Public Act 095-0851
 
HB1361 Enrolled LRB095 08275 RAS 28447 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Real Estate License Act of 2000 is amended
by changing Section 20-20 as follows:
 
    (225 ILCS 454/20-20)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2010)
    Sec. 20-20. Disciplinary actions; causes. OBRE may refuse
to issue or renew a license, may place on probation, suspend,
or revoke any license, or may censure, reprimand, or otherwise
discipline or impose a civil fine not to exceed $25,000 upon
any licensee hereunder for any one or any combination of the
following causes:
    (a) When the applicant or licensee has, by false or
fraudulent representation, obtained or sought to obtain a
license.
    (b) When the applicant or licensee has been convicted of
any crime, an essential element of which is dishonesty or fraud
or larceny, embezzlement, or obtaining money, property, or
credit by false pretenses or by means of a confidence game, has
been convicted in this or another state of a crime that is a
felony under the laws of this State, or has been convicted of a
felony in a federal court.
    (c) When the applicant or licensee has been adjudged to be
a person under legal disability or subject to involuntary
admission or to meet the standard for judicial admission as
provided in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
Code.
    (d) When the licensee performs or attempts to perform any
act as a broker or salesperson in a retail sales establishment
from an office, desk, or space that is not separated from the
main retail business by a separate and distinct area within the
establishment.
    (e) Discipline of a licensee by another state, the District
of Columbia, a territory, a foreign nation, a governmental
agency, or any other entity authorized to impose discipline if
at least one of the grounds for that discipline is the same as
or the equivalent of one of the grounds for discipline set
forth in this Act, in which case the only issue will be whether
one of the grounds for that discipline is the same or
equivalent to one of the grounds for discipline under this Act.
    (f) When the applicant or licensee has engaged in real
estate activity without a license or after the licensee's
license was expired or while the license was inoperative.
    (g) When the applicant or licensee attempts to subvert or
cheat on the Real Estate License Exam or continuing education
exam or aids and abets an applicant to subvert or cheat on the
Real Estate License Exam or continuing education exam
administered pursuant to this Act.
    (h) When the licensee in performing, attempting to perform,
or pretending to perform any act as a broker, salesperson, or
leasing agent or when the licensee in handling his or her own
property, whether held by deed, option, or otherwise, is found
guilty of:
        (1) Making any substantial misrepresentation or
    untruthful advertising.
        (2) Making any false promises of a character likely to
    influence, persuade, or induce.
        (3) Pursuing a continued and flagrant course of
    misrepresentation or the making of false promises through
    licensees, employees, agents, advertising, or otherwise.
        (4) Any misleading or untruthful advertising, or using
    any trade name or insignia of membership in any real estate
    organization of which the licensee is not a member.
        (5) Acting for more than one party in a transaction
    without providing written notice to all parties for whom
    the licensee acts.
        (6) Representing or attempting to represent a broker
    other than the sponsoring broker.
        (7) Failure to account for or to remit any moneys or
    documents coming into his or her possession that belong to
    others.
        (8) Failure to maintain and deposit in a special
    account, separate and apart from personal and other
    business accounts, all escrow moneys belonging to others
    entrusted to a licensee while acting as a real estate
    broker, escrow agent, or temporary custodian of the funds
    of others or failure to maintain all escrow moneys on
    deposit in the account until the transactions are
    consummated or terminated, except to the extent that the
    moneys, or any part thereof, shall be:
            (A) disbursed prior to the consummation or
        termination (i) in accordance with (i) the written
        direction of the principals to the transaction or their
        duly authorized agents, (ii) in accordance with
        directions providing for the release, payment, or
        distribution of escrow moneys contained in any written
        contract signed by the principals to the transaction or
        their duly authorized agents, or (iii) pursuant to an
        order of a court of competent jurisdiction; or
            (B) deemed abandoned and transferred to the Office
        of the State Treasurer to be handled as unclaimed
        property pursuant to the Uniform Disposition of
        Unclaimed Property Act. Escrow moneys may be deemed
        abandoned under this subparagraph (B) only: (i) in the
        absence of disbursement under subparagraph (A); (ii)
        in the absence of notice of the filing of any claim in
        a court of competent jurisdiction; and (iii) if 6
        months have elapsed after the receipt of a written
        demand for the escrow moneys from one of the principals
        to the transaction or the principal's duly authorized
        agent.
    The account shall be noninterest bearing, unless the
    character of the deposit is such that payment of interest
    thereon is otherwise required by law or unless the
    principals to the transaction specifically require, in
    writing, that the deposit be placed in an interest bearing
    account.
        (9) Failure to make available to the real estate
    enforcement personnel of OBRE during normal business hours
    all escrow records and related documents maintained in
    connection with the practice of real estate within 24 hours
    of a request for those documents by OBRE personnel.
        (10) Failing to furnish copies upon request of all
    documents relating to a real estate transaction to all
    parties executing them.
        (11) Failure of a sponsoring broker to timely provide
    information, sponsor cards, or termination of licenses to
    OBRE.
        (12) Engaging in dishonorable, unethical, or
    unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive,
    defraud, or harm the public.
        (13) Commingling the money or property of others with
    his or her own.
