 appellate ruling. VG Marina is used for its identified majority discussion of statutory remedies and severability, not as a current Chicago attorney-fee or lease-compliance guide. Some ILGA text was read through official indexed pages after ordinary fetch errors. No private contract or remedy is decided here.
- PSI June 24, 2026: contract elements and option concepts
- Illinois Courts contract instructions: foundational contract concepts
- 740 ILCS 80/2: land-contract writing and signature
- Probate Act11a-22: specified contracts and guardianship
- Probate Act11-1: definition of minor
- Emancipation of Minors Act5: contract rights and partial orders
- Condon & Cook v. Mavrakis,2016 ILApp1st151923
- Quinlan and Tyson, 34 Ill. 2d 116 (1966), majority pages 120-123: narrow preliminary-form role; opinion reproduced by Justia
- 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.775(a)-(d): signed documents, alterations, 24-hour copies and binding-contract headings
- Dohrmann v. Swaney, 2014 IL App (1st) 131524: exceptional gross inadequacy
- K. Miller Construction v. McGinnis: a violation does not automatically bar both claims
- 225 ILCS 454/10-15: compensation and licensing when services were performed
- 68Ill.Adm.Code1450.750(h): known earnest-money controversy
- 1550 MP Road LLC v. Teamsters, 2019 IL 123046: statutory power and reversal
- VG Marina Management v. Wiener, No. 2-05-0610 (2007): lawful remainder and statutory remedies
- 765 ILCS 115/1-3: statutory property powers and procedures
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.