Illinois real estate exam study guide
Private controls on land use: read the right document
A building permit answers a government question. It does not tell you whether a subdivision declaration allows the project. An association's approval answers another question, but only if the association has authority to give it. Start with the document, then check who can enforce it and how the required process works.
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The short answer
Private land-use controls are obligations or limits created through deeds, covenants, declarations and authorized association documents. They operate alongside public zoning and building rules. A valid private restriction can prohibit a use that zoning allows, but recording does not make an unlawful or otherwise unenforceable restriction valid. Read the instrument, affected property, benefit and burden, notice, authority, procedures and available remedies. A covenant, a title-ending condition and an easement are different interests.
Reviewed for October 2026. PSI national II.C lists deed conditions and restrictions, subdivision CC&Rs, and association rules and bylaws within the broader Land Use Controls and Regulations category, allocated five of the 100 scored national broker questions. That is not a separate five-question quota for this page. Illinois statutes and the actual recorded instruments add state and property-specific requirements. The exercises are original teaching questions, not recalled PSI material or a validated readiness test.
Find the source, authority and required process
- Find the operative documents. Read the deed, declaration and amendments, plat, bylaws and current authorized rules. Identify the parcel or unit, restriction, term, renewal, amendment, release and any approval or variance process. A seller's summary or an old rule sheet is not the complete governing record.
- Identify who benefits and who is bound. Some covenants are personal; others can bind successors. Determine the claimant's enforcement right and the affected owner's actual or constructive notice. An association can have enforcement power, but an association is not the only possible beneficiary and not every neighbor automatically has standing.
- Check controlling law and document authority. Distinguish an Illinois condominium from a common-interest community and check applicable exemptions. A board rule must have authority under the applicable law and governing documents. A generic hierarchy slogan does not decide every old instrument or statutory exception.
- Address public and private controls independently. A permit or rezoning does not itself release a valid private covenant, and private approval does not authorize a zoning violation. A public variance and a declaration's private variance are different approvals.
- Follow the promised procedure before selecting a remedy. A declaration's approval, variance, amendment and enforcement procedures can be as important as its restriction. Fines require statutory authority and process; an injunction, damages, lien or title consequence is not an automatic interchangeable remedy for every violation.
- Check defenses, changes and the transaction record. A waiver claim is different from a formal amendment. A violation or an inactive association does not automatically erase an entire declaration. Review current financial and use restrictions within the contract process, and obtain qualified legal review for disputed validity, title or enforcement conclusions.
| Document or interest | Main function | Check before relying on it |
|---|---|---|
| Deed restriction or restrictive covenant | Limits specified land uses or creates a land-related obligation | Exact language, affected parcel, beneficiary, notice, duration and enforceability |
| Declaration or CC&Rs | Establishes a development regime and stated covenants, obligations or powers | Amendments, statutory limits, successor rights and approval procedures |
| Condominium declaration and plat | Defines the submitted property, units and common-element arrangements | Actual boundaries, common interests and allocated limited use |
| Bylaws | Governs association organization and procedures | Applicable statute, declaration and any specific priority rule |
| Board rule or architectural standard | Implements authority granted by higher law and documents | Adoption procedure, authorized scope and conflicting rights |
| Easement | A nonpossessory right to use land for its defined purpose | Benefit, burden, scope and creating instrument |
| A genuine defeasible-estate condition | Can carry a specified future-interest consequence | Classification and controlling law; a mere promise is not automatic forfeiture |
| Unlawful discriminatory restriction | Cannot supply a lawful basis for the prohibited discrimination | Voidness is different from the procedure to modify the recorded instrument |
The distinctions that matter
| Distinction | How it works | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| Public permission and a valid private restriction | Zoning, permits and government enforcement arise from public authority. A valid private covenant can independently restrict the owner. | Both systems matter. The shorthand more restrictive rule applies assumes a valid, applicable restriction; it does not rescue an unlawful covenant or give the government ordinary private-covenant enforcement power. |
