State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
Legislation

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[ Introduced ][ Engrossed ][ Senate Amendment 001 ]

90_SB0897enr

      225 ILCS 455/18.1         from Ch. 111, par. 5818.1
          Amends the Real Estate License  Act  of  1983  to  add  a
      caption.
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 1        AN  ACT  to  amend the Real Estate License Act of 1983 by
 2    changing Section 18.
 3        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 4    represented in the General Assembly:
 5        Section  5.   The  Real  Estate  License  Act  of 1983 is
 6    amended by changing Section 18 as follows:
 7        (225 ILCS 455/18) (from Ch. 111, par. 5818)
 8        Sec. 18.  The Office of Banks and Real Estate may  refuse
 9    to  issue or renew a license, may place on probation, suspend
10    or revoke any license, or may reprimand  or  impose  a  civil
11    penalty not to exceed $10,000 upon any licensee hereunder for
12    any one or any combination of the following causes:
13        (a)  Where  the  applicant  or  licensee has, by false or
14    fraudulent representation, obtained or  sought  to  obtain  a
15    license.
16        (b)  Where  the  applicant or licensee has been convicted
17    of any crime, an essential element of which is dishonesty  or
18    fraud  or larceny, embezzlement, obtaining money, property or
19    credit by false pretenses or by means of a  confidence  game,
20    has  been convicted in this or another state of a crime which
21    is a felony  under  the  laws  of  this  State  or  has  been
22    convicted of a felony in a federal court.
23        (c)  Where the applicant or licensee has been adjudged to
24    be  a person under legal disability or subject to involuntary
25    admission or to meet the standard for judicial  admission  as
26    provided  in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
27    Code, as now or hereafter amended.
28        (d)  Where the licensee performs or attempts  to  perform
29    any  act  as  a  broker  or  salesperson  in  a  retail sales
30    establishment, from an office, desk  or  space  that  is  not
31    separated  from  the  main  retail business by a separate and
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 1    distinct area within such establishment.
 2        (e)  Discipline  by  another  state,  the   District   of
 3    Columbia,  territory,  or  foreign nation of a licensee if at
 4    least one of the grounds for that discipline is the  same  as
 5    or  the  equivalent  of one of the grounds for discipline set
 6    forth in this Act.
 7        (f)  Where the applicant or licensee has engaged in  real
 8    estate  activity  without  a license, or after the licensee's
 9    license was expired, or while the license was inoperative.
10        (g)  Where the applicant or licensee attempts to  subvert
11    or  cheat  on the Real Estate License Exam, or aids and abets
12    an applicant to subvert or cheat on the Real  Estate  License
13    Exam administered pursuant to this Act.
14        (h)  Where  the  licensee  in performing or attempting to
15    perform or pretending to perform  any  act  as  a  broker  or
16    salesperson,  or  where  such  licensee,  in handling his own
17    property, whether held by  deed,  option,  or  otherwise,  is
18    found guilty of:
19             1.  Making  any  substantial  misrepresentation,  or
20        untruthful advertising;
21             2.  Making  any false promises of a character likely
22        to influence, persuade, or induce;
23             3.  Pursuing a  continued  and  flagrant  course  of
24        misrepresentation or the making of false promises through
25        agents, salespersons or advertising or otherwise;
26             4.  Any  misleading  or  untruthful  advertising, or
27        using any trade name or insignia  of  membership  in  any
28        real  estate  organization of which the licensee is not a
29        member;
30             5.  Acting for more than one party in a  transaction
31        without  providing written notice to all parties for whom
32        the licensee acts;
33             6.  Representing or attempting to represent a broker
34        other than the employer;
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 1             7.  Failure to account for or to remit any moneys or
 2        documents coming into their possession  which  belong  to
 3        others;
 4             8.  Failure  to  maintain  and  deposit in a special
 5        account, separate  and  apart  from  personal  and  other
 6        business  accounts, all escrow monies belonging to others
 7        entrusted to a licensee while acting  as  a  real  estate
 8        broker, escrow agent, or temporary custodian of the funds
 9        of  others,  or  failure to maintain all escrow monies on
10        deposit  in  such  account  until  the  transactions  are
11        consummated or terminated, except to the extent that such
12        monies, or any part thereof, shall be disbursed prior  to
13        the  consummation  or  termination in accordance with (i)
14        the  written  direction  of   the   principals   to   the
15        transaction  or  their  duly  authorized  agents, or (ii)
16        directions  providing  for  the  release,   payment,   or
17        distribution  of  escrow  monies contained in any written
18        contract signed by the principals to the  transaction  or
19        their  duly  authorized  agents.   Such  account shall be
20        noninterest bearing, unless the character of the  deposit
21        is  such  that  payment  of interest thereon is otherwise
22        required  by  law  or  unless  the  principals   to   the
23        transaction  specifically  require,  in writing, that the
24        deposit be placed in an interest bearing account;
25             9.  Failure to make available  to  the  real  estate
