Land use controls for the Illinois broker exam

The road strip and the court action

A public authority has the required legal power to acquire a strip of private land for a public road. The parties cannot agree on compensation, and the authority files the authorized court action. No completed title transfer is supplied.

1. The supplied acquisition power is eminent domain.
2. The court proceeding exercising it is condemnation.
3. The filing alone does not establish that the authority already owns or possesses every interest.

Answer: Name the court action condemnation. The compensation and transfer steps remain separate from the label.

A garage allowed publicly and forbidden privately

Zoning permits a detached garage, but a valid, applicable and enforceable subdivision covenant prohibits it on this lot. No amendment, exception, waiver, preemption or other overriding law is supplied.

1. Zoning permission addresses the public restriction.
2. The exercise expressly supplies the private covenant’s enforceability.
3. Public permission alone does not remove that restriction.

Answer: The owner must satisfy the private control as well. A city permission is not a covenant amendment or a judgment resolving private rights.

An irregular lot and a setback request

An unusually shaped residential lot cannot meet a stated side-yard setback for the proposed design. The owner seeks limited dimensional relief while retaining the same residential use. No approval or proof of every local standard is supplied.

1. The requested change concerns relief from a dimensional requirement.
2. That points to a variance or variation request rather than a map amendment.
3. The actual law, ordinance, evidence and authorized decision maker still determine availability and approval.

Answer: Variance is the closest category. The unusual shape does not itself prove entitlement, and a private setback could remain separate.

A sewer extension benefiting one block

Under an applicable lawful public-improvement procedure, a municipality installs a sewer extension specially benefiting identified parcels on one block and allocates the authorized cost to them.

1. The actor and charge are public.
2. The supplied project specially benefits identified property.
3. This is different from a general tax or an association’s private roof contribution.

Answer: The facts point to a public special assessment. The example assumes the required authority, benefit and allocation conditions rather than approving a real charge.

The owner lived in one county; the land is in another

Qualifying intestate Illinois real estate lies in Lake County. The decedent lived in DuPage County, there is no surviving spouse and no known kindred, and the applicable estate-claims and escheat requirements are assumed satisfied. No will disposition, survivorship transfer or other taker is supplied.

1. Section 2-1(h) addresses the qualifying real estate separately from personal property.
2. For the real estate, location of the land supplies the county.
3. The decedent’s residence does not move this land’s escheat destination.

Answer: The qualifying real estate escheats to Lake County. This teaching assumption does not complete an actual heir search, probate process or title determination.

Three meanings of assessment

An assessor values a parcel, a municipality imposes an authorized special-benefit improvement assessment, and a condominium association imposes an authorized extra common-expense assessment for its roof.

1. The assessor’s task concerns taxable valuation.
2. The municipality’s charge uses the supplied public special-benefit authority.
3. The roof contribution uses private association governance.

Answer: Classify each by actor and authority. The shared word assessment does not make all three the same tax or procedure.

A tax calculation with the taxable base already supplied

For an original calculation exercise, taxable equalized assessed value after all applicable adjustments and exemptions is $100,000. The supplied combined rate is 7.5%. No other charges or credits apply.

1. The taxable base has already been supplied; do not apply another assessment fraction or deduct the exemptions twice.
2. $100,000 × 0.075 = $7,500.
3. The rate is a hypothetical exercise input, not an actual Illinois parcel’s rate.

Answer: The supplied ad valorem tax is $7,500. No actual property’s bill or exemption eligibility is established.

Two valid minimum setbacks

A hypothetical public rule requires a minimum 25-foot setback. A separately valid, applicable and enforceable private covenant requires a minimum 40-foot setback. No conflicting definition, exception or overriding law is supplied.

1. A 25-foot setback would miss the covenant’s supplied minimum.
2. A 40-foot setback satisfies both stated minima.
3. This is a narrow comparison of supplied enforceable rules, not proof that every recorded restriction is valid.