        (14) Employing any person on a purely temporary or
    single deal basis as a means of evading the law regarding
    payment of commission to nonlicensees on some contemplated
    transactions.
        (15) Permitting the use of his or her license as a
    broker to enable a salesperson or unlicensed person to
    operate a real estate business without actual
    participation therein and control thereof by the broker.
        (16) Any other conduct, whether of the same or a
    different character from that specified in this Section,
    that constitutes dishonest dealing.
        (17) Displaying a "for rent" or "for sale" sign on any
    property without the written consent of an owner or his or
    her duly authorized agent or advertising by any means that
    any property is for sale or for rent without the written
    consent of the owner or his or her authorized agent.
        (18) Failing to provide information requested by OBRE,
    within 30 days of the request, either as the result of a
    formal or informal complaint to OBRE or as a result of a
    random audit conducted by OBRE, which would indicate a
    violation of this Act.
        (19) Advertising by means of a blind advertisement,
    except as otherwise permitted in Section 10-30 of this Act.
        (20) Offering guaranteed sales plans, as defined in
    clause (A) of this subdivision (20), except to the extent
    hereinafter set forth:
            (A) A "guaranteed sales plan" is any real estate
        purchase or sales plan whereby a licensee enters into a
        conditional or unconditional written contract with a
        seller by the terms of which a licensee agrees to
        purchase a property of the seller within a specified
        period of time at a specific price in the event the
        property is not sold in accordance with the terms of a
        listing contract between the sponsoring broker and the
        seller or on other terms acceptable to the seller.
            (B) A licensee offering a guaranteed sales plan
        shall provide the details and conditions of the plan in
        writing to the party to whom the plan is offered.
            (C) A licensee offering a guaranteed sales plan
        shall provide to the party to whom the plan is offered
        evidence of sufficient financial resources to satisfy
        the commitment to purchase undertaken by the broker in
        the plan.
            (D) Any licensee offering a guaranteed sales plan
        shall undertake to market the property of the seller
        subject to the plan in the same manner in which the
        broker would market any other property, unless the
        agreement with the seller provides otherwise.
            (E) Any licensee who fails to perform on a
        guaranteed sales plan in strict accordance with its
        terms shall be subject to all the penalties provided in
        this Act for violations thereof and, in addition, shall
        be subject to a civil fine payable to the party injured
        by the default in an amount of up to $25,000.
        (21) Influencing or attempting to influence, by any
    words or acts, a prospective seller, purchaser, occupant,
    landlord, or tenant of real estate, in connection with
    viewing, buying, or leasing real estate, so as to promote
    or tend to promote the continuance or maintenance of
    racially and religiously segregated housing or so as to
    retard, obstruct, or discourage racially integrated
    housing on or in any street, block, neighborhood, or
    community.
        (22) Engaging in any act that constitutes a violation
    of any provision of Article 3 of the Illinois Human Rights
    Act, whether or not a complaint has been filed with or
    adjudicated by the Human Rights Commission.
        (23) Inducing any party to a contract of sale or lease
    or brokerage agreement to break the contract of sale or
    lease or brokerage agreement for the purpose of
    substituting, in lieu thereof, a new contract for sale or
    lease or brokerage agreement with a third party.
        (24) Negotiating a sale, exchange, or lease of real
    estate directly with any person if the licensee knows that
    the person has a written exclusive brokerage agreement with
    another broker, unless specifically authorized by that
    broker.
        (25) When a licensee is also an attorney, acting as the
    attorney for either the buyer or the seller in the same
    transaction in which the licensee is acting or has acted as
    a broker or salesperson.
        (26) Advertising or offering merchandise or services
    as free if any conditions or obligations necessary for
    receiving the merchandise or services are not disclosed in
    the same advertisement or offer. These conditions or
    obligations include without limitation the requirement
    that the recipient attend a promotional activity or visit a
    real estate site. As used in this subdivision (26), "free"
    includes terms such as "award", "prize", "no charge", "free
    of charge", "without charge", and similar words or phrases
    that reasonably lead a person to believe that he or she may
    receive or has been selected to receive something of value,
    without any conditions or obligations on the part of the
    recipient.
        (27) Disregarding or violating any provision of the
    Land Sales Registration Act of 1989, the Illinois Real
    Estate Time-Share Act, or the published rules promulgated
    by OBRE to enforce those Acts.
        (28) Violating the terms of a disciplinary order issued
    by OBRE.
        (29) Paying compensation in violation of Article 10 of
    this Act.
        (30) Requiring a party to a transaction who is not a
    client of the licensee to allow the licensee to retain a
    portion of the escrow moneys for payment of the licensee's
    commission or expenses as a condition for release of the
    escrow moneys to that party.
        (31) Disregarding or violating any provision of this
    Act or the published rules promulgated by OBRE to enforce
    this Act or aiding or abetting any individual, partnership,
    registered limited liability partnership, limited
    liability company, or corporation in disregarding any
    provision of this Act or the published rules promulgated by
    OBRE to enforce this Act.
        (32) Failing to provide the minimum services required
    by Section 15-75 of this Act when acting under an exclusive
    brokerage agreement.
(Source: P.A. 93-957, eff. 8-19-04.)