National Section VII study guide
Property disclosures for the Illinois broker exam
A seller’s report tells you what the seller discloses. An inspection investigates condition, and a survey addresses a different set of location questions. Good disclosure answers keep those jobs separate, then identify the person, law, document and deadline that apply.
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The short answer
For a property-disclosure question, identify the covered property and transaction, who knows the information, the applicable duty and the required timing. Illinois seller reports, licensee duties, federal lead disclosures and Illinois radon disclosures are separate layers. A seller’s lack of awareness is not a clean-property guarantee, an as-is clause is not permission to conceal, and a red flag calls for the appropriate records or qualified professional rather than a broker’s unsupported diagnosis.
Reviewed October 26, 2026. PSI’s National VII Property Disclosures domain has 7 of the 100 scored national broker questions. It covers seller condition requirements, conditions warranting an inspection or survey, public or private land-use red flags, environmental and government disclosures, and material facts or defects. Illinois also has its state-specific requirements. These original teaching questions are not PSI items, completed legal forms or a decision about an actual property or termination right.
Identify the layer before applying the deadline
- Start with coverage. Check the property, transaction and applicable exception separately for each program. Illinois’s Residential Real Property Disclosure Act has its own residential-property and seller definitions, covered transfers and section 15 exemptions. Federal lead target housing and Illinois radon coverage have different tests. An exemption under one law does not automatically exempt the transaction under another.
- Identify the speaker and knowledge standard. The seller completes the Illinois report from actual knowledge under the Act and its instructions; the Act does not require a specific investigation just to complete that report. A licensee has separate duties. For example, section 15-25 requires a licensee engaged by a seller client to timely disclose to prospective-buyer customers actually known latent material adverse physical facts not discoverable by their reasonably diligent inspection.
- Use the right definition and answer the actual form. The Illinois report defines material defect by substantial adverse effect on value or significant impairment of future occupants’ health or safety, with its reasonable-belief-of-correction qualification. Read each item as written, including historical questions. The report contains more than defect questions; seller occupancy and flood-insurance status are not interchangeable with every physical-condition statement.
- Put the Illinois seller report on the timeline. Section 20 requires its delivery before signing a contract. Before closing, awareness of an error, inaccuracy or omission in a delivered report or supplement requires the written supplement specified by section 30. The form is not a warranty or an inspection substitute. A repair belief must meet the actual statutory qualification; it is not a universal permission to erase history or a newly learned problem.
- Separate the two seller-report remedies. A qualifying late initial report has the buyer period in section 40(a). A supplement uses the alternative grounds in section 40(b), including its seller written-repair response provision. Neither means every new disclosure creates an identical buyer deadline. Required termination notice, the conveyance cutoff and any independent contract or section 55 remedy also matter. Route physical, location and public-record questions to the appropriate professional or records; disclosure is not a diagnosis, repair agreement or escrow-release instruction.
- For covered federal lead transactions, complete the applicable information and documentation before the purchaser or lessee is obligated. Address the approved pamphlet, known lead information, available records and the required warning and acknowledgments. Purchasers receive the 10-day inspection or risk-assessment opportunity unless a different period is mutually agreed in writing or the purchaser waives the opportunity in writing. That purchaser opportunity is not a mandatory testing period for every renter.
- For Illinois radon, apply the separate program. In a covered sale, section 10 requires its approved pamphlet and radon disclosure before the buyer is obligated, with the required information and records. Section 10 itself does not mandate seller testing or mitigation. Check section 20 exclusions and the distinct tenant provisions rather than importing the federal lead period. A statutory exclusion does not establish zero health risk.
- Respond accurately and within the actual role. Client confidentiality cannot authorize concealment of a fact the law requires disclosed. Illinois’s particular nonphysical and off-site nondisclosure provisions have their own scope and do not grant permission to make false statements. Distinguish what is verified, suspected and unknown, address required updates, and obtain the appropriate professional review of disputed rights or technical findings.
