Practice of Real Estate for the Illinois broker exam

Spotting commission price fixing

Competing managing brokers agree that none of their firms will accept a listing below the same commission percentage.

1. The firms are competitors.
2. Commission is a price term.
3. The agreement removes independent pricing.

Answer: The agreement is classic horizontal price fixing under antitrust principles.

Applying the Do Not Call exceptions

In a covered live-sales-call scenario, a homeowner asked the brokerage for a valuation two months ago, then directly told it yesterday never to call again.

1. A recent qualifying inquiry may otherwise support the applicable relationship exception, subject to its conditions.
2. The homeowner made an entity-specific do-not-call request.
3. That direct request overrides the relationship exception.

Answer: The brokerage should not make the sales call.

Handling targeted housing advertising

For a covered, nonexempt rental dwelling with no applicable older-persons exception, a licensee deliberately configures the campaign to exclude families with children.

1. The targeting affects who receives a housing advertisement.
2. Familial status is federally protected.
3. Platform settings are part of the advertising conduct.
4. The stipulated coverage and absence of an applicable exemption matter; the platform is not a legal permission slip.

Answer: The exclusion creates a fair housing advertising and access problem.

Protecting transaction funds

An Illinois brokerage holding the transaction's earnest money deposits it into the firm's operating account for one day before transferring it to the proper escrow account.

1. The money belongs to others and must be handled under escrow rules.
2. The operating account contains business funds.
3. Temporary mixing is still commingling.
4. This is not a limited broker-money deposit needed to satisfy a bank minimum or pay an authorized bank charge.

Answer: The broker should place and document the funds through the required escrow process without using the operating account.

The office has been there for decades

A covered public-facing brokerage office refuses to consider an access barrier because its building predates the ADA.

1. An older building is not automatically outside ADA Title III.
2. Existing architectural barriers are addressed through the readily-achievable standard.
3. New construction and alterations have their own standards.
4. Policy and effective-communication duties are also separate.
5. The facts call for the proper access assessment, rather than a blanket age exemption or a promise of a complete retrofit.

Answer: Assess the covered office under the applicable duties. Building age alone is not a general exemption.

The contractor label

A licensed agent has a written federal-tax nonemployee agreement, but the question says substantially all service pay is based on hours rather than sales or other output.

1. The license and written agreement do not erase the payment condition.
2. The IRS framework calls for substantially all service payments to relate directly to sales or other output rather than hours.
3. A label cannot supply a missing condition.
4. Licensing supervision and other employment-law tests remain separate.

Answer: The stated hourly-payment facts do not establish qualification under this federal statutory-nonemployee framework.

Ninety days and three months can differ

For the relationship-period comparison only, assume a qualifying inquiry occurred July 29, 2026 and the proposed call date is October 28, 2026. Apply the current FTC and FCC inquiry periods separately; the other call requirements have not been approved.

1. The interval is 91 days.
2. The FTC inquiry period is 90 days, so this inquiry falls outside that period.
3. October 28 is before October 29, the three-month anniversary of July 29.
4. The FCC three-month period can therefore remain unexpired on these dates.
5. A relationship period alone does not resolve direct stop requests, consent, call type or the rest of either rule.

Answer: The FTC 90-day inquiry period has expired, while the FCC three-month period can still be unexpired. That comparison is not permission to make the call.

The seller says to keep it quiet

Assume Section 15-25's conditions apply: the seller's licensee actually knows a latent material adverse physical fact that a reasonably diligent inspection would not disclose to the prospective buyer. No statutory exception removes the duty. The seller says not to mention it.

1. The example supplies the role, actual knowledge and qualifying physical-property conditions.
2. The client's instruction does not override a required disclosure.
3. Client confidentiality is not a label that cancels that statutory duty.
4. The example does not impose a universal independent inspection or extend this exact test to every other brokerage relationship.

Answer: Make the required disclosure under the applicable rule; do not hide it because of the seller's instruction.

The alternative-fine calculation

An individual's qualifying offense produced $1.5 million in gross pecuniary gain. Assume 18 USC 3571(d) otherwise applies and calculating the gain would not unduly complicate or prolong sentencing. What is twice that gain?

