- Official section
- National VII: Property Disclosures
- Broker weight
- Approximately 7 of 100 scored national questions
- Expected scored items
- The current PSI broker outline assigns about 7% of the national portion to Property Disclosures
National practice guide
Treat every disclosure question as a triage problem
A disclosure question usually gives you a clue before it gives you a legal conclusion: a stain, an old report, a fence near a lot line, a pre-1978 construction date, or a seller asking for silence. Your job is to classify that clue, identify who knows it, decide what must be communicated, and send unresolved technical questions to the right record or professional.
Last updated: August 1, 2026
What skill does this practice set measure?
Short answer: Use five checks: person, fact, materiality, response, and timing. Identify whether the seller, buyer, licensee, inspector, surveyor, title professional, association, or public agency knows the information. Classify it as a physical condition, boundary or title concern, land-use-control issue, environmental hazard, government disclosure, or broader transaction fact. Decide whether it is known, suspected, corrected, or still unknown. Then choose the right response: disclose a known material fact, deliver the proper form, recommend inspection or testing, obtain a survey, review title or public records, or refer to a qualified professional. Finally, confirm that the disclosure reaches the correct person before the required event and is updated when law requires.
Disclosure forms, exemptions, deadlines, remedies, broker duties, environmental notices, and treatment of stigmatized property vary by jurisdiction. Federal lead requirements can apply alongside Illinois statutes and municipal rules. A licensee should state known facts, follow required procedures, and recommend qualified evaluation without posing as an engineer, surveyor, environmental consultant, attorney, or medical adviser. This guide teaches exam distinctions and selected Illinois context, not a legal conclusion for a specific property. 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 driveway appears to cross the neighboring parcel, and no access document is available. Which follow-up most directly addresses the location and recorded-rights concerns?
- A current survey and title review
- A mortgage payment schedule
- A roof warranty
- A market rent analysis
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A current survey and title review
The issue concerns where the driveway lies and whether a recorded access right exists. A survey and title review address those distinct questions.
2. A covered house was built in 1966, and the seller possesses an old lead risk-assessment report. Which statement is most accurate?
- The report may be withheld because the buyer can inspect
- Known information and available records belong in the federal lead disclosure process before the buyer is bound
- The seller must remove all lead before offering the property
- The lead rule begins only after closing
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Known information and available records belong in the federal lead disclosure process before the buyer is bound
For covered pre-1978 housing, the federal process requires disclosure of known information and available records before the buyer becomes obligated.
3. A seller tells the listing broker about recurring basement flooding but asks the broker to advertise the basement as dry because the sale is as-is. What should the broker do?
- Follow the instruction because as-is erases disclosure duties
- Refuse the false statement and follow applicable disclosure duties
- Wait until after closing to mention the flooding
- Ask the buyer to waive the truth
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Refuse the false statement and follow applicable disclosure duties
As-is does not authorize deception or concealment. The broker must not make a statement known to be false.
4. Which action best handles a musty odor and wall staining when no qualified evaluation has identified the cause?
- Guarantee that no mold exists
- Call the property uninhabitable
- State the known observations and recommend appropriate qualified evaluation
- Paint the wall before the next showing
Show answer and explanation
Answer: State the known observations and recommend appropriate qualified evaluation
The broker should communicate known facts and avoid diagnosing the cause or severity without appropriate expertise.
5. What does an as-is clause most directly accomplish, subject to governing law?
- It allocates condition and repair risk under the contract
- It proves that no defects exist
- It eliminates every federal disclosure
- It authorizes concealment of known material facts
Show answer and explanation
Answer: It allocates condition and repair risk under the contract
As-is addresses the contractual treatment of condition and repairs. Fraud, concealment, and mandatory disclosure remain separate legal questions.
Which answer habits should you watch for?
- Trap
- The seller disclosure form is a professional inspection.
- Correction
- The form reports the seller's actual knowledge. It is not a warranty, engineering opinion, or substitute for inspection.
- Trap
- A no answer proves the condition is absent.
- Correction
- A person may lack knowledge. No known condition is not the same as a verified clean bill of health.
- Trap
- As-is removes every duty to disclose.