| Supplied issue | Primary follow-up | Separate question to keep open |
|---|---|---|
| Known seller-report error before closing | Required written seller supplement | Does a particular termination or other remedy apply? |
| Seller-client licensee knows qualifying hidden physical defect | Applicable timely customer disclosure | Seller’s own form and repair duties |
| Leak, musty odor or damaged system | Physical records and qualified inspection | Cause, extent and repair cost |
| Driveway or fence location concern | Appropriate survey and title/instrument review | Legal access and any disputed rights |
| Unclear permit or proposed use | Actual jurisdiction and relevant records | Whether a requirement or violation is established |
| Covered pre-1978 target housing | Federal lead package and purchaser opportunity | Coverage exceptions and other disclosure laws |
| Covered Illinois radon sale | Separate radon materials and known information | Testing, mitigation and any contract condition |
| Tank or possible contamination | Qualified environmental assessment and records | Actual release, liability and applicable programs |
The distinctions that matter
| Distinction | How it works | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| Seller report and inspection | The report communicates the seller’s actual-knowledge answers under the statute. An inspection investigates within its professional scope. | A No answer is not proof of a problem-free property. |
| Material fact and the form’s material defect | Material information can concern the transaction more broadly. The Illinois seller form supplies a specific material-defect definition. | Use the definition and duty actually asked about. |
| Seller duties and licensee duties | The seller’s form does not replace the licensee’s own applicable disclosure and honesty duties. A seller-report exemption does not automatically erase them. | Name the person, relationship, knowledge and required fact. |
| Observed red flag and established diagnosis | An observation or record can warrant investigation without proving its cause or a technical hazard. | Musty odor is not a completed mold or structural finding. |
| Inspection and survey | Physical-condition inspection and professional location or boundary work answer different questions. Title documents may still be needed for legal rights. | A survey does not by itself grant a driveway easement. |
| As-is and a disclosure exemption | An as-is provision allocates contractual condition or repair risk under its terms and law. It does not automatically remove mandatory disclosures. | No permission to lie or conceal. |
| Lead purchaser opportunity and Illinois radon process | The federal lead purchaser opportunity and separate Illinois radon forms, exclusions and tenant provisions have different sources and conditions. | Do not transfer one program’s period to the other. |
| Information delivery and waiver of an inspection opportunity | A written purchaser waiver of the lead inspection opportunity does not waive the covered pamphlet, known information, available records and required documentation. | Identify exactly what was waived. |
Work through the facts
A stain and a receipt, with no diagnosis
A licensee observes a ceiling stain and musty odor and receives a receipt describing prior water cleanup. The facts do not establish the cause, current extent or a technical mold finding.
- State the verified observation and record accurately under the applicable duties.
- The absence of a diagnosis does not justify inventing a clean-condition assurance.
Answer: Identify the need for appropriate physical-condition or specialist evaluation. Do not describe the property as mold-free or diagnose the cause from these facts alone.
The driveway’s location and the right to use it
A driveway appears to cross neighboring land, and existing property documents do not resolve its location or the claimed access right.
- A qualified survey can address the location and boundary concern.
- Title and instrument review address the separate claimed legal right.
Answer: Seek the appropriate survey and title/legal review. The appearance of a driveway, a home inspection or a survey drawing alone does not grant an easement.
The seller’s exemption does not answer the licensee’s duty
Assume a valid exemption from the Illinois seller-report requirement. Separately, the seller’s engaged licensee actually knows a latent material adverse foundation fact. The prospective-buyer customer could not discover it by a reasonably diligent inspection.
- The hypothetical expressly supplies the conditions of section 15-25’s physical disclosure duty.
- A seller’s report exemption is a different question.
Answer: The licensee must timely disclose the required fact to that customer. The seller’s instruction to keep it quiet does not remove this duty.
A new event makes the old report inaccurate
After delivering the report, a covered seller learns before closing of new basement flooding that makes a prior answer inaccurate. No exception eliminates the stated supplement duty.
- Section 30 addresses awareness before closing of an error, inaccuracy or omission in the delivered report or supplement.
- The update is written and delivered by an authorized method.
Answer: Provide the required written supplement. This does not by itself establish a buyer termination right or the contract’s allocation of repair cost.
An available old lead report
A nonexempt 1965 target-housing sale is covered by the federal rule. The seller has an available old lead risk-assessment report and says the buyer can simply test instead.
- The example expressly establishes federal coverage.
- The buyer’s evaluation opportunity does not replace the required known information and available records.
Answer: Complete the applicable lead disclosures and provide the available report as required before the buyer is obligated. Its age alone does not make an otherwise available required record disappear.
The purchaser waives the testing opportunity
In a covered lead sale, the purchaser validly waives the section 745.110 inspection or risk-assessment opportunity in writing. Nothing in the facts exempts the other disclosure requirements.
