What a real estate agent's website must show in Illinois

Does a website count as advertising in Illinois?

• The Act applies to advertising "whether in print, via the Internet, or through social media, digital forums, or any other media". The rule adds that unsolicited marketing and prospecting count as advertising, while listing data behind a password or login on a broker's site does not. 225 ILCS 454/10-3068 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

  “No advertising, whether in print, via the Internet, or through social media, digital forums, or any other media, shall be fraudulent, deceptive, inherently misleading, or proven to be misleading in practice.”

What every advertisement must show

• The sponsoring broker's business name and your name, in all advertisements, including business cards. For a franchise, the broker's name includes the franchise affiliation as well as the individual firm's name. 225 ILCS 454/10-30

  “The sponsoring broker's business name and the name of the licensee must appear in all advertisements, including business cards.”

• The sponsoring broker's business name at least equal in size to, or larger than, the team name or your individual name. The rule accepts any one of three tests: larger font, a larger height-by-width area, or a larger logo that contains the broker's name. 225 ILCS 454/10-3068 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

  “the sponsoring broker's business name shall be at least equal in size or larger than the team name or that of the individual”

• If you are the designated managing broker registered with the Department, that title in any advertising that carries your name, other than "For Sale" signs. 225 ILCS 454/10-3068 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

Websites specifically

• No deceptive or misleading URL or domain name. 225 ILCS 454/10-35

  “use a URL or domain name that is deceptive or misleading”

• No framing of another sponsoring broker's or an MLS's website, deceptively or without authorisation. 225 ILCS 454/10-35

• No phishing, and no deceptive use of metatags, keywords, usernames, social handles or other devices to drive or divert Internet traffic. 225 ILCS 454/10-3568 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

• If you intend to sell or share consumer information gathered through your site, social media or digital forums, you must disclose that intention to consumers in a timely and readily apparent manner. 225 ILCS 454/10-35

• Listing information on your or your broker's site that sits behind a firewall, password or registration is not treated as advertising. 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

Team names

• A team name may not contain inherently misleading terms such as "company", "realty", "real estate", "agency", "associates", "brokers", "properties" or "property" — unless, under the rule, the term is followed by the word "team". 225 ILCS 454/10-3068 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

  “Use of terms in a team name that are inherently misleading (e.g., company, realty, real estate, agency, associates, brokers, properties, property), unless the term is followed by the word "team".”

• A logo, emblem or trademarked image only counts as the sponsoring broker's name if it actually contains the broker's name. 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

What gets agents in trouble

• Blind advertisements, in any media. 225 ILCS 454/10-30

• A sponsored licensee advertising under their own name, or holding themselves out as being in the real estate business without the sponsoring broker's business name. 225 ILCS 454/10-30

• Advertising another broker's exclusive listing without that broker's permission and identification. 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

• Leaving a sold, expired or terminated listing advertised beyond a reasonable time. 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

• Advertising an auction as absolute or without reserve when a minimum or opening bid is required. 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

• Advertising that creates a reasonable likelihood of confusion about a property's permitted use. 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

Worth knowing

• Illinois does not require a license number in advertising under §10-30 or §1450.715; it requires the sponsoring broker's business name and your name at the prescribed relative size. 225 ILCS 454/10-3068 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

• Advertising property you own: "broker owned" or "agent owned" is sufficient disclosure. A sponsored licensee selling solely-owned property "By Owner" must still mark the ad "broker owned" or "agent owned" and may not use the sponsoring broker's name in a way that suggests a brokerage is involved. 225 ILCS 454/10-30

• Dates: §10-30 as amended by P.A. 103-236, effective 1 January 2024; §10-35 added by P.A. 101-357, effective 9 August 2019; §1450.715 amended at 40 Ill. Reg. 12588 (2016) with later amendments effective 25 January 2019 and 23 February 2021. Both Act sections are scheduled for repeal on 1 January 2030 unless re-enacted. 225 ILCS 454/10-30225 ILCS 454/10-3568 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715

How many agents this applies to

6,753 real estate agents were working in Illinois when we last counted, across 53brokerage offices. That is agents with a live profile on a brokerage's own site, not everyone holding a licence, so it is the population these rules actually bind day to day. The Illinois brokerage directory breaks it down office by office. Counted 2026-09-13.

Sources

This page paraphrases the rules; the rules themselves are what bind you. Each was read on the date shown. If the IDFPR changes a rule, the page will lag until it is read again.

• 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1450.715 — Advertising — read 2026-09-06
• 225 ILCS 454/10-30 — Advertising (Real Estate License Act of 2000) — read 2026-09-06
• 225 ILCS 454/10-35 — Internet and related advertising — read 2026-09-06
• Regulator: Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Real Estate

Not legal advice. When a rule and this page disagree, the rule wins; when in doubt, ask your broker or the IDFPR.

Questions people ask