| Covenant, condition and easement | A covenant is a promise or restriction whose remedies depend on the instrument and law. A genuine defeasible-estate condition can affect title under its particular classification. An easement grants a defined nonpossessory use right. | Do not treat every CC&R label as automatic loss of ownership, or assume a utility access easement is merely a prohibition on building. |
| Declaration and board rule | A declaration can create core property rights and authority. A rule implements authorized details and cannot simply contradict controlling law or a superior governing provision. | Illinois condominium Section 4.1 has a declaration-priority rule with its statutory and pre-1984 qualification. Section 2.1 makes inconsistent instrument provisions ineffective. Read the actual regime rather than assuming every HOA is a condominium. |
| Condominium and common-interest community | Illinois uses different statutes. CICA excludes condominiums and cooperatives from its community definition and contains full and provision-specific exemptions. | An HOA label does not establish statutory coverage. An exemption from a statute does not automatically erase the community's declaration, contracts or every other applicable law. |
| A reasonable fine and any desired penalty | The applicable condominium and CICA provisions authorize reasonable fines after notice and an opportunity to be heard. Other remedies have their own authority and requirements. | Do not infer a right to impose any amount, skip the hearing opportunity, seize property or create a lien for every disagreement. A private assessment is not a government property tax. |
| Waiver or abandonment and a formal amendment | Enforcement defenses concern the facts and legal standard. A formal amendment follows the governing and statutory process. | One ignored fence does not by itself rewrite every restriction. Under CICA Section 1-20, a duly recorded amendment generally takes effect on recording unless a different effective date is stated; recording does not cure a lack of authority. |
| A void racial restriction and a record modification | A racial transfer or occupancy restriction can be void and unlawful to honor even though it remains in an old recorded instrument. A statutory modification changes the record through the prescribed procedure. | Do not enforce it pending paperwork or remove unrelated lawful provisions. The Illinois procedure has a recorder and State's Attorney review process; it is not permission to alter every recorded term personally. |
Work through the facts
A permit is not a covenant release
The exercise states that zoning permits a detached garage, but a valid, applicable private declaration prohibits it and no private exception or release applies.
- The permit addresses public rules.
- The stipulated valid private prohibition remains independent.
- The owner needs compliance with both systems, not a choice between them.
Answer: Government permission alone does not release the stated private restriction. This exercise stipulates enforceability; a real declaration must still be read for its qualifications and procedures.
A promised variance cannot be edited out of the analysis
In Standlee v. Bostedt, the Illinois appellate court examined a declaration's garage restrictions together with its intended private variance procedure. The owners had no access to that procedure.
- The court read the provisions together rather than deleting the inconvenient approval provision.
- It declined to enforce the particular outbuilding restriction against these owners when the promised variance route was unavailable.
- Its holding did not invalidate every declaration whenever an association becomes inactive, and it did not decide the owners' alternative defenses.
Answer: Read the whole instrument and its promised process. The narrow 2019 decision is a lesson in interpretation and enforcement, not permission to build first whenever an association is quiet.
A rule conflicts with a stated declaration right
A condominium declaration expressly grants a specified use right. The exercise states that no statute or authorized amendment permits its removal, but the board adopts an ordinary rule eliminating it.
- Identify the authority the board actually holds.
- An ordinary implementation rule does not supply the assumed missing power to eliminate the superior right.
- Proper amendment and statutory limitations are separate questions.
Answer: The board cannot justify the stated contradiction merely by calling its document a rule. This does not decide every restriction on leasing, pets or other uses without reading the actual instruments.
A fine arrives without a hearing opportunity
A condominium board imposes a fine for a rule violation but gives no notice or opportunity to be heard. The question concerns the statutory fine power, not a court damages award.
- Section 18.4(l) refers to reasonable fines after notice and an opportunity to be heard.
- The stated process omits those conditions.
- A declaration violation does not by itself excuse every statutory procedural requirement.
Answer: The board has not satisfied the stated fine procedure. Do not infer that every violation or every other possible remedy automatically disappears.