- Correction
- As-is affects contractual risk and repairs but does not excuse fraud, concealment, or statutory disclosure.
- Trap
- The broker should fill out the seller's report.
- Correction
- The seller provides the seller's actual-knowledge answers. The broker should explain process without substituting answers.
- Trap
- Every property concern calls for a general home inspection.
- Correction
- Boundary, title, zoning, environmental, structural, septic, and other questions can require different records or specialists.
- Trap
- A broker should diagnose mold from an odor.
- Correction
- State the observation and known history, then recommend qualified testing rather than a technical conclusion.
- Trap
- The federal lead rule requires every seller to remove lead.
- Correction
- The disclosure rule addresses known information, records, notices, contract language, and testing opportunity, not automatic seller remediation.
- Trap
- The buyer's inspection opportunity replaces seller disclosure.
- Correction
- Investigation by the buyer does not excuse a covered seller from providing required known information.
- Trap
- A client may declare any physical defect confidential.
- Correction
- A confidentiality instruction cannot override a legal duty to disclose material property information.
- Trap
- A federal form satisfies all state and local requirements.
- Correction
- Federal, state, and municipal duties can overlap. Each applicable requirement needs its own analysis.
- Trap
- A recorded restriction tells the broker exactly how a court will interpret it.
- Correction
- Identify the document and recommend legal or title review. Do not give an unauthorized legal interpretation.
- Trap
- Visible condition means no disclosure analysis is needed.
- Correction
- Patent visibility can affect discovery issues, but it does not automatically erase a statutory or licensee duty.
How should you reason through a difficult item?
A stain is a clue, not a diagnosis
Scenario: During a showing, a broker notices a musty odor, a newly painted basement wall, and an invoice describing repeated water extraction. No current moisture test is available.
- The odor, paint, and invoice are concrete facts that may matter to a buyer.
- The broker lacks a current technical conclusion about source, extent, or correction.
- The proper response combines required disclosure with qualified investigation rather than reassurance.
Answer: Communicate the known material information as required and recommend an appropriate moisture or building evaluation.
Use a survey for location
Scenario: The seller says the detached garage is inside the lot line, but an old sketch shows the garage touching the line and the neighbor claims part of it crosses over.
- The dispute concerns the legal position of an improvement relative to a boundary.
- A home inspection cannot establish the boundary.
- A survey and title review can address the physical location and recorded rights.
Answer: The facts call for a current survey and related title review, not a broker's visual estimate.
The lead process starts before the contract binds
Scenario: A nonexempt house was built in 1962. The seller has an old lead risk-assessment report and plans to give it to the buyer at closing.
- The property falls within the pre-1978 threshold on the stated facts.
- Available records and known information are part of the federal disclosure process.
- Waiting until closing is too late if the buyer has already become obligated.
Answer: The seller must handle the report and required lead disclosures before the buyer is bound, subject to the applicable rule.
An as-is clause does not legalize silence
Scenario: A seller knows that the basement floods after heavy rain, insists on an as-is contract, and asks the listing broker to say that the basement is dry.
- The as-is term addresses condition and repair allocation.
- The requested statement contradicts the seller's known history.
- A contract clause cannot authorize a false statement or mandatory nondisclosure.
Answer: The broker must refuse the false statement and follow the applicable disclosure duties.
One form does not satisfy every layer
Scenario: A seller correctly completes the Illinois residential disclosure report for a covered 1970 house but omits the federal lead documents because the state form was delivered.
- The state report and federal lead process arise from different legal requirements.
- The construction date brings the federal rule into the analysis if no exemption applies.
- Completing one disclosure does not replace the other.
Answer: The transaction must address both the applicable Illinois report and the separate federal lead disclosure process.
A seller report does not erase broker knowledge
Scenario: The seller marks no known roof leakage. The listing broker previously attended a contractor meeting where active leakage and temporary patching were documented.
- The seller's answer belongs to the seller and may need correction.
- The broker has separate direct knowledge from the contractor meeting.
- The broker cannot treat the checked box as permission to conceal or misstate the known condition.