- The waiver identifies the purchaser’s evaluation opportunity.
- The pamphlet, known information, available records and applicable warning and acknowledgments have their own requirements.
Answer: Complete the remaining required lead package. Do not turn this limited waiver into permission to omit every lead document.
A covered radon sale without an existing test
Assume an Illinois sale is covered by section 10, no section 20 exclusion applies, and the seller has no known elevated-result information or testing record. No separate contract testing promise is supplied.
- The statute still requires the applicable pamphlet and radon disclosure before the buyer is obligated.
- Section 10 does not itself mandate a new seller test or mitigation.
Answer: Provide accurate required materials and answers. Do not invent a no-radon guarantee or a statutory testing mandate from the absence of a result.
A permit-record gap is still a question
An addition has no permit entry in the available search results, but the record is incomplete and it is unknown whether a permit was required for the relevant work.
- Missing search results do not resolve the historical requirement or legality.
- The relevant authority and fuller records can help resolve the gap.
Answer: Investigate and report the verified status accurately. Do not guarantee either compliance or illegality, and do not assume an ordinary physical inspection resolves the public-record issue.
A qualifying late initial report
In a covered transaction, all parties sign before the seller delivers the initial report, contrary to section 20. The report discloses a qualifying material defect under section 40(a), rather than merely a Yes to occupancy or flood-insurance statement 1 or 2. Conveyance has not occurred.
- Section 40(a) gives the buyer five business days after receipt for this qualifying termination.
- Section 40(c) requires written notice delivered to at least one seller by a section 50 method at the specified contact information.
Answer: On these supplied facts, apply that initial-report remedy, including return of the stated earnest money or down payments. Do not replace receipt with closing or treat every late report as automatically meeting the defect condition.
A supplement is not the same clock
A supplement discloses a material defect that is repairable before closing. It did not arise from an error, inaccuracy or omission actually known by the seller when the prior disclosure was completed and signed. Before conveyance, compare a timely written seller agreement to repair with the seller declining or failing to agree in writing within five business days after delivery.
- The hypothetical rules out the prior-known-error ground and supplies repairability.
- The third ground addresses the seller’s written repair response, not a universal five-day buyer cancellation window.
Answer: A timely written repair agreement does not satisfy that third ground; declining or failing to agree in writing within the specified period does. Section 40(c)’s notice and conveyance provisions still matter. Other contract or section 55 remedies require their own facts.
Mistakes to avoid
- No on the seller report means no defect exists. The form is based on knowledge, not a guarantee of every condition.
- The seller never lived there, so every disclosure law is inapplicable. Apply the exact seller/property/transfer definitions and each program’s actual exemptions.
- A covered sale can wait until closing for its initial seller report. Section 20 requires the report before signing a contract.
- Every supplement gives the buyer the same five-day exit. The initial-report and supplemental-report remedies have different qualifying conditions.
- A broker may complete the seller’s factual answers from guesswork. The seller supplies the actual-knowledge answers; the licensee has separate duties.
- One as-is sentence waives every disclosure. Risk allocation is not permission for statutory nondisclosure or deceit.
- Lead inspection waiver means no lead package. A written opportunity waiver is distinct from the other required disclosures.
- Every environmental question has one universal form. Identify the actual hazard, program, transaction and necessary specialist or record.
Check your understanding
These are original teaching questions, not recalled or predicted PSI questions. Answer first, then explain why the other choices fail.
1. A seller is unaware of a condition and accurately answers the applicable Illinois form from actual knowledge. Does that establish that no such condition exists?
- No
- Yes, every unknown condition is corrected
- Yes, it is an unconditional warranty
- Yes, an inspection is legally pointless
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. No
The form expressly distinguishes lack of awareness from a guarantee of absence. Its completion does not replace the appropriate investigation.
2. A seller never occupied the property. Is that fact alone a universal exemption from the Illinois seller report and every other disclosure law?
- Yes, if the property is sold as-is
- Yes, if an agent is involved
- Yes
- No; apply the actual definitions and each program’s exemptions
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. No; apply the actual definitions and each program’s exemptions
Nonoccupancy alone is not a blanket exemption. Statutory definitions and particular transfer exceptions have their own conditions; separate programs require separate coverage analysis.