A beneficiary need not always be an association
An owner seeks enforcement of a covenant that the exercise expressly states runs for that owner's benefit against the defendant's parcel. Notice and the other necessary enforcement requirements are supplied. No association has been formed.
- The claimant's benefit and enforcement right matter.
- An association can enforce when authorized, but it is not the sole possible claimant.
- The absence of an association does not alone defeat every benefited owner's right.
Answer: The stated owner can seek the appropriate relief subject to the actual requirements and defenses. Merely living nearby, without the supplied benefit, would not establish the same standing.
A single violation is not a universal amendment
An owner notices one previously unchallenged shed and concludes that every architectural covenant has been abandoned and no approvals are needed anywhere.
- A defense requires its own facts and legal standard.
- A formal amendment has its own approval and recording process.
- Different restrictions, locations, notice and enforcement histories can matter.
Answer: Do not treat one observed violation as automatic repeal of the declaration. Preserve the facts for legal review rather than guaranteeing either enforcement or abandonment.
An old racial restriction remains in the chain of title
A deed contains a racial occupancy restriction. A neighbor insists it must be enforced until a new document is recorded.
- Illinois Section 3-105 makes the specified racial restriction void, including a discriminatory condition or future-interest device.
- Inserting or honoring a provision void under that section is a civil-rights violation.
- A statutory record-modification procedure does not make enforcement lawful while an owner waits to use it.
Answer: The racial provision cannot lawfully block the sale or occupancy. Follow the appropriate record procedure without treating unrelated lawful covenants as erased.
Different association statutes do not become interchangeable
A buyer asks about a property described only as part of an HOA. The file does not establish whether it is a condominium, a CICA community or an exempt community.
- Find the declaration and legal form of ownership.
- Identify the applicable statutory definition and exemptions.
- Do not import a condominium provision or a future-effective amendment solely from the HOA label.
Answer: Obtain the governing facts and current documents before applying a particular rule. Exemption analysis is not a reason to ignore the declaration or promise that no assessments are owed.
Mistakes to avoid
- The strictest sentence always wins. First ask whether each rule is lawful, applicable and enforceable and whether an exception or higher authority controls.
- Recording guarantees validity and standing. Recording can matter to notice. It does not make unlawful language valid or give every reader an enforcement right.
- A covenant breach always forfeits title. Read the actual interest and instrument. Covenant remedies and genuine defeasible-estate consequences are different.
- Every association follows the same Illinois Act. Condominium and CICA scope differ, and CICA has statutory exemptions. The label HOA does not choose the statute.
- A board can impose any fine for any violation. Check statutory and document authority, reasonableness, notice and the opportunity to be heard.
- No active board means all restrictions vanished. The instrument and the particular enforcement issue matter. Standlee expressly limited its holding to the restriction and unavailable variance process before it.
- A prior violation automatically amends the declaration. A defense and an amendment are separate legal questions. Do not skip the actual amendment process.
- A recorded racial covenant remains enforceable until stricken. A provision void under Section 3-105 is not made enforceable by the state of the record.
- An enacted 2027 change is already the October 2026 rule. Check its effective date. Public Act 104-797 is enacted but takes effect January 1, 2027; do not apply its future requirements early.
Check your understanding
These are original teaching questions, not recalled or predicted PSI questions. Answer first, then explain why the other choices fail.
1. Which document commonly creates a development's core covenants and private use restrictions?
- A routine building permit
- A zoning map alone
- A declaration or CC&Rs
- A municipal tax bill
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. A declaration or CC&Rs
A declaration or CC&Rs can establish the development regime, subject to the actual instrument and law. A public map, permit or tax bill does not by itself supply those private covenants.
2. The exercise supplies a valid private restriction prohibiting a detached garage, with no exception or release. Zoning permits it. What follows?
- Public permission does not by itself release the valid private restriction
- The owner may select whichever rule is preferred
- The covenant rezones the parcel
- The permit automatically releases the covenant
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Public permission does not by itself release the valid private restriction
The two systems are independent. The exercise stipulates a valid restriction; a real instrument must still be examined for enforceability, approval procedures and exceptions.