Answer: The broker must address the known material information under the applicable license and disclosure duties rather than relying on the seller's answer.
How should you answer a disclosure practice question?
- Identify the property type, construction date, transaction, jurisdiction, and any stated exemption.
- Name who knows the fact and whether that knowledge is direct, documented, reported, suspected, or unknown.
- Classify the concern as condition, boundary, title, land use, environmental, government, or transaction information.
- Test materiality by asking whether the fact matters to value, use, desirability, health, safety, or the party's decision.
- Choose disclosure, inspection, survey, title review, public-record check, specialist testing, or a combination.
- Check the required form, recipient, delivery event, acknowledgment, record, and continuing update duty.
- Reject answers that conceal facts, promise condition, diagnose beyond competence, or treat one disclosure program as universal compliance.
- Document the known facts, communication, recommendation, delivery, and follow-up without altering another person's answers.
- Clue in the question
- Fresh paint over a recurring damp area
- Best follow-up
- Condition disclosure and qualified moisture inspection
- Safe exam response
- State known history and do not guarantee the repair
- Clue in the question
- Fence and garage appear near the lot line
- Best follow-up
- Current survey plus title review
- Safe exam response
- Do not locate the legal boundary by sight
- Clue in the question
- Room addition has no visible permit record
- Best follow-up
- Local building and zoning records
- Safe exam response
- Flag the issue and recommend official verification
- Clue in the question
- Covered house was built in 1964
- Best follow-up
- Federal lead disclosure process
- Safe exam response
- Provide required known information before the buyer is bound
- Clue in the question
- Seller possesses an old radon report
- Best follow-up
- Applicable radon notice and qualified professional
- Safe exam response
- Deliver required information without interpreting health risk
- Clue in the question
- Dark stain near a buried fuel tank
- Best follow-up
- Environmental records and specialist evaluation
- Safe exam response
- Disclose known facts and avoid declaring the soil clean
- Clue in the question
- Subdivision declaration limits sheds
- Best follow-up
- Recorded declaration and association records
- Safe exam response
- Identify the restriction and avoid legal interpretation
- Clue in the question
- Property use conflicts with zoning map
- Best follow-up
- Local zoning authority and records
- Safe exam response
- Do not assume grandfathered status from continued use
- Clue in the question
- Seller marks no but broker saw prior report
- Best follow-up
- Separate seller correction and broker duty analysis
- Safe exam response
- Do not rely on a false or incomplete form
- Clue in the question
- Contract says property is sold as-is
- Best follow-up
- Read disclosure law and contract together
- Safe exam response
- Do not erase fraud or mandatory disclosure duties
Which outline areas does this set sample?
- Topic
- Seller property-condition disclosure
- What to know
- Covered residential property, responsible seller, actual knowledge, statutory report, delivery, acknowledgment, exemptions, amendments, supplemental disclosure, false statement, and consequences
- Best exam move
- Identify who completes the report and whether the buyer received it before the event required by governing law.
- Topic
- Physical conditions warranting inspection
- What to know
- Roof, foundation, structure, electrical, plumbing, heating, cooling, moisture, pests, chimney, well, septic, drainage, prior repair, and specialist follow-up
- Best exam move
- State the observable or known facts and recommend the appropriate qualified inspector without guaranteeing condition.
- Topic
- Conditions warranting a survey
- What to know
- Boundary uncertainty, fence, driveway, garage, addition, easement use, encroachment, acreage conflict, setback, access, and legal-description concern
- Best exam move
- Choose a survey when the issue asks where a boundary, improvement, or land right lies.
- Topic
- Land-use-control red flags
- What to know
- Zoning mismatch, nonconforming use, unpermitted work, building code, floodplain, wetlands, condemnation, special assessment, subdivision covenant, deed restriction, association rule, and private easement
- Best exam move
- Match public controls to government records and private controls to title, recorded documents, association records, and surveys.
- Topic
- Environmental and government disclosures
- What to know
- Lead, radon, asbestos, mold, moisture, underground storage tank, contaminated soil, groundwater, well, septic, methane, flood risk, wetlands, mine subsidence, hazardous materials, and public records
- Best exam move
- Separate the duty to communicate known information from investigation, cleanup, risk analysis, and regulatory advice.