1. The question expressly supplies the alternative-fine conditions.
2. Multiply $1,500,000 by 2.
3. The result is $3,000,000, which exceeds Section 1's stated $1 million individual fine amount.
4. The applicable maximum analysis and the actual sentence remain different questions.
5. This is not a direction to add every stated fine together or impose an automatic $3 million sentence.

Answer: Twice the stipulated gain is $3 million under the stated assumptions; the actual sentence is not determined.

Threefold damages are a different calculation

Assume a plaintiff has established a qualifying Section 15(a) antitrust recovery and $18,000 in qualifying business or property damages. What is threefold that amount before the separately stated costs and reasonable attorney's fee?

1. The example supplies the qualifying recovery and damages, rather than assuming every complaint wins.
2. Multiply $18,000 by 3.
3. The threefold amount is $54,000.
4. Costs and a reasonable attorney's fee are separate items under the stated provision.
5. This civil calculation is different from criminal fine maximums and imprisonment.

Answer: The threefold damages amount is $54,000 before the separate costs and reasonable attorney's fee.

1. Two competing brokerages agree that each will serve only one half of the county. What is most directly described?

1. Title insurance
2. Market allocation
3. Independent specialization
4. Reasonable accommodation

2. Which statement about brokerage pricing is most accurate?

1. Each brokerage must determine its pricing independently
2. Every firm must match its competitors
3. Competing brokers may agree on a neighborhood minimum
4. Federal law sets one commission rate

3. In a covered live-sales-call scenario, a consumer directly asks the seller not to call again. What happens to the relationship exception for calls by that seller?

1. The request applies only to email
2. It overrides the direct request
3. The request lasts only one day
4. The direct request overrides that relationship exception

4. Which action involves conversion, rather than only an improper mixing of funds?

1. Reconciling the trust account
2. Accurately recording a deposit
3. Using entrusted escrow money without authorization to pay a personal bill
4. Putting client money in an operating account without spending it

5. Which condition is part of the IRS framework for licensed real estate statutory nonemployees?

1. The person must have no real estate license
2. All service pay must be hourly
3. The brokerage must never supervise licensed activity
4. A written contract provides no employee treatment for federal tax purposes

6. Which basis is expressly named in the federal Fair Housing Act text?

1. Every age group
2. Every occupation
3. Every marital status
4. Religion

7. An owner relies on the private-owner single-family exemption in Section 3603(b)(1). May brokerage involvement simply be ignored?

1. Yes, if the advertisement is online
2. Yes, one house always qualifies
3. No; the specific no-broker conditions are part of that exemption
4. Yes, if the owner calls the broker a contractor

8. Assume a private owner otherwise qualifies for Section 3603(b)(2). What follows about Section 3604(c) advertising?

1. The owner can require the broker to publish an unlawful ad
2. Only paper ads are regulated
3. The private-owner exemption leaves that advertising prohibition intact
4. Every protected-class preference is automatically permitted

9. Which starting point fits a covered brokerage office serving the public?

1. No accessibility duties if it rents the office
2. No duties if its website offers appointments
3. ADA Title III public-access duties, distinct from the rules for an ordinary private dwelling
4. Housing law automatically supplies the only office-access rule

10. Which request is a change to a policy rather than a physical alteration?

1. Lowering a counter
2. Widening a doorway
3. A disability-related exception to an unassigned-parking policy
4. Building a ramp

11. A dog provides comfort but has no trained disability-related task. What follows under ADA public-access service-animal rules from comfort alone?

1. It necessarily qualifies because it has a purchased certificate
2. Comfort alone is not a trained task; a housing request needs its separate analysis
3. Every housing request is therefore invalid
4. Every animal is a service animal

12. A licensed agent meets the IRS output-based-payment and written federal-tax-contract conditions. What conclusion is properly limited?

1. The agent is exempt from all supervision
2. A contractor label waives all client duties
3. The stated framework can establish federal tax nonemployee status without deciding every other worker law
4. The agent can never be subject to any employment law

13. Two firms independently set the same fee without coordination. What does similarity alone prove?

1. The fee is legally mandatory
2. Nothing can ever be investigated
3. Similarity alone does not establish an agreement
4. A price-fixing agreement in every case

14. A firm offers two useful services together. What is needed before calling that package an illegal tie?

1. Proof the firm has an office
2. The applicable distinct-product, forced-condition, market-power and competitive facts
3. Only that two prices exist
4. Only the word package

15. Which pair describes the stated Section 1 Sherman Act maximums for an individual, before considering other applicable provisions?

