- Official section
- Illinois IV: Disclosures
- Broker weight
- 25% of the state portion, approximately 10 of 40 scored questions
- Expected scored items
- The current PSI broker outline assigns 25% of the Illinois portion to Disclosures
Illinois practice guide
Solve disclosures by relationship, recipient, document, and deadline
The wrong Illinois form at the right time is still wrong. A no-agency notice does not create dual consent. A seller condition report does not satisfy radon or lead duties. A passive radon system does not answer a disclosure question. Start by naming the trigger and recipient, then place the document on the transaction timeline.
Last updated: August 1, 2026
What skill does this practice set measure?
Short answer: Prepare relationship notices first: designated agency no later than beginning representation, no-agency notice before confidential customer information and no later than offer preparation, informed written dual-agency consent from all clients before acting with confirmation at the offer or contract, and contemporaneous-offer disclosure when one designated agent represents competing clients for the same property. Then master written licensee-interest and compensation-source disclosures. For property, determine Residential Real Property Disclosure Act coverage, exemption, seller actual knowledge, buyer receipt before contract, supplement duty, late or inaccurate report consequences, and the licensee's separate latent-material-fact duty.
The current PSI outline combines relationship disclosures under the Real Estate License Act with seller, environmental, and rental disclosures under separate Illinois and federal laws. It classifies dual agency under Disclosures even though Article 15 supplies the legal rule. Additional Laws separately tests radon-resistant construction, while this area tests radon transaction disclosure. Sources were checked through August 1, 2026.
Ready to work the set?
These questions are original study items aligned to the published outline. They are not copied, recalled, or predicted PSI questions.
1. A listing agent is working with an unrepresented buyer. When is the Illinois no-agency notice due at the latest?
- No later than preparation of an offer to purchase
- At closing
- After the inspection
- Only if the seller requests it
Show answer and explanation
Answer: No later than preparation of an offer to purchase
The notice should arrive early enough to prevent confidential disclosure and never later than offer preparation.
2. One designated agent prepares offers for two buyer clients on the same property, knowing both will be considered together. What is required?
- Written disclosure to both clients and referral on request
- Oral notice only to the seller
- Automatic cancellation of both relationships
- Dual-agency consent only from the seller
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Written disclosure to both clients and referral on request
The facts describe contemporaneous offers by clients of the same designated agent. Every affected client receives written disclosure and may request referral.
3. A broker's limited liability company plans to buy the broker's listing. When is the licensee-interest disclosure due?
- In writing to all parties before initiating the transaction
- Only after closing
- Only if the company name includes the broker's name
- No disclosure is required for an indirect interest
Show answer and explanation
Answer: In writing to all parties before initiating the transaction
The Illinois rule reaches indirect interests through entities and requires written disclosure to all parties before transaction initiation.
4. A covered Illinois seller knows of no defects and has not hired an inspector. How should the seller complete the statutory report?
- Report actual knowledge without conducting a specific investigation
- Refuse to complete the report until an inspection occurs
- Ask the listing agent to answer for the seller
- Wait until after the contract is signed
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Report actual knowledge without conducting a specific investigation
The seller completes the form from actual knowledge and has no specific investigation or inquiry duty under the Act.
5. Which federal right generally belongs to a buyer of covered pre-1978 housing?
- A 10-day opportunity for lead inspection or risk assessment unless changed or waived in writing
- Mandatory seller-funded lead abatement
- Automatic contract cancellation whenever lead is present
- A lead test performed by the listing agent
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A 10-day opportunity for lead inspection or risk assessment unless changed or waived in writing
The federal sale process generally provides the buyer that evaluation opportunity while requiring known-information disclosure and prescribed documents.
Which answer habits should you watch for?
- Trap
- Illinois licensees can use a neutral facilitator label without a written relationship analysis.
- Correction
- Illinois presumes designated representation unless a written agreement establishes another allowed relationship, and customers receive no-agency notice.