3. Under the Illinois seller-report Act, which knowledge standard governs the seller’s material-defect disclosure?
- The seller’s actual knowledge, with the Act’s specific provisions
- Only information already recorded at the county
- Every fact any contractor could discover
- The buyer’s preferred answer
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. The seller’s actual knowledge, with the Act’s specific provisions
Section 25 imposes the actual-knowledge duty and does not require a specific investigation just to complete the report. That is not permission to ignore information actually learned or other applicable duties.
4. Which description matches the Illinois seller form’s material-defect definition?
- Substantial adverse effect on value or significant future-occupant health/safety impairment, with the stated reasonable-correction qualification
- Every cosmetic preference regardless of significance
- Only a condition already causing a lawsuit
- Every off-site event regardless of effect
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Substantial adverse effect on value or significant future-occupant health/safety impairment, with the stated reasonable-correction qualification
Use the actual form’s definition and its qualification. The broader phrase material information does not replace this particular statutory definition.
5. When does section 20 require the initial covered Illinois seller report?
- Before signing a contract
- Only after conveyance
- Only if the buyer first proves fraud
- Only when a lender requests it
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Before signing a contract
The statute requires completion of the report and delivery before signing a contract. Separate consequences and remedies require their own facts.
6. Before closing, the seller becomes aware that a delivered report answer is inaccurate because of new flooding. What does section 30 require on the supplied covered facts?
- Replace the buyer’s inspection with a warranty
- Erase all earlier documents
- The required written supplemental disclosure
- Wait until after closing
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The required written supplemental disclosure
The duty concerns awareness of an error, inaccuracy or omission in the delivered report or supplement before closing. It does not alone decide termination or repair allocation.
7. What does an as-is term establish by itself?
- Permission to falsify the seller report
- The contractual condition/repair allocation under its terms and applicable law
- A guarantee that no material problem exists
- A universal disclosure exemption
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. The contractual condition/repair allocation under its terms and applicable law
As-is is not a blanket statutory exemption or authorization for deceit. Read the actual contract and applicable disclosure laws separately.
8. A seller-client licensee actually knows a latent material adverse physical fact not discoverable by the prospective-buyer customer’s reasonably diligent inspection. The seller requests secrecy. What does section 15-25 require?
- Concealment whenever requested
- Timely disclosure of the required fact
- Disclosure only after closing
- A completed engineer’s diagnosis by the broker
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Timely disclosure of the required fact
The scenario supplies the statute’s relationship, knowledge, physical materiality, latency and inspection conditions. The client’s instruction does not override the applicable duty.
9. A valid exemption from the seller report is stipulated, but all the stated conditions of the licensee’s independent section 15-25 physical duty are also stipulated. Does the exemption erase that duty?
- No
- Yes, every duty uses the same exemption
- Yes, if no buyer asks
- Yes, once the seller says as-is
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. No
The report and licensee duty come from separate provisions. Apply the independently satisfied disclosure rule instead of importing the seller-report exemption.
10. A driveway may cross a boundary and the access right is unclear. Which follow-up addresses both types of concern?
- Only an appraisal comparison
- Only a new asking price
- Only a roof inspection
- Appropriate survey and title/instrument review
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Appropriate survey and title/instrument review
Location and the claimed legal right require different analysis. A survey alone does not create an access right or resolve every title dispute.
11. A musty odor and cleanup receipt are known, but the cause and extent are not established. Which response fits?
- Certify there is no mold
- Declare the entire structure unsafe without evaluation
- Conceal the record because no diagnosis exists
- State verified facts accurately and seek appropriate qualified evaluation
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. State verified facts accurately and seek appropriate qualified evaluation
An observed red flag warrants appropriate follow-up without an unsupported technical assurance or diagnosis. The applicable disclosure and honesty duties remain separate.
12. A permit search is incomplete and it is unknown whether the work required a permit. What conclusion is justified?
- The work is necessarily illegal
- Further verification of the requirement and records is needed
- A home inspection automatically resolves the legal history
- The work is necessarily legal
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Further verification of the requirement and records is needed
The supplied gap proves neither compliance nor a violation by itself. Identify the relevant authority and fuller evidence.