26        enforcement  personnel  of  the  Office of Banks and Real
27        Estate during normal business hours  all  escrow  records
28        and  related  documents maintained in connection with the
29        practice of real estate;
30             10.  Failing to furnish copies upon request  of  all
31        documents  relating  to  a real estate transaction to all
32        parties executing them;
33             11.  Paying a commission or  valuable  consideration
34        to any person for acts or services performed in violation
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 1        of this Act;
 2             12.  Having     demonstrated     unworthiness     or
 3        incompetency  to  act  as a broker or salesperson in such
 4        manner as to endanger the interest of the public;
 5             13.  Commingling the money  or  property  of  others
 6        with his own;
 7             14.  Employing  any  person on a purely temporary or
 8        single deal basis as a means of evading the law regarding
 9        payment   of   commission   to   nonlicensees   on   some
10        contemplated transactions;
11             15.  Permitting the use of his license as  a  broker
12        to enable a salesperson or unlicensed person to operate a
13        real estate business without actual participation therein
14        and control thereof by the broker;
15             16.  Any  other  conduct,  whether  of the same or a
16        different character from that specified in  this  Section
17        which constitutes dishonest dealing;
18             17.  Displaying  a  "for rent" or "for sale" sign on
19        any property without the written consent of an  owner  or
20        his  duly  authorized  agent, or advertising by any means
21        that any property is for sale or  for  rent  without  the
22        written consent of the owner or his authorized agent;
23             18.  Failing to provide information requested by the
24        Office  of  Banks  and Real Estate, within 30 days of the
25        request, either as the result of  a  formal  or  informal
26        complaint  to the Office of Banks and Real Estate or as a
27        result of a random audit conducted by the Office of Banks
28        and Real Estate, which would indicate a violation of this
29        Act;
30             19.  Disregarding or violating any provision of this
31        Act, or the published rules or regulations promulgated by
32        the Office of Banks and Real Estate to enforce this  Act,
33        or   aiding  or  abetting  any  individual,  partnership,
34        limited liability company, or corporation in disregarding
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 1        any provision of this Act,  or  the  published  rules  or
 2        regulations  promulgated  by the Office of Banks and Real
 3        Estate to enforce this Act;
 4             20.  Advertising   any   property   for   sale    or
 5        advertising  any  transaction  of  any  kind or character
 6        relating to the sale of  property  by  whatsoever  means,
 7        without  clearly disclosing in or on such advertising one
 8        of the following:  the name of the firm  with  which  the
 9        licensee is associated, if a sole broker, evidence of the
10        broker's  occupation, or a name with respect to which the
11        broker has complied with the requirements of "An  Act  in
12        relation  to the use of an assumed name in the conduct or
13        transaction of business in this State", approved July 17,
14        1941, as amended, whether such advertising is done by the
15        broker or by any salesperson or broker  employed  by  the
16        broker;
17             21.  "Offering guaranteed sales plans" as defined in
18        subparagraph  (A)  except  to  the extent hereinafter set
19        forth:
20                  (A)  A "guaranteed  sales  plan"  is  any  real
21             estate  purchase  or  sales  plan  whereby  a broker
22             enters into a conditional or  unconditional  written
23             contract  with  a  seller  by  the  terms of which a
24             broker agrees to purchase a property of  the  seller
25             within  a  specified  period  of  time at a specific
26             price in the event  the  property  is  not  sold  in
27             accordance  with  the  terms  of  a listing contract
28             between the broker and the seller or on other  terms
29             acceptable to the seller;
30                  (B)  A  broker  offering  a  "guaranteed  sales
31             plan"  shall  provide  the details and conditions of
32             such plan in writing to the party to whom  the  plan
33             is offered;
34                  (C)  A  broker  offering  a  "guaranteed  sales
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 1             plan" shall provide to the party to whom the plan is
 2             offered,  evidence of sufficient financial resources
 3             to satisfy the commitment to purchase undertaken  by
 4             the broker in the plan;
 5                  (D)  Any  broker  offering  a "guaranteed sales
 6             plan" shall undertake to market the property of  the
 7             seller  subject  to  the  plan in the same manner in
 8             which the broker would market  any  other  property,
 9             unless  such  agreement  with  the  seller  provides
10             otherwise;
11                  (E)  Any  broker  who  fails  to  perform  on a
12             "guaranteed sales plan" in  strict  accordance  with
13             its  terms  shall  be  subject  to all the penalties
14             provided in this Act for violations thereof, and, in
15             addition,  shall  be  subject  to  a  civil  penalty
16             payable to the party injured by the  default  in  an
17             amount of up to $10,000.
