Is the home in an HOA, condo, or co-op? (selling in Illinois)

HOA / condo (stringent). Illinois Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605 § 22.1 — resale disclosure with nine items: (1) declaration/bylaws/rules; (2) statement of liens and unpaid assessments; (3) anticipated capital expenditures for the current and succeeding 2 fiscal years; (4) reserve-fund status; (5) last fiscal year's financial statement; (6) pending suits/judgments in which the association is a party; (7) insurance; (8) any right of first refusal; (9) improvements or alterations. Association has up to 30 days to furnish; contracts routinely shorten this. Non-condo HOAs: Common Interest Community Association Act (765 ILCS 160). This is a compilation of published state requirements, not legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it or your sale. Laws and forms change, counties and cities add their own rules, and whether any of this applies to you depends on facts we don't know. Treat every item as a starting point for a question, not as an answer. Confirm anything you plan to rely on against the official source we link, and run your list past a title company or an attorney licensed in your state.

Selling a house in Illinois: the paperwork

Every document an Illinois sale commonly touches, who usually produces it, and the law behind it. In most sales the seller's own share is small, and this page shows you which part that usually is.

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17 documents · 16 questions · about a 9 minute read · free, and we don't ask for your email

4documents are usually the seller's

out of 17 in an Illinois sale

Tell us about your sale

Answer what you know. Skip what you don't. Every answer takes something off your list or explains why it stays on.

The home

Was the home built before 1978?

Older homes carry a federal lead paint disclosure. It's the same in every state.

Is the home in an HOA, condo, or co-op?

The association has to produce a package, and they can take weeks. Worth knowing early.

Is there a well or septic system?

Private water and sewer get their own questions, and sometimes their own inspection.

Is the home on the water, or in a flood zone?

Waterfront and floodplain homes pick up extra disclosures in most states.

Are there solar panels?

Owned panels transfer with a warranty. Leased ones need the lease company's sign-off.

Is it a manufactured or mobile home?

These can still hold a vehicle title, which has to be retired before the land can transfer.

You and the title

Are you married?

Some states need a spouse's signature even when they're not on the title. Many don't.

Is the home owned by a trust, LLC, or company?

An entity needs paperwork showing who's allowed to sign for it.

Did you inherit the home, or is it in probate?

How the home came to you decides which deed you can sign.

Does anyone rent or live in the home besides you?

A lease and its deposit transfer with the sale, and the tenant has to be told.

Do you file U.S. taxes as a citizen or resident?

If you don't, the buyer has to hold back part of the price and send it to the IRS.

Will you be at the closing yourself?

Signing from a distance takes a power of attorney, and it has to be arranged early.

Its history

Have you claimed on your home insurance in the last five years?

Past claims show up on a report the buyer's insurer can pull. Better it comes from you.

Is there work on the house that was never permitted, or a permit still open?

An open permit can stop a closing. Closing one out takes time you'll want in hand.

Has there been mold, structural repair, or environmental testing here?

What you know, you generally have to say. What you don't know, you don't have to go find.

Are the mineral, oil, or gas rights separate from the land?

In some states these are sold off separately, and the deed has to say so.

Usually the seller's to produce

In most sales nobody else prepares these. Whether each one applies to you depends on your home, your title, and your buyer.

Multi-Board / IL Realtors PSAIn the PSA
Residential Real Property Disclosure ReportPre-listing / pre-contract
Radon Awareness Act disclosure + IEMA pamphletPre-contractOn your list because has there been mold, structural repair, or environmental testing here
Federal lead paint disclosure (pre-1978)Attached to PSAOn your list because was the home built before 1978

Usually drafted for you to sign

These commonly arrive already written. Read them, and ask about anything that looks wrong before you sign.

FIRPTA non-foreign affidavitClosing packet

Usually somebody else's to prepare

Commonly handled by a title company, an attorney, a lender, or the county. Listed so none of them is a surprise.