1. A fixed commission refund in every case
2. $100 and one week
3. $1 million and up to 10 years of imprisonment
4. $100 million and mandatory life imprisonment

16. What corporate fine maximum is stated in Sherman Act Section 1, apart from the alternative-fine provision?

1. No monetary fine is possible
2. $1,000
3. $100 million
4. $1 million in every case

17. Which inquiry period does the current FTC relationship definition use?

1. One year from any advertisement
2. Three months in every law
3. 31 business days after the call
4. 90 days before the call

18. A caller downloaded the registry yesterday. What does that fact alone establish about the FTC safe harbor?

1. The list can now be used for prospecting
2. No recordkeeping is needed
3. The fresh version is one condition, rather than the whole framework
4. All conditions are automatically met

19. Does an established relationship alone authorize a covered prerecorded sales pitch under the FTC rule?

1. No; the prerecorded-call consent and opt-out requirements need separate review
2. Yes, if the caller bought a lead
3. Yes, every familiar customer may receive one
4. Yes, if it is sent at noon

20. The FCC published a final rule October 26, 2026 with an effective date of November 25, 2026. On October 28, what is the sound approach?

1. Treat publication as immediate effectiveness
2. Assume all sales calls are exempt
3. Keep the future amendments separate from the current rules
4. Apply every future exemption to every caller

21. A brokerage offers a gift card only for a five-star consumer review. Does disclosing the reward alone cure the problem?

1. Yes, if a client supplies a real name
2. Yes, if the review is online
3. No; compensation conditioned on positive sentiment is separately prohibited
4. Yes, disclosure permits any required rating

22. A new email changes the closing wire destination and gives a new callback number. What is the sound security response?

1. Send first and verify later
2. Use the new number as independent proof
3. Forward credentials to the sender
4. Verify through an established, independently confirmed contact method before following the change

23. Assume the seller's licensee has Section 15-25's actual knowledge of a qualifying latent material adverse physical fact, and no exception removes the disclosure duty. Can the seller simply forbid the required disclosure?

1. No; a client instruction does not override that required disclosure
2. Yes, every client instruction controls
3. Yes, if the buyer is a non-client
4. Yes, if it is called confidential

24. The brokerage holds disputed earnest money. Which approach is sound?

1. Let a social-media poll decide
2. Use the money for commission first
3. Determine release authority under the agreement, applicable law and required direction or process
4. Pay whoever seems more deserving

25. Which approach correctly separates the housing sources for this exam?

1. Treat a withdrawn agency guidance document as the whole law
2. Assume a state protection disappears whenever a federal priority changes
3. Treat the federal statutory words as the only PSI or Illinois protections
4. Distinguish federal statutory text, PSI topics, Illinois protections and agency enforcement policy

26. For the relationship period only, compare a July 29, 2026 inquiry with an October 28, 2026 call date. Which statement is correct?

1. The inquiry automatically authorizes every prerecorded message
2. The 91-day interval is outside the FTC 90-day inquiry period, while the FCC three-month period can still be unexpired
3. Both periods necessarily remain open because every three months equals 90 days
4. The interval removes every direct stop request

27. Assume a qualifying Section 15(a) recovery and $18,000 in qualifying business or property damages. What is threefold that amount before the separate costs and reasonable attorney's fee?

1. $36,000
2. $6,000
3. $18,000
4. $54,000

28. An Illinois brokerage engagement ends. What does Section 15-30 mean for confidential information?

1. Ending the engagement automatically makes all client information public
2. Only information on paper stays protected
3. A contractor may sell all the old files
4. The duty to keep confidential information confidential continues, subject to the governing definition and exceptions

29. A covered office says its existing building predates the ADA, so no barrier assessment is needed. Which response is sound?

1. Every old building has a blanket exemption
2. Only new websites need access rules
3. Every old building must receive the identical full retrofit immediately
4. Existing-barrier duties use the readily-achievable standard; other access and alteration duties remain separate

30. An Illinois brokerage holds earnest money, places it in its operating account for one day, then moves it to the proper escrow account. No exception authorizes that handling. What is the problem?

1. The short duration automatically makes it lawful
2. The conduct can be improper commingling even though the money is later transferred
3. The contract and account rules never matter
4. Every deposit is necessarily a completed theft conviction