Illinois Still Uses a Two Step Dual Agency Consent Process

Illinois uses ‘Broker’ as its entry level license and structures the entire agency system around statutory duties that differ from the fiduciary model most candidates studied.

The IDFPR governs real estate licensing in Illinois. The PSI exam tests 60 state specific questions alongside 80 national questions, with a minimum passing score of 75%. Illinois requires a two-document dual agency consent process unlike any other state, draws a precise line between ministerial acts and agency, and runs a Recovery Fund with claim prerequisites that candidates almost universally misstate. These are the three areas that consistently separate candidates who prepared for Illinois from those who relied on national content. Let me break this down so you know exactly what you’re walking into.

Dual Agency Disclosures

Illinois’s dual agency consent process requires two separate documents at two separate points in time: a consent form before the relationship begins and a confirmation form when it is established. Most states require one document. Illinois requires both, and the PSI exam tests whether you know when each must be signed. Why did the Illinois dual agent have two folders? Because the law said so, and you don’t argue with the IDFPR. (Okay, that one was bad even by my standards.)

Illinois requires a two step process, first a consent form, then a confirmation form, each needing separate signatures with copies retained for five years, and the exam tests the timing, two-document requirement, and prohibition against dual agency when the licensee is a party to the transaction.

Illinois requires written dual agency consent before the agency relationship begins. Missouri’s Broker Disclosure Act sets different timing requirements, and Wisconsin uses its approved WB forms to handle consent. Neither state’s approach mirrors Illinois’s specific dual agency consent statute.

Know that consent alone is not sufficient. The confirmation form must also be signed, and copies of both must be retained for five years. The PSI exam will ask what the licensee must provide and when, and the answer always involves both steps. Presenting only the consent form and stopping there is the most common and most expensive error candidates make on this section.

Ministerial Acts vs. Fiduciary

The distinction between a ministerial act and a fiduciary act in Illinois is a legal boundary the PSI exam draws repeatedly. Candidates who assume that helping a non-client automatically creates agency will answer every one of those questions incorrectly.

Illinois is a statutory agency state where licensees may perform limited "ministerial acts" for the non-client customer, the exam tests whether ministerial acts create an agency relationship (they do not) and what happens if a licensee tries to contract away statutory duties.

Know which tasks qualify as ministerial under Illinois law: answering factual questions, providing information about price and terms, assisting with paperwork. Understand that performing these tasks for a non-client does not create an agency relationship. The IDFPR exam will present a scenario where a licensee assists both sides and ask whether agency was created. The answer turns entirely on whether the licensee crossed from ministerial acts into advocacy or advice, and knowing exactly where that line falls is what the exam is testing.

Real Estate Recovery Fund

Illinois’s Recovery Fund requires a court judgment before any claim is eligible. That prerequisite catches candidates trained on consumer protection frameworks in other states almost every time, because they assume the Commission handles claims directly.

The Fund caps claims at $50,000 per aggrieved person with a two year statute of limitations, the exam tests whether you need a court judgment first and the distinction between damages from a licensed agent versus an unlicensed employee.

The $50,000 per-person cap and the two-year statute of limitations are both tested, but the court judgment prerequisite is what most candidates miss entirely. Know that an aggrieved person can’t file directly with the IDFPR. A civil judgment must exist first. Know whether losses caused by an unlicensed employee rather than a licensed agent trigger Fund eligibility, because the PSI exam builds scenarios around that specific distinction. Here’s the thing most people miss: the Recovery Fund isn’t a consumer complaint line. It’s a last resort that requires a court’s validation before it opens.