Statutory warranty deedClosing packet / Recorded post-close
PTAX-203 Real Estate Transfer DeclarationRecorded with deedOn your list because did you inherit the home, or is it in probate
Settlement statement (ALTA / CD)Closing packet
Payoff statement(s)Closing packet
Title commitment / policyClosing packet
1099-SFiled post-close
Wire-fraud advisoryClosing packet
Attorney-review / attorney-approval noticeWithin contract window
§ 22.1 condo resale disclosure packageHOA packageOn your list because is the home in an hoa, condo, or co-op
Chicago transfer-tax stamps (CRPTT)Municipal certificate pre-recording
Mortgage (buyer's loan)Recorded post-close
Mortgage satisfaction / releaseRecorded post-close

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How Illinois generally runs a sale

The broad shape of a sale there, as the research found it. Counties and cities add their own rules on top of all of this.

Closing model — Title-company closing with strong attorney-review customThe controlling UPL authority is *Chicago Bar Ass'n v. Quinlan & Tyson, Inc.*, 34 Ill. 2d 116, 214 N.E.2d 771 (1966), which held a real-estate broker may fill in blanks on customary prelimin...

Property regime — Common-lawTenancy by the entirety is available but limited to a married couple's principal residence (765 ILCS 1005/1c).

Homestead / spousal joinderHomestead exemption at 735 ILCS 5/12-901; spousal joinder required to release or waive homestead (735 ILCS 5/12-904).

Standard deed typeStatutory warranty (765 ILCS 5/9), special/limited warranty, or quitclaim (765 ILCS 5/10).

Disclosure regime — Statutory formResidential Real Property Disclosure Report, 765 ILCS 77 (Residential Real Property Disclosure Act), mandated form at 765 ILCS 77/35.

Transfer tax — LayeredState $0.50/$500 (35 ILCS 200/31-10) + county $0.25/$500 (35 ILCS 200/31-15) + home-rule municipal taxes on top.

RON status — AuthorizedIllinois Notarial Act (5 ILCS 312) as amended; Public Act 102-0160 effective July 1, 2022. *Verify current operational status with the Illinois Secretary of State.*

Recording act — Notice(765 ILCS 5/30).

Recording officeCounty Recorder / Recorder of Deeds in each of 102 counties. Cook County: the Recorder merged into the County Clerk effective December 2020.

Local overlaysChicago RPTT + CTA supplement; Cook County transfer stamps; suburban point-of-sale ordinances (Evanston, Naperville, Wilmette).

Other things Illinois asks about

These come up in Illinois and almost nowhere else. We don't ask them above because we can't answer them for you yet, but they're worth raising with your title company.

Is the property in Chicago (CRPTT applies)?
Cook County vs. collar counties (recording and stamp differences)?
Attorney selected for the review clause?

Before you rely on any of this

This is a compilation of published state requirements, not legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it or your sale. Laws and forms change, counties and cities add their own rules, and whether any of this applies to you depends on facts we don't know. Treat every item as a starting point for a question, not as an answer. Confirm anything you plan to rely on against the official source we link, and run your list past a title company or an attorney licensed in your state.

These counts describe a typical sale, not yours. Which documents you need turns on facts about your home, your title, your buyer, and your county, and one unusual answer can add several or remove them.

Who prepares each document is what usually happens, not a rule. Practice differs between states, between counties, and between one title company and the next, and your contract can move work from one side to the other.

Keighbor is not a real estate brokerage and does not represent you. Nobody here is your agent. We don't negotiate, set your price, recommend a course of action, or take a commission. We provide software that helps you organize your side of the sale.

The full Illinois reference

The rest of the research, with every citation kept. This is the same material our own product is built on, and nothing is held back for paying customers. It describes the law as the research found it, not as it applies to your sale.

ALWAYS-required documents (every transaction)

PSA. Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract or Illinois Realtors form; embeds the attorney-review and inspection clauses. Signatures of both parties.
Deed (statutory warranty). 765 ILCS 5/9. Signature of all title-holders plus spouse if TBE or homestead release. Recorded post-closing.
Residential Real Property Disclosure Report. 765 ILCS 77/35. Current updated form in use since August 4, 2023. Delivered before contract; late delivery → 3-business-day rescission.
Radon Awareness Act disclosure + IEMA pamphlet. 420 ILCS 46.
PTAX-203 Real Estate Transfer Declaration. Required to record.
Federal lead paint disclosure (pre-1978).
FIRPTA affidavit; 1099-S; wire-fraud advisory; payoff statements; ALTA settlement statement.

