Illinois (IL) · Open house rules

Open house rules for Illinois agents

What Illinois asks at the door: putting in writing that you are not the visitor's agent and when that is due, why an autodialed or prerecorded follow-up carries statutory damages, why nobody signs a buyer agreement to walk through, and who keeps custody of the electronic disclosures.

Last reviewed August 31, 2026Every claim links to a primary source

This is not legal advice

We are software people, not lawyers. This page is a plain reading of public Illinois sources, gathered so you can go read them yourself. Rules change, and how any rule applies to your situation is a question for your broker, your association, or an attorney licensed in Illinois.

When do you tell an open house visitor you are not their agent?

At an open house on your own listing you represent the seller, so the visitors walking through are people you are not representing. Illinois requires a licensee to disclose in writing to a customer that the licensee is not acting as that customer's agent, and the deadline is set by the conversation rather than by the event. The disclosure has to land at a time intended to prevent that visitor from handing you confidential information, and in no case later than the preparation of an offer to purchase or lease. The practical tipping point is when someone stops asking about the house and starts asking about loan options, other listings, or what they can afford. Keep the written notice at the sign-in table, or on the sign-in screen, so you can give it the moment that turn happens instead of after.

A licensee shall disclose in writing to a customer that the licensee is not acting as the agent of the customer at a time intended to prevent disclosure of confidential information from a customer to a licensee, but in no event later than the preparation of an offer to purchase or lease real property.
Illinois Real Estate License Act of 2000, 225 ILCS 454/15-35 (opens the source in a new tab)

Checked at the source on August 31, 2026

Can you auto dial or drop a recorded message on your open house list?

Illinois's autodialer law is the state rule most likely to reach your open house follow-up, and it turns on consent. Playing a prerecorded message placed by an autodialer without the consent of the called party is a violation, and the same section lets a consumer recover $500 in statutory damages per violation on top of three times actual damages plus costs and reasonable attorney fees, with the Attorney General able to pursue it as an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. So if your CRM auto dials the numbers you collected at the door or drops recorded voicemails on them, capture the consent in plain language on the sign-in form and keep the timestamped record with the lead. The Act is written around autodialers and recorded messages, so calling or texting a visitor yourself, one at a time, is a different question.

It is a violation of this Act to play a prerecorded message placed by an autodialer without the consent of the called party.
Illinois Automatic Telephone Dialers Act, 815 ILCS 305/30 (opens the source in a new tab)

Checked at the source on August 31, 2026

Does an Illinois open house visitor have to sign a buyer agreement?

Nobody signs a buyer agreement to walk through your open house. Illinois REALTORS answered this directly for an agent sitting their seller's listing: the practice changes do not require a written agreement with the buyer when you are representing the seller. What the visitor gets instead is the Notice of No Agency, provided at a time intended to prevent them from giving you confidential information, which the association places at the point where a visitor asks about other listings or loan options or starts expressing a real interest in the property. The line only moves if you take that visitor on yourself, including as a dual agent with your seller's consent, and then a written buyer brokerage agreement is required. The association is explicit that having the buyer sign only the dual agency consent form is not enough.

The practice changes do not require a written agreement with the buyer when you are representing the seller.
Illinois REALTORS, Latest Legal Hot Topics: How recent practice changes affect open houses (opens the source in a new tab)

Checked at the source on August 31, 2026

Who keeps the record of what a visitor signs at your door?

A digital sign-in can carry the disclosure and take the visitor's signature. The Division's recordkeeping rule says a disclosure required by the Act may be given in physical form or, if both parties agree, electronically, and may incorporate electronic signatures. The catch is custody: copies of all disclosures, physical or electronic, must be retained by the sponsoring broker, and the same rule lists notices of designated agency or no agency among the transaction records that have to be kept for five years and made available to the Division on request. So what a visitor signs at your door is your brokerage's record rather than a private list living on your own laptop. If you hold those records electronically the rule also expects a back-up at reasonable intervals and at least once a month.

Any disclosure required by the Act, or this Part may be provided in physical form or, if agreed to by both parties, in electronic format and may incorporate electronic signatures. Copies of all disclosures, whether in physical or electronic form, must be retained by the sponsoring broker.
Illinois Administrative Code Title 68, Section 1450.755 (Recordkeeping) (opens the source in a new tab)

Checked at the source on August 31, 2026

How this page is put together

  • Every claim above carries a link to a primary source, plus the exact words from that source that support it. If a claim cannot be quoted, it is not on this page.
  • Each claim shows the date a human last opened that link and confirmed the quote still says what it says.
  • We only cover what we could source. A topic you were hoping to find may be one we have not confirmed yet, so treat this as a starting point rather than a complete list of everything Illinois expects of you.

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