3. A deed grants a defined nonpossessory right to cross a neighboring parcel. Which interest best fits?
- An association tax
- Automatic title forfeiture
- An easement
- A government zoning amendment
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. An easement
An easement grants its defined use right. A covenant restricting conduct and a genuine estate condition have different functions. The actual easement scope and parties still matter.
4. What conclusion follows merely from a promise that an owner will not erect a fence?
- The promise can never be enforced
- The county must enforce it as zoning
- Do not assume automatic forfeiture; identify the instrument and interest
- Every breach automatically ends fee title
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Do not assume automatic forfeiture; identify the instrument and interest
A land-related promise is not automatically a defeasible-estate condition. The creating language and controlling law determine the interest and available remedies, not the word restriction alone.
5. A board imposes an Illinois condominium fine with no notice or opportunity to be heard. What is missing from the stated Section 18.4(l) process?
- A federal building permit
- A transfer-tax stamp
- The statutory notice and opportunity to be heard before a reasonable fine
- Only the county's tax assessment
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The statutory notice and opportunity to be heard before a reasonable fine
The section authorizes reasonable fines after those procedures. This does not eliminate every other authorized remedy or establish a universal dollar amount for a fine.
6. Does the absence of an association always prevent a benefited owner from enforcing a covenant?
- Yes, but only after ten days
- Yes, only associations can ever enforce
- No, every stranger automatically has standing
- No, a properly entitled beneficiary may seek enforcement subject to the requirements and defenses
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. No, a properly entitled beneficiary may seek enforcement subject to the requirements and defenses
Standlee discusses individual enforcement by a person for whose benefit a covenant runs. Establish that right and notice; absence of an association is different from absence of a qualified claimant.
7. What did Standlee v. Bostedt narrowly decide about the garage restriction?
- Every inactive association erases every declaration
- Every municipal permit cancels private restrictions
- All Illinois covenants are void
- It would not enforce that restriction against the owners when they lacked access to its intended variance procedure
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. It would not enforce that restriction against the owners when they lacked access to its intended variance procedure
The court read the declaration as a whole and reversed the demolition judgment on the unavailable intended variance procedure. It expressly limited its holding and did not decide the alternative defenses.
8. One owner ignored a restriction without an immediate response. What can another owner safely infer from that fact alone?
- Every future fine is automatically valid
- The declaration was formally amended
- Neither universal abandonment nor formal amendment is established by that single fact
- Every restriction expired
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Neither universal abandonment nor formal amendment is established by that single fact
Enforcement defenses depend on their own facts and legal standards. Formal amendment follows its separate process. One observed violation does not establish every element of waiver or abandonment.
9. The file calls the development an HOA but does not establish its legal ownership form. Which step comes first?
- Identify the governing documents, statutory classification and any exemption
- Assume every HOA is exempt from every law
- Apply 2027 requirements early
- Assume the Condominium Property Act always applies
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Identify the governing documents, statutory classification and any exemption
CICA and the condominium statute have distinct scope, and CICA contains exemptions. The HOA label is insufficient to choose the governing rule or decide private obligations.
10. An ordinary board rule eliminates a right expressly granted by a superior declaration. No statutory or amendment authority is supplied. What is the sound answer?
- The rule requires authority and cannot justify the stated contradiction by label alone
- Any rule title overrides the declaration
- The county automatically amends the declaration
- The declaration disappears when a rule is printed
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. The rule requires authority and cannot justify the stated contradiction by label alone
Board authority comes from applicable law and governing documents. Read statutory priority rules and qualifications. An ordinary rule is not a substitute for whatever valid amendment or legal authority would be required.
11. A historical deed contains a racial occupancy restriction void under Illinois Section 3-105. Which answer is correct?
- Recording makes it lawful
- It must be enforced until a new deed is signed
- It cannot lawfully be honored while waiting for record-modification paperwork
- It applies only to cash buyers
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. It cannot lawfully be honored while waiting for record-modification paperwork
The statutory voidness is separate from the procedure to modify the record. Section 3-105 also makes inserting or honoring a void provision a civil-rights violation. Unrelated lawful covenants are a separate question.