- Trap
- Designated-agency disclosure can wait until the offer.
- Correction
- It is due no later than the beginning of work as a designated agent.
- Trap
- A boilerplate dual paragraph permits acting before all clients consent.
- Correction
- Every client must give informed written consent before the individual licensee acts as dual agent, followed by transaction confirmation.
- Trap
- Every seller multiple-offer situation is a contemporaneous-offer disclosure.
- Correction
- The special rule requires the same designated agent to represent competing clients for the same property.
- Trap
- Who pays determines agency.
- Correction
- Compensation source and representation are separate analyses under Illinois law.
- Trap
- A land trust or company hides the licensee's buying interest.
- Correction
- The written disclosure rule reaches direct and indirect interests through listed entities and arrangements.
- Trap
- The Residential Real Property Disclosure Act covers every residential transfer.
- Correction
- Coverage depends on property and transfer, and the Act contains specified exemptions.
- Trap
- A seller must investigate before completing the statutory report.
- Correction
- The seller reports actual knowledge and has no specific investigation duty under the Act.
- Trap
- An as-is contract erases seller and broker disclosure duties.
- Correction
- As-is can allocate condition risk but does not authorize false reports, fraud, or concealment of legally required facts.
- Trap
- Radon disclosure requires the seller to test and mitigate.
- Correction
- The covered sale requires the prescribed information package but does not itself compel testing or mitigation.
- Trap
- Federal lead disclosure applies to every home regardless of age.
- Correction
- It generally applies to most pre-1978 housing, subject to federal exclusions.
- Trap
- No FEMA designation means no Illinois rental flood duty.
- Correction
- Known flooding and the lower-level 10-year history can still trigger disclosure.
How should you reason through a difficult item?
Stop before the buyer reveals a ceiling
Scenario: A listing agent represents the seller and is meeting an unrepresented buyer. Before receiving any no-agency notice, the buyer starts to reveal the maximum price and urgency to move.
- The listing agent is not the buyer's representative.
- The buyer's negotiating limit and urgency are sensitive information.
- Illinois requires the written no-agency notice at a time intended to prevent this disclosure and never later than offer preparation.
Answer: The agent should stop and provide the written no-agency notice before inviting or receiving the confidential negotiating information.
Two buyer clients trigger a special writing
Scenario: One designated agent represents two buyers who both want the same condominium. The agent knows both offers will be considered by the seller that evening.
- The same designated agent represents two clients.
- Both clients are competing for the same unit.
- The offers are expected to be considered contemporaneously.
Answer: The agent must give written disclosure to both clients and refer a client who requests another designated agent.
Entity ownership does not hide a licensee's interest
Scenario: A broker forms a limited liability company to buy the broker's listing. The broker plans to disclose only the company name and not the broker's ownership until after contract execution.
- The broker has an indirect ownership interest through the company.
- The rule reaches direct and indirect property interests.
- Written disclosure to all parties is due before initiating the transaction, not after a contract is signed.
Answer: The broker must disclose the licensee status and indirect interest in writing to all parties before initiating the transaction.
Receipt before contract means receipt
Scenario: A covered seller emails the Illinois statutory report late Friday, but the buyer does not receive it until Monday after signing the contract on Saturday.
- The Act requires delivery to the prospective buyer before contract signing.
- Effective delivery depends on receipt, not the seller's send time alone.
- The buyer signed before receiving the report.
Answer: The report was delivered late under the stated facts, so the Act's late-delivery consequences must be analyzed.
Radon disclosure is not a forced test
Scenario: A covered seller has no radon test result and assumes the sale cannot proceed until the seller pays for testing and mitigation.
- The Act requires the prescribed warning, form, pamphlet, and seller-held elevated-test information.
- The facts state that no test result is in the seller's possession.
- The sale provision does not itself mandate a new seller test or mitigation.
Answer: Complete the required radon disclosure process without inventing a seller testing or mitigation mandate.