13. For a covered federal lead sale, which information is part of the required pre-obligation process?
- Only a new appraisal
- Approved pamphlet, known lead information, available required records and applicable warning/acknowledgments
- Only the buyer’s final test result
- Only the seller’s verbal reassurance
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Approved pamphlet, known lead information, available required records and applicable warning/acknowledgments
Coverage is supplied. The federal package and purchaser opportunity have specific requirements; an appraisal or reassurance is not a substitute.
14. How may the federal purchaser’s usual 10-day lead evaluation period be changed or waived?
- Only by an agent’s oral preference
- Only after the seller pays for remediation
- Automatically whenever the home is old
- A different period by mutual written agreement, or the purchaser’s written waiver of the opportunity
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. A different period by mutual written agreement, or the purchaser’s written waiver of the opportunity
Section 745.110 permits a mutually agreed written different period or the purchaser’s written opportunity waiver. The other disclosure obligations remain separate.
15. Does the federal disclosure rule itself require every covered seller to conduct and pay for a new lead test?
- No; the disclosure and purchaser-opportunity duties are distinct from a universal seller-testing mandate
- Yes, before every listing
- Yes, if a prior report is available
- Yes, unless the buyer is a tenant
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. No; the disclosure and purchaser-opportunity duties are distinct from a universal seller-testing mandate
Disclose the required known information and records and address the applicable purchaser opportunity. Other law or contract requirements can present different facts.
16. Is the federal purchaser’s 10-day opportunity automatically a required testing window for every renter?
- No
- Yes, it is identical in every lease
- Yes, including every exempt lease
- Only if no pamphlet is available
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. No
The rule gives the evaluation opportunity to purchasers. Covered leases have disclosure requirements; do not import the purchaser opportunity as a universal tenant testing period.
17. In an Illinois sale covered by radon section 10 with no section 20 exclusion, when are the required radon materials due?
- Only when the buyer finds a high result
- Only after mitigation
- Before the buyer is obligated under a purchase contract
- Only after the deed records
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Before the buyer is obligated under a purchase contract
The covered sale has its own pre-obligation pamphlet and radon disclosure process. The general seller report does not replace that separate package.
18. A covered Illinois radon seller has no test record and no known elevated information; no testing promise is supplied. Does section 10 itself mandate a new seller test or mitigation?
- Only if the buyer waives lead testing
- No, although its disclosure requirements still apply
- Yes, in every case
- Yes, unless the home is sold for cash
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. No, although its disclosure requirements still apply
Section 10 expressly does not impose a seller testing or mitigation obligation. Complete accurate required materials; do not infer a health guarantee or erase separate contract requirements.
19. All parties signed before a covered initial seller report was delivered in violation of section 20. It discloses a qualifying section 40(a) material defect, not merely statement 1 or 2. Before conveyance, what period does that remedy give the buyer?
- Five months after closing
- Five business days after receipt of the report
- No period because a late report is always excused
- Five calendar days before the report is received
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Five business days after receipt of the report
Section 40(a) uses five business days after receipt on these supplied qualifying facts. Section 40(c) also requires the appropriate delivered written termination notice and ends this right at conveyance.
20. A supplemental defect is repairable before closing and does not result from a prior disclosure error the seller actually knew when signing it. Which fact meets section 40(b)’s third alternative?
- Within five business days after delivery, the seller declines or fails to agree in writing to repair it
- The buyer has not scheduled a home inspection
- The property is marketed as-is
- The buyer prefers a different paint color
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Within five business days after delivery, the seller declines or fails to agree in writing to repair it
The third alternative concerns that seller repair response. The other alternatives address a qualifying prior-known error or a defect not repairable before closing. Notice, conveyance and separate contractual remedies remain distinct.
21. A transaction is validly exempt from one disclosure program. Does that fact alone establish an exemption from every other program and the licensee’s applicable honesty duties?
- Yes, if no inspection was ordered
- Yes, all disclosure laws share one exemption list
- Yes, if a seller uses an agent
- No; evaluate each program and the licensee’s actual duties separately
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. No; evaluate each program and the licensee’s actual duties separately
Seller-report, federal lead, Illinois radon and licensee duties have separate coverage and conditions. One established exemption does not by itself resolve them all.
22. A fact falls within section 15-20’s specified protection against a cause of action for a licensee’s failure to disclose. Does that provision authorize the licensee to give a knowingly false answer?