Answer: At least 40 feet is needed to meet these two supplied minimums. Other project requirements remain separate.

The old use was lawful, but expansion is another question

A supplied lawful use existed before a later zoning change and qualifies for continuation under the applicable nonconforming-use rule. The owner now proposes a substantial expansion. No approval or determination that expansion conditions are met is supplied.

1. Earlier lawful status supports the supplied continuation classification.
2. It does not automatically approve expansion, a new activity or physical alterations.
3. Apply the actual law and ordinance to the proposed change rather than treating grandfathered as an unlimited permit.

Answer: Keep continuation and the proposed expansion separate. This example does not decide whether a particular expansion can lawfully be approved.

A recorded racial restriction is not an enforceable shortcut

An old recorded covenant purports to forbid occupancy of a home on the basis of race. A person argues that the clause must control because it is more restrictive than zoning.

1. Section 3-105 makes the supplied race-based restriction void.
2. A recorded appearance does not make it lawful to honor or attempt to honor the prohibited clause.
3. The comply-with-both-controls rule concerns applicable enforceable restrictions; it does not validate this one.

Answer: Do not enforce the void race-based provision. Changing a recorded document through an authorized process is a separate matter, and the example does not erase unrelated valid provisions.

1. A legally authorized authority files the court action to acquire private land for a public transit project after negotiations fail. What is that proceeding?

1. Condemnation
2. Escheat
3. A private architectural approval
4. A variance

2. A private subdivision declaration restricts covered lots to one detached dwelling, subject to its validity and applicable law. What category is it?

1. Government property taxation
2. Police-power zoning only
3. Private land-use control
4. Eminent domain

3. An unusually shaped lot leads its owner to request limited relief from a side-yard setback without changing the residential use. Which category is closest, without assuming approval?

1. An escheat petition
2. A variance or variation request
3. A tax assessment appeal
4. A condemnation complaint

4. A valid, applicable and enforceable covenant prohibits specified commercial signs while zoning permits them. No override, waiver or exception is supplied. What follows?

1. The covenant automatically rezones the land
2. Zoning permission automatically voids the covenant
3. A permissive public rule always eliminates private rights
4. The proposed sign must satisfy both applicable systems

5. Qualifying intestate property has no taker under the supplied statutory conditions. Which government right is implicated, without deciding a private estate?

1. Escheat
2. Condemnation for a road
3. Police-power zoning
4. Special-use approval

6. A municipality regulates building height and setbacks under its lawful land-use authority. Which general government power supports that regulation?

1. A private right of first refusal
2. Escheat
3. Police power
4. Automatic fee-simple acquisition

7. According to IDOR, how is the ordinary Illinois property tax classified?

1. A single statewide fixed-dollar property charge
2. A private condominium roof assessment only
3. A tax calculated solely from the owner’s age
4. A local ad valorem tax administered through local officials

8. An authorized public sewer improvement specially benefits identified parcels, with the required lawful assessment procedure supplied. Which charge is indicated?

1. A public special assessment
2. A private purchase option
3. An ordinary association rule change
4. Escheat proceeds

9. An Illinois owner uses an assessment appeal to challenge an allegedly overstated assessed value. What is being appealed in that process?

1. Every taxing district’s annual budget automatically
2. A seller’s brokerage commission
3. The tax rate as the only issue
4. The assessment, rather than the tax rate or tax bill

10. Valid applicable rules require minimum setbacks of 25 feet publicly and 40 feet privately. No exception or override is supplied. What minimum meets both stated requirements?

1. 40 feet
2. 25 feet
3. 15 feet
4. Either minimum at the owner’s choice

11. An owner seeks to change the zoning map classification or ordinance text itself. Which process category is indicated?

1. A private covenant release by a neighbor alone
2. A zoning amendment
3. Escheat
4. An assessment appeal

12. The ordinance lists a proposed activity as a special use requiring review, evidence of standards and conditions. What should the applicant pursue?