Lower-level history reaches outside the FEMA map
Scenario: A landlord plans to lease a garden apartment. The property is outside a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area but flooded twice during heavy rainfall in the last 10 years.
- The apartment is a lower-level unit under the supplied facts.
- The lower-level rule reaches flooding of the unit or any portion of the real property during the prior 10 years.
- Being outside the mapped flood area does not eliminate that separate history trigger.
Answer: The landlord must provide the required written history before leasing and include it in the signed lease as required.
How should you answer an Illinois disclosure question?
- Classify the issue as agency, no agency, dual agency, competing clients, licensee interest, compensation, seller report, material fact, radon, lead, mine subsidence, tank, or flooding.
- Identify whose relationship, status, knowledge, payment, ownership, report, claim, or property history creates the duty.
- Name every recipient: client, customer, all parties, buyer, tenant, transferee, lender, or referred client.
- Choose the controlling writing, consent, confirmation, report, pamphlet, warning, lease language, or environmental form.
- Place it on the exact timeline: beginning work, before confidential information, before acting, before initiating, at referral, before contract, at transfer agreement, or before lease.
- Test coverage by unit count, property type, construction year, relationship, transfer exemption, licensee interest, lower-level status, and stated federal or Illinois exclusion.
- Keep disclosure, investigation, inspection, testing, repair, mitigation, and remediation separate unless the controlling law connects them.
- Reject any answer that uses the right document for the wrong trigger or waits until a deadline has already passed.
- Trigger
- Designated representation begins
- Recipient
- Consumer or client
- Current timing anchor
- No later than beginning to work as designated agent
- Trigger
- Licensee works with unrepresented customer
- Recipient
- Customer
- Current timing anchor
- Before confidential disclosure and never later than offer preparation
- Trigger
- Same licensee represents opposing clients
- Recipient
- Every client
- Current timing anchor
- Informed written consent before acting; confirm at offer or contract
- Trigger
- Same agent prepares competing client offers
- Recipient
- Every affected client
- Current timing anchor
- When contemporaneous offers are prepared or made
- Trigger
- Licensee has direct or indirect property interest
- Recipient
- All parties
- Current timing anchor
- In writing before initiating the transaction
- Trigger
- Referral includes greater-than-1% provider interest
- Recipient
- Client
- Current timing anchor
- At time of referral
- Trigger
- Covered Illinois seller report
- Recipient
- Prospective buyer
- Current timing anchor
- Received before contract signing
- Trigger
- Covered radon sale
- Recipient
- Buyer
- Current timing anchor
- Before buyer is contractually obligated
- Trigger
- Paid mine-subsidence insurance claim
- Recipient
- Transferee and lender
- Current timing anchor
- When transfer agreement is made
- Trigger
- Covered rental flood information
- Recipient
- Tenant
- Current timing anchor
- Before lease and included in signed lease or renewal
Which outline areas does this set sample?
- Topic
- Designated-agency disclosure
- What to know
- Consumer, client, seller, landlord, buyer, tenant, designated agent, sponsoring broker, presumed representation, written brokerage agreement, separate notice, identity of designated agent, copy, retention, compensation policy, and no later than beginning to work
- Best exam move
- Identify the represented consumer and deliver the writing no later than the start of designated-agent work.
- Topic
- No-agency notice
- What to know
- Customer, unrepresented buyer, unrepresented tenant, seller's agent, landlord's agent, written notice, no representation, confidential information, timing intended to prevent disclosure, offer purchase, offer lease, and latest deadline
- Best exam move
- Give the customer the writing before sensitive negotiating information and never later than offer preparation.
- Topic
- Dual agency
- What to know
- Same individual licensee, opposing clients, seller and buyer, landlord and tenant, conflict, informed written consent, all clients, brokerage agreement, before acting, statutory form, confirmation at offer or contract, advice limits, confidential information, withdrawal, and licensee ownership prohibition
- Best exam move
- Obtain informed written consent from every client before dual representation begins and confirm it in the transaction document.