- No
- Yes, every protected nondisclosure permits a fabricated answer
- Yes, every off-site physical condition is always irrelevant
- Yes, the customer honesty rule disappears
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. No
A specified nondisclosure protection is not permission to misrepresent. Section 15-25 requires honest customer treatment and prohibits negligent or knowing false information. Do not erase the actual physical-condition and value qualifications in section 15-20.
Common questions
How much Property Disclosures is on the exam?
PSI’s National VII Property Disclosures domain has seven of the hundred scored national broker questions. It includes condition reports, inspection or survey triggers, public and private land-use red flags, environmental and government disclosure requirements, and material facts or defects. Illinois state-specific laws add their own questions and distinctions. This is a domain allocation, not a promise about the number on each topic here.
Which Illinois property and transfers need the seller report?
Apply sections 5 and 10, then section 15’s actual exemptions. The property definition includes qualifying residential property with one to four dwelling units, condominiums and specified cooperative interests, with particular manufactured-home treatment. Covered transfers are broader than a simple deed sale and include specified installment, beneficial-interest, lease-option and ground-lease arrangements. Do not assume every commercial property or ordinary rental lease uses the same seller-report requirement.
Who completes the report, and must the seller investigate first?
The seller supplies the factual answers under the report’s actual-knowledge standard and instructions. Section 25 does not require a specific investigation just to complete the report, but information actually learned matters and the statutory protections have qualifications. The broker should not invent or substitute factual answers. A buyer can still need a qualified inspection, and other laws or contractual duties can require additional work.
What is a material defect under the Illinois report?
The form defines it as a condition with a substantial adverse effect on the residential property’s value or a significant impairment of future occupants’ health or safety, unless the seller reasonably believes the condition has been corrected. Apply the actual question too: the form includes historical and other statements, not twenty-four interchangeable physical-defect questions. A claimed repair does not justify knowingly false answers or ignoring a newly learned problem.
Does No mean the property is defect-free?
No. The report warns that a seller’s lack of awareness is no guarantee a condition does not exist. It is not a warranty or a substitute for inspections or negotiated warranties. Read an answer in the context of the actual question, knowledge standard, explanation instructions and correction qualification.
When are the initial report and supplements due?
Section 20 requires the covered written report before signing a contract. Under section 30, awareness before closing of an error, inaccuracy or omission in a previously delivered report or supplement requires a written supplement delivered by an authorized section 50 method. That does not mean every change creates the same buyer remedy or an automatic repair agreement.
Does as-is remove disclosure duties?
Not by itself. The Illinois report expressly recognizes as-is bargaining while retaining disclosure requirements. Read the contract’s actual risk allocation and the applicable law. An as-is label is not permission for fraud, concealment or a knowingly false report, and it does not by itself establish an exemption under each separate program.
Does the seller’s report replace the broker’s duty?
No. Identify the actual relationship and rule. Section 15-25 imposes honesty duties toward customers and its specific seller-client licensee duty for actually known latent material adverse physical facts not discoverable by a prospective-buyer customer’s reasonably diligent inspection. Client duties arise under section 15-15 as well. A report exemption or the seller’s demand for secrecy does not automatically remove the licensee’s independent obligations.
When do I choose an inspection, survey or public-record check?
A physical-system or condition concern usually calls for the appropriate inspector or specialist. A boundary or improvement-location issue calls for suitable professional surveying, with title or instrument review for legal rights. A permit or proposed-use concern calls for the relevant authority and records. Several can be needed together; a home inspection does not grant legal access, and a survey does not diagnose a roof leak.
What is required for covered pre-1978 lead transactions?
Apply the target-housing definition and actual exceptions. Before the purchaser or lessee is obligated, address the approved pamphlet, known lead information, available required reports and the applicable warning and acknowledgments. A purchaser also has the section 745.110 evaluation opportunity. State and local requirements can apply separately, and the Illinois seller report alone does not complete the federal process.
Can the buyer change or waive the lead inspection opportunity?
A different period can be mutually agreed in writing. The purchaser can waive the opportunity in writing. This concerns the inspection or risk-assessment opportunity, not permission to omit the otherwise required disclosure package. It is not a universal ten-day cancellation right or a renter’s automatic testing window.
Does federal lead disclosure require testing or removal?
The disclosure rule itself does not impose a universal seller-funded test or lead-removal requirement. It addresses known information, available records, documentation and the purchaser opportunity. Other lead-health, federally assisted housing, renovation or contract requirements must be evaluated separately rather than assuming this rule resolves all lead obligations.
