Mario Treto, director Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Division of Real Estate, shares the highlights of the changes to the Real Estate License Act.

• Increased the post-license education requirement from 30 hours to 45 hour in order to enhance professionalism and skills for new brokers entering the profession.
• Changed the minimum age requirement to enter the profession from 21 to 18 years of age. “Reducing the age of entry for licensure gives more people the opportunity to enter the real estate profession,” said Treto.
• Modernized language in the Act to include social media and digital forums in the definition of Advertising.
• Define the term “Team” in order to reflect current business practices in the real estate industry. “Team” means any 2 or more licensees who work together to provide real estate brokerage services, represent themselves to the public as being part of a team or group, are identified by a team name that is different than their sponsoring broker’s name, and together are supervised by the same managing broker and sponsored by the same sponsoring broker. “Team” does not mean a separately organized, incorporated, or legal entity.
• Enhanced consumer protections by streamlining the process for consumers to recover certain monetary damages from the Real Estate Recovery Fund when a licensee has been found in violation of the Act.