- Topic
- No neutral facilitator shortcut
- What to know
- Designated agency presumption, written alternative relationship, customer, no-agency notice, transaction broker, facilitator, ministerial act, representation conduct, compensation, and Illinois-specific role
- Best exam move
- Do not invent a neutral relationship label to avoid the required agency or no-agency writing.
- Topic
- Contemporaneous offers
- What to know
- Same designated agent, two or more buyer or tenant clients, same parcel or unit, competing offers, expected simultaneous consideration, written disclosure, every affected client, confidential terms, referral request, another designated agent, and seller multiple-offer distinction
- Best exam move
- Confirm one agent, multiple clients, one property, and overlapping consideration before applying the special disclosure.
- Topic
- Direct or indirect licensee interest
- What to know
- Licensee buyer, seller, landlord, tenant, co-owner, spouse or related ownership, land-trust beneficial interest, partnership, closely held corporation, limited liability company, direct interest, indirect interest, written status disclosure, all parties, and before initiating transaction
- Best exam move
- Look through entities and disclose the licensee status and interest in writing to all parties before the transaction begins.
- Topic
- Compensation sources and referral interests
- What to know
- Transaction-related compensation, third-party source, sponsoring broker policy, cooperating-broker amount, compensation from both sides, written disclosure, consent, referral fee, provider, greater-than-1% ownership or profit interest, client, and at time of referral
- Best exam move
- Identify who pays and who benefits, then disclose the source or material provider interest to the correct client at the required time.
- Topic
- Residential Real Property Disclosure Act
- What to know
- One-to-four residential units, condominium, cooperative, qualifying manufactured home, transferor, transferee, covered transfer, nine exemptions, seller-completed statutory report, actual knowledge, no investigation duty, receipt before contract, delivery method, supplement before closing, material defect, as-is, remedy, and record
- Best exam move
- Check property, transfer, exemption, responsible seller, knowledge, receipt, and later update in that order.
- Topic
- Known latent material adverse physical facts
- What to know
- Seller's agent, prospective buyer customer, actual licensee knowledge, latent fact, physical condition, material adverse effect, reasonably diligent inspection, timely disclosure, seller report distinction, confidentiality limit, stigma, and no technical diagnosis
- Best exam move
- Do not let the seller's form or confidentiality request erase the licensee's independent duty concerning actually known latent physical facts.
- Topic
- Radon sale disclosure
- What to know
- Covered one-to-four-unit sale, seller, buyer, statutory warning, disclosure form, approved pamphlet, elevated test result in seller possession, before buyer is bound, post-offer procedure, agent acknowledgment, exclusion, no required test, no required mitigation, and separate tenant rule
- Best exam move
- Deliver the prescribed information package without inventing a seller testing or mitigation mandate.
- Topic
- Federal lead-based paint disclosure
- What to know
- Most pre-1978 housing, sale, lease, seller, lessor, buyer, tenant, known information, available reports, federal pamphlet, warning statement, acknowledgment, agent responsibility, records, pre-contract delivery, buyer 10-day evaluation opportunity, written change, waiver, and exclusion
- Best exam move
- Begin with construction year and transaction type, then complete the full federal package before the party is bound.
- Topic
- Mine-subsidence disclosure
- What to know
- Man-made underground mine, transferor, transferee, lender, mine-subsidence insurance claim, payment to transferor, written disclosure, transfer agreement, incorporation, waiver, actual damages, and not mere neighborhood speculation
- Best exam move
- Look for paid insurance claims and deliver the writing to the specified recipients when the transfer agreement is made.
- Topic
- Underground storage tanks
- What to know
- Seller report, underground fuel storage tank, actual awareness, location, current use, removed tank, environmental record, release, contamination, regulator, specialist, and licensee known latent material adverse physical fact
- Best exam move
- Handle the seller-report item, then test whether known environmental facts trigger additional licensee or regulatory action.
