How to Renew an Illinois Real Estate License
Written by Kacie Goff
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) Division of Real Estate (DRE) might be a mouthful, but if you have a real estate license in the Prairie State, it needs to be on your radar. If you don’t stay up to date with them, you could miss your license renewal deadline, compromising your ability to legally handle real estate transactions.
Fortunately, when you know the steps the DRE requires, managing your license renewal can actually be pretty straightforward. To help there, we’ve outlined the process to renew a broker, managing broker, or residential leasing agent license in Illinois.
Step 1: Figure out your deadline
Your renewal is due on a two-year cycle. In Illinois:
- Broker renewals are due by April 30 of every even-numbered year (e.g., 2022, 2024, 2026)
- Managing broker renewals are due by April 30 of every odd-numbered year (e.g., 2023, 2025, 2027)
- Residential leasing agent renewals are due by July 31 of every even-numbered year (e.g., 2022, 2024, 2026)
To make sure you don’t miss it, put a reminder on your calendar. You probably want to mark down that reminder at least a month before your deadline so you have plenty of time to knock out the other steps required to renew your Illinois real estate license.
Step 2: Complete your continuing education
Like the deadline, your continuing education (CE) requirement depends on your license type.
Brokers need 12 hours that break down as follows:
Managing brokers need 24 hours, including:
Residential leasing agents need eight hours of CE during each two-year renewal cycle, including 1 hour of sexual harassment prevention training.
Here’s the upside: no matter how many hours you need, you have the option to take them online and on-demand. As long as you get your CE from a state-approved provider, you can work toward your CE requirement from any computer, tablet, or smartphone whenever you have time.
Once you finish, your CE provider should report your course completion to the DRE for you — but hold onto the certificates of completion you get. The state can ask you to supply that evidence of your compliance with the CE requirement at any point.
Step 3: Submit your renewal and fee
The online license renewal portal opens 90 days before your renewal deadline. If you didn’t receive a renewal notice from the IDFPR with your PIN number, you can use your social security number and your date of birth to get into the portal. If you have trouble getting into your account, though, you can email fpr.realestate@illinois.gov to request a reset of your login info.
For help with the renewal process, here are guides for:
If you changed your legal name or your license status, you might need to submit a paper renewal rather than renew online. The IDFPR links PDFs of the upcoming renewal forms on the DRE webpage. If you mail in your renewal, send it to:
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
Attn: Licensing Unit
320 W Washington St, 3rd Floor
Springfield IL 62786
Whether you renew online or by mail, you need to include your renewal fee. It’s $150 for brokers and $100 for residential leasing agents. If you miss your deadline, you’ll need to pay a $50 late fee, too.
Mark your calendar and follow these three steps to keep your Illinois real estate license active.