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Real estate column wrong about Illinois

This letter is in response to a real estate column posted on Oct. 24 by Barry Stone, titled, "Who is the buyer's agent working for?" The writer misstates the law regarding real estate brokerage in Illinois. In deference to the author, his position might well be the case in California or other states, but is not the law governing real estate brokerage in Illinois.

Here, there is a legal presumption that a broker is the designated (or legal) agent for the consumer with whom he is working. In other words, if a broker represents the buyer in the real estate transaction, he represents the buyer and not the seller as the article suggests. This is true regardless of who pays the buyer broker's compensation. The Illinois Real Estate License Act of 2000 defines designated agency to mean that the agent in a brokerage office who is assigned to assist a particular client fully represents that client's best interests and owes fiduciary-like duties to that client which are set forth in the statute. One of those duties is to protect that client's confidential information from opposing parties.

The act contains specific provisions stating that compensation does not determine agency and that there is effectively no subagency in Illinois. This has been the case regarding Illinois real estate brokerage since 1995. Thank you for allowing this space to clarify the law of designated agency as it relates to real estate brokerage in Illinois.

Gary Clayton

CEO

Illinois Association of Realtors

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