- Topic
- Federal lead-based paint process
- What to know
- Target housing, pre-1978 date, exemptions, seller, lessor, buyer, tenant, known information, available records, federal pamphlet, warning statement, acknowledgment, contract language, and testing opportunity
- Best exam move
- Check property age and coverage, then place every disclosure step before the buyer or tenant becomes bound.
- Topic
- State and local disclosure layers
- What to know
- Residential condition report, radon information, flood disclosure, local inspection ordinance, point-of-sale rule, zoning notice, code notice, transaction type, exemption, recipient, timing, and update
- Best exam move
- Do not let compliance with one federal rule replace a separate state or municipal requirement.
- Topic
- Material facts and material defects
- What to know
- Value, desirability, use, safety, health, known fact, adverse condition, correction, concealment, transaction significance, reasonable buyer, broker knowledge, and disclosure duty
- Best exam move
- Ask whether a reasonable party would consider the information important and whether the law permits it to remain confidential.
- Topic
- Broker competence and referral boundary
- What to know
- Observation, actual knowledge, representation, silence, exaggeration, inspection advice, survey advice, legal interpretation, environmental diagnosis, documentation, follow-up, and qualified specialist
- Best exam move
- Choose the answer that communicates known facts and recommends verification without inventing a technical conclusion.
What should you sort out before you begin?
- Terms
- Disclosure vs. inspection
- Difference
- Disclosure communicates known information. Inspection investigates condition using observation, testing, measurements, and specialized skill.
- Question cue
- What the party knows versus what a qualified professional still needs to determine.
- Terms
- Inspection vs. survey
- Difference
- Inspection evaluates physical condition. Survey identifies boundaries, improvement locations, encroachments, and land relationships.
- Question cue
- Crack, leak, or system concern versus fence, driveway, garage, easement, or lot line.
- Terms
- Material fact vs. material defect
- Difference
- A material fact is important transaction information. A material defect is an adverse property condition significant to value, use, health, safety, or a party's decision under the applicable rule.
- Question cue
- The broader information category versus the adverse condition itself.
- Terms
- Actual knowledge vs. suspicion
- Difference
- Actual knowledge concerns a fact the person knows. Suspicion or a red flag calls for truthful description and further investigation, not a made-up diagnosis.
- Question cue
- Old report or direct admission versus odor, stain, noise, or appearance that still needs evaluation.
- Terms
- Patent vs. latent defect
- Difference
- A patent defect is reasonably observable. A latent defect is hidden or not discoverable through ordinary reasonable observation.
- Question cue
- Visible damage versus concealed recurring leakage behind a finished wall.
- Terms
- As-is allocation vs. concealment
- Difference
- An as-is term allocates repair and condition risk within the contract. Concealment hides information and can violate fraud or disclosure law.
- Question cue
- No repair promise does not mean permission to lie or cover a defect.
- Terms
- Lead disclosure vs. lead testing
- Difference
- Disclosure provides known information, records, the pamphlet, and required language. Testing investigates whether lead-based paint or a hazard exists.
- Question cue
- The seller must disclose what is known, but is not automatically required to commission the buyer's test.
- Terms
- Seller form vs. broker duty
- Difference
- The seller completes the statutory seller report. The licensee separately follows license-law and common-law duties for information the licensee knows.
- Question cue
- A checked box by one party does not erase the other party's independent obligation.
- Terms
- Public control vs. private restriction
- Difference
- Public controls arise from government, such as zoning or codes. Private restrictions arise from deeds, declarations, covenants, easements, or association documents.
- Question cue
- Ask the municipality for one and title or association records for the other.
- Terms
- Physical condition vs. stigma
- Difference
- A physical condition affects the property itself. A stigma concerns an event, belief, or association and may receive different treatment under state law.
- Question cue
- Water, structure, contamination, or unsafe system versus a reputation not tied to present physical condition.
How should you review your results?
- Session
- 1. Map people and knowledge
- Focus
- Seller, buyer, listing licensee, buyer's licensee, inspector, surveyor, title professional, and agency
- Proof you are ready
- For ten clues, state who knows what and whether the knowledge is direct, reported, or suspected.