- Topic
- Landlord flooding disclosures
- What to know
- FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, actual knowledge of flooding, frequency, parking area, lower-level unit, garden unit, basement, first floor, last 10 years, written notice, before lease, lease or renewal inclusion, landlord and tenant signatures, tenant remedy, and statutory exemption
- Best exam move
- Apply the FEMA and known-flooding rules generally, then add the 10-year history analysis for a lower-level unit.
What should you sort out before you begin?
- Terms
- Designated-agency vs. no-agency notice
- Difference
- The designated-agency writing tells a consumer the licensee represents that person. The no-agency writing tells a customer the licensee does not.
- Question cue
- Represented client at the start of work versus unrepresented customer before confidential information.
- Terms
- Designated agency vs. dual agency
- Difference
- Designated agency assigns an individual agent to a client. Dual agency occurs when the same individual licensee represents clients on opposing sides and all must consent in writing.
- Question cue
- Different agents in one firm are not automatically dual agents.
- Terms
- Contemporaneous offers vs. ordinary multiple offers
- Difference
- The Illinois contemporaneous-offer rule addresses one designated agent representing multiple clients competing for the same property. Ordinary multiple offers may arrive through different agents.
- Question cue
- One agent, two client buyers or tenants, same parcel or unit, same consideration period.
- Terms
- Compensation vs. agency
- Difference
- Payment source does not determine whom the licensee represents. Agency follows the relationship; compensation source creates its own disclosure question.
- Question cue
- Seller-funded buyer-broker payment does not turn the buyer's agent into the seller's agent.
- Terms
- Direct vs. indirect licensee interest
- Difference
- A direct interest is held personally. An indirect interest can arise through an entity, land trust, partnership, closely held corporation, limited liability company, or similar arrangement.
- Question cue
- The licensee is not named in the deed but benefits through the buyer entity.
- Terms
- Seller report vs. inspection
- Difference
- The seller reports actual knowledge without a statutory investigation duty. An inspection independently evaluates condition and is not replaced by the form.
- Question cue
- No known defect does not mean verified defect-free property.
- Terms
- Seller duty vs. licensee duty
- Difference
- The covered seller completes and supplements the statutory report. The seller's agent separately handles actually known latent material adverse physical facts under license law.
- Question cue
- Identify whether seller, broker, or both know the defect.
- Terms
- Radon disclosure vs. radon testing
- Difference
- The covered sale requires the prescribed information package and seller-held results. The sale provision does not itself require a new test or mitigation.
- Question cue
- Deliver known information without inventing a remediation obligation.
- Terms
- Lead sale vs. lead lease process
- Difference
- Both covered pre-1978 sales and leases require known information and prescribed warning materials before obligation. The buyer's 10-day evaluation opportunity is a sale-specific feature.
- Question cue
- Buyer inspection or risk-assessment opportunity, not an automatic tenant contingency.
- Terms
- Flood-zone notice vs. lower-level flood history
- Difference
- FEMA status and known flooding can matter generally. A lower-level unit adds disclosure of flooding affecting the unit or property during the last 10 years.
- Question cue
- Garden, basement, or first-floor unit outside the mapped flood area can still trigger history disclosure.
How should you review your results?
- Session
- 1. Build the agency timeline
- Focus
- Designated agency, no agency, dual agency, no facilitator shortcut, client, customer, consent, confirmation, and exact deadlines
- Proof you are ready
- Sort twelve scenarios by relationship, recipient, writing, and latest permissible delivery point.
- Session
- 2. Practice conflict disclosures
- Focus
- Contemporaneous offers, direct and indirect interests, entity ownership, compensation sources, both-side payment, referrals, and provider interests
- Proof you are ready
- Identify who benefits, who must receive the writing, and when disclosure is due in ten scenarios.
- Session
- 3. Test seller-report coverage
- Focus
- One-to-four units, covered property, transfer, exemption, responsible seller, actual knowledge, delivery method, receipt, and pre-contract timing
- Proof you are ready
- Classify ten transfers and state why the Act applies or which exemption controls.
