|
|
||||
| Public Act 095-0851 |
||||
| ||||
| ||||
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(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2010)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.)
| ||