- Session
- 2. Classify material facts
- Focus
- Materiality, defect, patent, latent, corrected condition, stigma, silence, and false statement
- Proof you are ready
- Explain why each fact matters to value, use, safety, health, desirability, or the transaction decision.
- Session
- 3. Route investigations
- Focus
- General inspection, specialist test, survey, title review, association record, and public record
- Proof you are ready
- Send twelve red flags to the correct professional or record without diagnosing them yourself.
- Session
- 4. Master environmental layers
- Focus
- Lead, radon, asbestos, mold, tanks, soil, water, wells, septic, flood, wetlands, and mine subsidence
- Proof you are ready
- Separate known-fact disclosure, testing, remediation, and regulatory advice for each hazard.
- Session
- 5. Put forms on a timeline
- Focus
- Coverage, exemption, recipient, pre-contract delivery, acknowledgment, record, amendment, and supplemental disclosure
- Proof you are ready
- Build one Illinois seller-report timeline and one federal lead timeline from memory.
- Session
- 6. Finish with mixed practice
- Focus
- As-is traps, competing disclosure layers, broker competence, and similar answer choices
- Proof you are ready
- Score at least 85% on two unseen sets and explain the investigation or disclosure chosen for every item.
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 Property Disclosures Practice Questions: Illinois Exam Guide
How many Property Disclosures questions are on the national real estate exam?
The PSI broker outline effective June 24, 2026 assigns approximately 7 of the 100 scored national questions to Property Disclosures. These questions test judgment across condition reports, investigation red flags, environmental rules, material facts, and defects.
What Property Disclosures topics are in the current outline?
The current outline covers seller property-condition disclosure, conditions that may warrant inspections or a survey, land-use-control red flags, environmental and government disclosures, and material facts or material defects. Federal, state, and local layers can all matter.
What is the difference between disclosure and inspection?
Disclosure communicates information that is actually known. Inspection investigates condition through observation, testing, measurements, or specialized expertise. A seller's form and a broker's disclosure do not replace a buyer's professional inspection.
When should a buyer consider a survey instead of an inspection?
A survey is the direct tool for location questions involving boundaries, improvements, fences, driveways, encroachments, easements, and acreage. An inspection addresses physical condition. Some facts call for both a survey and title review.
Who completes the Illinois seller disclosure report?
For a covered transaction, the seller completes the statutory report based on the seller's actual knowledge. A licensee should not supply the seller's answers, minimize a known material fact, or treat the form as a warranty or inspection.
Does an as-is sale eliminate disclosure duties?
No. An as-is provision allocates condition and repair risk under the contract, subject to law. It does not authorize fraud, active concealment, a false statutory report, or failure to make a disclosure required by governing law.
What does the federal lead disclosure rule require?
For most covered pre-1978 housing, sellers and lessors must disclose known lead-based paint information, provide available records and the federal pamphlet, and use required warning and acknowledgment language before the buyer or tenant is bound. A buyer generally receives a 10-day testing opportunity unless the parties agree otherwise.
Does the federal lead rule require a seller to test for lead?
No. The federal disclosure rule does not generally require a seller to conduct or pay for a lead inspection. It requires the covered disclosure process and gives the buyer the prescribed opportunity to conduct an inspection or risk assessment.
What practice score should I target for Property Disclosures?
Aim for at least 85% on unseen mixed questions. More importantly, be able to name the person with knowledge, classify the red flag, choose disclosure or investigation, identify the timing, and explain why the broker must not diagnose beyond competence.
Are these official PSI Property Disclosures questions?
No. They are original practice examples mapped to the published broker outline. They are not live or recalled exam questions. The PSI booklet and the primary Illinois and federal sources cited here were checked through August 1, 2026.
Primary sources
- PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet dated June 24, 2026
- Illinois General Assembly, Residential Real Property Disclosure Act
- Illinois General Assembly, Radon Awareness Act, Section 10
- U.S. EPA Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule
- United States Code, Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act
- Illinois General Assembly, Real Estate License Act of 2000, Article 15
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.