SOMETIMES-required documents (trigger-gated)

Marital status / spousal signature. TBE property (principal residence, 765 ILCS 1005/1c) requires both signatures; homestead release requires spousal signature (735 ILCS 5/12-904).
Property held in trust. Trustee's deed + certification of trust or trust-agreement excerpt.
LLC / corp. Authorizing resolution / operating agreement.
POA. Illinois statutory short-form POA (755 ILCS 45), recorded with the deed.
Foreign seller. FIRPTA only — Illinois has no state nonresident real estate withholding.
Inherited / probate. Executor's / administrator's deed + letters testamentary; small-estate affidavit thresholds under 755 ILCS 5/25.
HOA / condo (stringent). Illinois Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605 § 22.1 — resale disclosure with nine items: (1) declaration/bylaws/rules; (2) statement of liens and unpaid assessments; (3) anticipated capital expenditures for the current and succeeding 2 fiscal years; (4) reserve-fund status; (5) last fiscal year's financial statement; (6) pending suits/judgments in which the association is a party; (7) insurance; (8) any right of first refusal; (9) improvements or alterations. Association has up to 30 days to furnish; contracts routinely shorten this. Non-condo HOAs: Common Interest Community Association Act (765 ILCS 160).
Well / septic. County health-department requirements.
Tenant-occupied. IL Landlord-Tenant / Chicago RLTO where applicable.
Solar / recent insurance claims (CLUE) / open permits. As standard.
Waterfront (Lake Michigan) / historic district / manufactured home. Riders as applicable.
Mineral / coal severance. Common in southern Illinois; disclose known severance.

Prescribed-language items (substance-over-form)

Radon Awareness Act, 420 ILCS 46/10: prescribed warning language plus IEMA pamphlet delivery for residential real property.
Residential Real Property Disclosure Report, 765 ILCS 77/35: state-prescribed form with a verbatim NOTICE header; the form's language stands even in "as-is" contracts.
Attorney-approval clause language — customary contract text.
Federal lead paint verbatim Lead Warning Statement.

Local / municipal overlays

Chicago RPTT $5.25/$500 total (city buyer $3.75 + CTA seller $1.50); city stamps required to record.
Cook County transfer stamps; Recorder → Clerk merger (2020).
Suburban ordinances with their own rates and payer assignments (Evanston = seller-paid; Wilmette = buyer-paid; Naperville and Aurora point-of-sale stamps).

Notable examples only; not exhaustive.

Post-closing obligations

Recording. Deed with the County Recorder or Cook County Clerk; fees vary.
Transfer tax filing. PTAX-203 with the deed; city/county stamps affixed as required.
1099-S. Filed by the closing agent.
Mortgage satisfaction. Lender records satisfaction/release.
Capital gains / IL income tax. Illinois taxes gain as income at the 4.95% flat rate.

Federal overlays (cross-reference)

Cross-reference master methodology § 8 (FIRPTA; 1099-S; federal lead paint; wire-fraud advisory; FinCEN Residential Real Estate Rule and its 2026 vacatur — see § 10).

Recent changes flagged (2023–2026)

Disclosure form updated August 4, 2023 — narrowed "seller" definition (a beneficiary who never occupied and never had management responsibility is not a "seller").
Homestead exemption increase effective January 1, 2026 ($50k individual / $100k co-owned) — Public Act 104-0014.
Cook County Recorder-Clerk merger (2020).
"Bring Chicago Home" graduated transfer-tax referendum FAILED at the March 19, 2024 election (53.2% no to 46.8% yes). Chicago's flat $5.25/$500 remains in effect.
FinCEN Residential Real Estate Rule (31 CFR § 1031.320). Effective March 1, 2026; vacated nationwide March 19, 2026 in Flowers Title Companies, LLC v. Bessent, No. 6:25-cv-127-JDK (E.D. Tex.); reports not currently required pending appeal.

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