18             22.  Influencing or attempting to  influence, by any
19        words  or acts a prospective seller, purchaser, occupant,
20        landlord or tenant of real  estate,  in  connection  with
21        viewing,  buying  or  leasing  of  real  estate, so as to
22        promote,  or  tend  to  promote,   the   continuance   or
23        maintenance   of   racially  and  religiously  segregated
24        housing, or so  as  to  retard,  obstruct  or  discourage
25        racially  integrated  housing on or in any street, block,
26        neighborhood or community;
27             23.  Engaging  in  any  act  which   constitutes   a
28        violation  of Section 3-102, 3-103, 3-104 or 3-105 of the
29        Illinois Human Rights Act, whether or not a complaint has
30        been filed  with  or  adjudicated  by  the  Human  Rights
31        Commission;
32             24.  Inducing  any  party  to  a contract of sale or
33        listing agreement to break such a  contract  of  sale  or
34        listing  agreement  for  the  purpose of substituting, in
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 1        lieu  thereof,  a  new  contract  for  sale  or   listing
 2        agreement with a third party.
 3             25.  Negotiating  a  sale, exchange or lease of real
 4        property  directly  with  an  owner  or  lessor   without
 5        authority  from  the listing broker if the licensee knows
 6        that the owner or lessor has a written exclusive  listing
 7        agreement covering the property with another broker.
 8             26.  Where a licensee is also an attorney, acting as
 9        the  attorney  for  either the buyer or the seller in the
10        same transaction in which such licensee is acting or  has
11        acted as a broker or salesperson.
12             27.  Advertising or offering merchandise or services
13        as  free  if  any conditions or obligations necessary for
14        receiving such merchandise or services are not  disclosed
15        in  the  same advertisement or offer.  Such conditions or
16        obligations  include,  but  are  not  limited   to,   the
17        requirement  that  the  recipient  attend  a  promotional
18        activity  or  visit  a real estate site.  As used in this
19        paragraph 27, "free"  includes  terms  such  as  "award",
20        "prize",  "no charge," "free of charge," "without charge"
21        and similar words or  phrases  which  reasonably  lead  a
22        person  to  believe  that  he  may  receive,  or has been
23        selected to receive,  something  of  value,  without  any
24        conditions or obligations on the part of the recipient.
25             28.  Disregarding  or violating any provision of the
26        Illinois Real Estate Time-Share Act, enacted by the  84th
27        General  Assembly,  or the published rules or regulations
28        promulgated by the Office of Banks  and  Real  Estate  to
29        enforce that Act.
30             29.  A  finding  that  the licensee has violated the
31        terms of the disciplinary order issued by the  Office  of
32        Banks and Real Estate.
33             30.  Paying   fees  or  commissions  directly  to  a
34        licensee employed by another broker.
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 1             31.  Requiring a party to a transaction who is not a
 2        client of the licensee, as defined in Article 4, to allow
 3        the licensee to retain a portion of the escrow monies for
 4        payment of the licensee's commission  or  expenses  as  a
 5        condition for release of the escrow monies to that party.
 6    (Source: P.A. 88-683, eff. 1-24-95; 89-508, eff. 7-3-96.)
 7        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
 8    becoming law.

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