1. A declaration that zoning is private
2. An escheat proceeding
3. The applicable special-use approval process
4. Automatic permission without any review

13. A use was lawfully established before a later zoning change made it nonconforming. Which description is closest, subject to governing continuation limits?

1. A lawful nonconforming use
2. A property tax exemption
3. An automatic unlimited expansion right
4. A use necessarily illegal from its first day

14. A use was unlawful from its start and has simply continued for years. Does time alone necessarily make it a lawful nonconforming use?

1. Yes; every use becomes lawful after any delay
2. No; every possible reliance or other claim is therefore already adjudicated
3. No; duration alone does not establish lawful earlier status
4. Yes; a zoning map can never apply to an older activity

15. A public variance is validly granted, but a separate applicable private covenant remains enforceable and unamended. Does the variance alone release the private restriction?

1. Yes; a hearing automatically eliminates private rights
2. No; private documents can never be changed by any lawful process
3. Yes; every public variance rewrites every deed
4. No; public relief does not by itself amend the private covenant

16. A condominium association imposes an authorized extra contribution for a common roof replacement. Does the name special assessment make it a government ad valorem property tax?

1. No; it is the supplied private common-expense assessment
2. No; the association can therefore never incur any public tax expense
3. Yes; every assessment is government taxation
4. Yes; the association thereby becomes the county assessor

17. Qualifying intestate Illinois land is in Lake County, while the decedent lived in DuPage County. Section 2-1(h)’s real-estate conditions are supplied. Which county is its escheat destination?

1. Lake County, where the land is located
2. Every county equally
3. No county because all real estate goes directly to the State Treasurer
4. DuPage County solely because the decedent lived there

18. Only an ordinary Illinois condemnation complaint has been filed. No authorized quick-take findings, payment or deposit, transfer order or other vesting facts are supplied. Does filing alone prove title has already transferred?

1. No; the applicable acquisition and transfer conditions must still be satisfied
2. No; an authorized taking can never be completed
3. Yes; every complaint immediately transfers all interests
4. Yes; urgency alone supplies every quick-take requirement

19. Taxable equalized assessed value after all adjustments and exemptions is $100,000. The supplied combined rate is 7.5%, with no other charges or credits. What ad valorem tax results?

1. $7,500
2. $750
3. $75,000
4. $2,500

20. Which statement avoids an absolute shortcut about regulation and takings?

1. Regulation is not automatically compensable, but a taking claim is not categorically excluded merely by that label
2. Calling an invasion regulation always defeats compensation
3. Every decline in value establishes the same taking remedy
4. Every zoning rule automatically requires payment

21. An ordinary private covenant is breached. No valid title-forfeiture limitation or other special fact is supplied. Does the breach alone establish automatic loss of title?

1. No; covenants can never support any remedy
2. Yes; the association always becomes the owner immediately
3. Yes; every restriction automatically transfers title
4. No; the instrument, enforcement rights, remedies and governing law must be examined

22. The residential use remains permitted, but a lawfully built structure fails a later dimensional requirement. Which distinction should be examined?

1. The property automatically escheats
2. The owner automatically has unlimited rebuilding permission
3. Every use on the parcel is necessarily illegal
4. Physical-development nonconformity, rather than automatically an unlawful or nonconforming use

23. Under the opening of Illinois Section 21-75, when does the stated property-tax lien begin?

1. Only after a buyer receives a deed
2. January 1 in the year in which the taxes are levied
3. Only when the tax first becomes delinquent
4. Only on the next closing date

24. An old recorded home-occupancy covenant expressly excludes people by race. Does being recorded and more restrictive than zoning make it enforceable?

1. No; the supplied race-based provision is void under Section 3-105
2. No; that automatically cancels every unrelated valid obligation
3. Yes; every recorded clause overrides civil-rights law
4. Yes; the more-restrictive-rule phrase makes every covenant valid