12. For a CICA amendment, which statement reflects Section 1-20's effective-date rule?
- Every amendment requires the same universal owner percentage
- A board announcement always replaces recording
- Recording automatically cures every lack of authority
- A duly recorded amendment generally takes effect upon recording unless a different effective date is stated
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. A duly recorded amendment generally takes effect upon recording unless a different effective date is stated
The amendment must satisfy the applicable substantive and procedural requirements. Section 1-20 provides the recording and effective-date rule, including its stated-date exception; recordation does not itself cure unauthorized adoption.
13. Public Act 104-797 was approved in August 2026 and is effective January 1, 2027. What is the correct October 2026 treatment?
- Describe it as merely pending
- Distinguish the enacted future change from requirements currently in force
- Assume all current condominium law is repealed
- Apply every future requirement immediately
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Distinguish the enacted future change from requirements currently in force
Enactment and effective date differ. The official status identifies January 1, 2027, so its future requirements should not be applied early in an October 2026 guide.
14. In October 2026, what does the effective Public Act104-187 amendment provide for a qualifying unlawful-restrictive-covenant modification under Section3-5048?
- Every unrelated covenant becomes void
- The recorder may always charge ten dollars
- No recorder filing fee, and no fee for copies of records necessary for that filing
- The racial restriction stays enforceable until a filing fee is paid
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. No recorder filing fee, and no fee for copies of records necessary for that filing
The amendment effective January1,2026 removes the former permitted filing fee and prohibits fees for necessary record copies under the stated procedure. The discriminatory provision is already void under Section3-105; the modification does not erase unrelated lawful restrictions or waive the required review process.
Common questions
What does CC&R mean?
Covenants, conditions and restrictions. The declaration can establish use limits, maintenance and assessment obligations, approval procedures and enforcement rights. Its title does not make every clause valid, determine every remedy or automatically create a title-ending condition.
Can private restrictions be more restrictive than zoning?
A valid, applicable private restriction can prohibit something zoning allows. Public permission does not itself release it. Private approval likewise does not authorize violating public law. The familiar more-restrictive-rule shorthand assumes enforceability and does not let an unlawful covenant override controlling law.
Does a covenant automatically bind every later owner?
Some promises are personal and others run with the land. The instrument, intent, relationship to the land, benefit and burden, legally required relationships and notice must be analyzed. Recording can provide constructive notice but is not a universal substitute for every other requirement. Identify the actual claimant's right rather than assuming every neighbor or association has it.
Does breach of a restriction automatically end ownership?
No. Covenant enforcement and a genuine defeasible-estate condition are different. A determinable estate and a condition-subsequent estate have different potential future-interest consequences; the creating language and controlling law matter. Do not infer automatic forfeiture merely from CC&R terminology or a promise about use. The broker should identify the instrument and obtain legal review for disputed title consequences.
Do declarations always outrank every other document?
Controlling law matters first. For Illinois condominiums, Section 2.1 makes inconsistent instrument provisions ineffective and Section 4.1 provides a declaration-priority rule with its statutory and pre-1984 qualification. Bylaws concern governance and ordinary rules require authority. Read the applicable regime and actual instruments rather than treating one simplified chart as a universal legal rule.
Does every Illinois HOA fall under CICA?
No. CICA's community definition excludes condominiums and cooperatives, and Section 1-75 has both full and provision-specific exemptions. The full exemption has specified Illinois nonprofit-organization and unit-count or annual budgeted-assessment conditions, with an election into coverage available under its terms. An exemption does not automatically erase recorded covenants or every other applicable law. Check the legal form and exact subsection.
Who can enforce a covenant?
An association, an owner or another beneficiary may have enforcement rights under the instrument and law. Establish the benefit, affected burden, notice and claimant's standing. Standlee recognizes that an individual beneficiary can have enforcement rights independent of an association. A passerby's objection or simple proximity is not the same legal interest.
Is an injunction automatic once a violation is alleged?