- Session
- 4. Trace defects and remedies
- Focus
- Material defect, supplement, late report, inaccurate report, termination periods, earnest money, inspection, as-is, licensee duty, and stigma
- Proof you are ready
- Build four timelines from report preparation through closing and identify every changed fact.
- Session
- 5. Separate environmental packages
- Focus
- Radon, lead, mine-subsidence claim, underground tank, construction year, test result, pamphlet, form, recipient, timing, and no automatic mitigation
- Proof you are ready
- Match every trigger to the correct document and reject a form from the wrong statute.
- Session
- 6. Finish with flooding and mixed practice
- Focus
- FEMA area, actual flooding, frequency, parking, lower-level unit, 10-year history, pre-lease writing, lease inclusion, signatures, and remedies
- Proof you are ready
- Score at least 85% on two fresh disclosure sets and explain every deadline without looking at the options.
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 Illinois Real Estate Disclosures Practice Questions: 2026
How many Illinois broker exam questions cover Disclosures?
The PSI booklet effective June 24, 2026 assigns 25% of the 40 scored Illinois questions to Disclosures, or approximately 10 questions. It is tied with Additional Illinois Laws and Regulations as the second-largest state area.
When is Illinois designated-agency disclosure due?
A licensee acting as a designated agent must advise the consumer in writing no later than the beginning of work as a designated agent. The writing identifies the relationship and designated agent or agents and may be included in the brokerage agreement or a separate document.
When must an Illinois no-agency notice be given?
A licensee working with an unrepresented customer must provide written notice at a time intended to prevent disclosure of confidential information and never later than preparation of an offer to purchase or lease.
What consent is required for dual agency in Illinois?
The same individual licensee needs informed written consent from every client before acting as a dual agent. When dual representation is offered, the statutory disclosure is presented with the brokerage agreement or before dual agency begins, and the clients confirm consent when executing the offer or contract in the dual-agency transaction.
When does an Illinois licensee disclose an ownership interest?
A licensee selling, leasing, or buying property directly or indirectly must disclose the licensee's status in writing to all parties before initiating the transaction. The rule reaches interests through land trusts, partnerships, closely held corporations, limited liability companies, and similar arrangements.
When must the Illinois seller disclosure report be received?
For a covered transfer, the seller must complete the statutory Residential Real Property Disclosure Report and deliver it so the prospective buyer receives it before signing the contract. Merely sending the report is not the same as effective receipt under the Act.
Must an Illinois seller investigate before completing the report?
No. The seller reports material defects of which the seller has actual knowledge and has no duty under the Act to conduct a specific investigation or inquiry. The report still does not replace inspection, fraud law, or the licensee's independent duties.
Which environmental disclosures are named in the state outline?
The current broker outline names radon, lead-based paint, mine subsidence, underground storage tanks, and landlord flooding disclosures. Each has a different trigger, document, recipient, timing, coverage rule, and relationship to testing or mitigation.
Does Illinois require a seller to test for radon before sale?
No. For a covered sale, the Radon Awareness Act requires the prescribed disclosure, approved pamphlet, and information about elevated radon test results in the seller's possession. The sale provision does not itself require testing or mitigation.
Are these official PSI Illinois disclosure questions?
No. These are original scenarios mapped to the public outline and controlling sources. They are not copied or recalled live exam items. The PSI booklet, Illinois statutes and rules, and federal lead source were checked through August 1, 2026.
Primary sources
- PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet dated June 24, 2026
- Illinois General Assembly, Real Estate License Act, Article 15
- Illinois Administrative Code, 68 Ill. Adm. Code Part 1450
- Illinois General Assembly, Residential Real Property Disclosure Act
- Illinois General Assembly, Radon Awareness Act
- Illinois General Assembly, Mine Subsidence Disclosure Act
- Illinois General Assembly, 765 ILCS 705/25, flooding disclosure
- U.S. EPA Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule
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.