How is Illinois radon disclosure different?
For a covered sale, section 10 requires its approved pamphlet and radon disclosure before the buyer is obligated, with accurate required information and records. It does not itself require seller testing or mitigation. Section 20 has its own exclusions, including the specified third-story-or-higher provision; an exclusion is not proof of no health risk. Sections 26 and 30 provide a separate tenant framework, not a copy of the federal lead purchaser period. Use the detailed radon guide for those conditions and timelines.
Are suspected environmental conditions a broker’s diagnosis?
No. Distinguish a verified observation or known report from an unconfirmed cause, hazard level or cleanup finding. Appropriate specialists and records may be necessary for moisture, tanks, soil, water, asbestos or other concerns. A general home inspection, an appraisal or one environmental document does not certify every environmental issue. The applicable disclosure duty still depends on the governing facts and law.
When can a late initial seller report support termination?
Section 40(a) concerns an initial report delivered contrary to section 20 after all parties signed and disclosing a qualifying material defect; Yes answers to statements 1 and 2 alone do not supply that trigger. It gives the buyer five business days after receipt, with the specified deposit or down-payment return. Section 40(c) requires delivered written notice to at least one seller by a section 50 method at the provided or contractual contact information. This right ends at conveyance. A missing or refused report before conveyance and knowing violations also require the separate section 55 analysis; do not assume every late, missing or inaccurate document has the same remedy.
Does every supplemental report give five days to cancel?
No. Section 40(b) instead specifies alternative grounds: a defect resulting from an error, inaccuracy or omission actually known by the seller when the prior disclosure was completed and signed; a defect not repairable before closing; or a repairable defect for which the seller declines or fails to agree in writing to repair within five business days after delivery of the supplement. That last provision concerns the seller’s response. Section 40(c)’s written notice and conveyance cutoff apply, and contract or section 55 remedies are preserved. Do not substitute a universal five-day buyer period.
Does an exemption under one law remove every disclosure requirement?
No. Identify the program, property, transfer, person and exact exception separately. A seller-report exemption is not automatically a federal lead or Illinois radon exemption, and it does not erase a licensee duty whose own conditions are met. Likewise, a purchaser’s written waiver of the lead evaluation opportunity is not an exemption from the remaining covered lead package.
Must a licensee disclose every nonphysical or off-site event?
Section 15-20 supplies specific protection against causes of action for a licensee’s failure to disclose listed medical, nonphysical and off-site information. Its qualifications matter: for example, the identified on-site occurrence must have no effect on physical condition, environment or structures, and the specified off-site physical conditions must not substantially adversely affect the subject property’s value. This is not permission to make false statements, disregard a separate applicable duty or treat every off-site physical concern as irrelevant.
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Official sources and scope
Reviewed October 26, 2026. The identified Illinois statutes and federal regulations supply the specific requirements; official guidance supports the practical distinctions. The examples state their assumptions. This guide does not complete a disclosure form, diagnose a property or determine an actual repair, termination, liability or escrow dispute.
- PSI: national property-disclosures outline
- 765 ILCS 77/5: covered property and seller definitions
- 765 ILCS 77/10: covered transfers
- 765 ILCS 77/15: seller-report exemptions
- 765 ILCS 77/20: initial report timing
- 765 ILCS 77/25: knowledge and statutory qualifications
- 765 ILCS 77/30: written supplemental disclosures
- 765 ILCS 77/35: report statements and instructions
- 765 ILCS 77/40: initial and supplemental report remedies
- 765 ILCS 77/45: other disclosure obligations and remedies
- 765 ILCS 77/50: delivery methods
- 765 ILCS 77/55: missing reports and knowing violations
- 225 ILCS 454/15-15: licensee duties to clients
- 225 ILCS 454/15-25: customer honesty and physical disclosures
- 225 ILCS 454/15-20: specified nondisclosure protections
- Capiccioni: material information and misrepresentation
- 40 CFR 745, subpart F: lead disclosure requirements
- EPA: practical lead disclosure guidance
- 420 ILCS 46/5: radon definitions
- 420 ILCS 46/10: covered radon sale disclosures
- 420 ILCS 46/20: separate exclusions
- 420 ILCS 46/26: separate tenant framework
- CFPB: an inspection is separate from an appraisal
- 68 IAC 1270.56: surveying scope and standards
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