An injunction is a common requested remedy, but the claim must establish an enforceable right, the relevant violation and applicable requirements, with defenses considered. Standlee discusses the special covenant-enforcement principles as well as their limits. Do not promise a universal balancing formula, demolition order or automatic injunction from a short exam description.
Can a board impose a fine immediately?
The applicable Illinois condominium and CICA provisions call for reasonable fines after notice and an opportunity to be heard. Confirm coverage, authority, violation and required process. A fine, an assessment obligation, a lien and a judicial remedy have different requirements; no universal fine amount or foreclosure right follows from these practice facts.
Does an inactive association cancel all restrictions?
No automatic conclusion follows. Standlee declined to enforce the particular garage restriction where the intended variance procedure was unavailable and expressly avoided a broad ruling invalidating the entire declaration. Review the actual instrument, process, claimant and facts. The decision is not a general build-first rule or a finding that every quiet association lost every power.
Can owners amend a declaration by ignoring it?
Do not confuse possible waiver, abandonment or other enforcement defenses with formal amendment. Read the approval and recording requirements. Under CICA Section 1-20, a duly recorded amendment generally becomes effective on recording unless it states another effective date. A particular legal regime can have exceptions and special procedures; no universal vote percentage is taught here.
Is a racial covenant enforceable until removed?
No. Section 3-105 voids the specified race, color, religion and national-origin restrictions and prohibits inserting or honoring provisions void under that section. Its religious-institution limitation has a specific property-and-use exception; that is not a general permission for racial housing discrimination. The statutory process for modifying an unlawful recorded covenant is separate from its existing voidness and does not erase unrelated lawful restrictions.
What documents should a buyer request?
Obtain the current declaration and amendments, plat where relevant, bylaws and rules, plus applicable resale disclosures and information about assessments, budgets, reserves, insurance, litigation and identified violations. Check use and leasing limits, approval procedures and unresolved charges within the actual contract and statutory process. This is a practical review list, not a claim that every buyer has the same records-access right or deadline for every association.
Is there a fee to modify the unlawful restriction record in 2026?
Under Section 3-5048 as amended by Public Act 104-187, effective January 1, 2026, the recorder may not charge the qualifying modification filing fee or charge for copies of records necessary for that filing. The process still has eligibility, documentation and State's Attorney review requirements. For an association, the statute specifies board action and the response to a qualifying owner's written request. The record procedure does not make an otherwise void discriminatory restriction enforceable while it is pending.
Keep practising
Your next practice step
Put land use into practice
Identify the public power or private restriction before choosing the result.
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Official sources and scope
The 2019 Standlee opinion has a narrow holding about a particular restriction and unavailable variance process. It does not invalidate every declaration with an inactive association. Illinois condominium and CICA provisions have different scope and exceptions. Public Act 104-187 is effective in 2026; Public Act 104-797 takes effect in 2027. Record modification, existing voidness, private enforcement and a buyer's document review are separate questions. The examples do not adjudicate a private instrument or guarantee a remedy.
- Standlee v. Bostedt, 2019 IL App (2d) 180325: instruments, enforcement and a promised variance process
- CICA: definitions and applicability
- CICA Section 1-75: full and provision-specific exemptions
- CICA Section 1-20: amendment and recording
- Condominium Section 2.1: controlling statutory provisions
- Condominium Section 4.1: declaration and bylaws
- HB5449 official status: Public Act104-0797
- PSI June24,2026: private association controls at II.C.3
- Mahrenholz v. County Board of School Trustees, 93 Ill. App. 3d 366 (1981)
- California DRE reference chapter 5: foundational appurtenant and in-gross vocabulary
- 765 ILCS605/18.4(l),(q): reasonable fines and statutory authority
- 765 ILCS160/1-30(g): reasonable fines after notice and hearing opportunity
- 775 ILCS5/3-105: void discriminatory restrictions and the limited religious-use exception
- Public Act104-187 and55ILCS5/3-5048: unlawful-covenant modification and no recorder fees
- HB1575 official status: enacted Public Act104-0187 effective January1,2026
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.