Illinois Statutes Chapter 225. Professions,Occupations and Business Operations § 454/10-30. Advertising

(a) 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. Advertising shall be considered misleading or untruthful if, when taken as a whole, there is a distinct and reasonable possibility that it will be misunderstood or will deceive the ordinary consumer. Advertising shall contain all information necessary to communicate the information contained therein to the public in an accurate, direct, and readily comprehensible manner. Team names may not contain inherently misleading terms, such as “company”, “realty”, “real estate”, “agency”, “associates”, “brokers”, “properties”, or “property”.

(b) No blind advertisements may be used by any licensee, in any media, except as provided for in this Section.

(c) A licensee shall disclose, in writing, to all parties in a transaction his or her status as a licensee and any and all interest the licensee has or may have in the real estate constituting the subject matter thereof, directly or indirectly, according to the following guidelines:

(d) A sponsored licensee may not advertise under his or her own name. Advertising in any media shall be under the direct supervision of the sponsoring or designated managing broker and in the sponsoring broker's business name, which in the case of a franchise shall include the franchise affiliation as well as the name of the individual firm. This provision does not apply under the following circumstances:

(e) No licensee shall list his or her name or otherwise advertise in his or her own name to the general public through any medium of advertising as being in the real estate business without listing his or her sponsoring broker's business name.

(f) The sponsoring broker's business name and the name of the licensee must appear in all advertisements, including business cards. In advertising that includes the sponsoring broker's name and a team name or individual broker's name, the sponsoring broker's business name shall be at least equal in size or larger than the team name or that of the individual.

(g) Those individuals licensed as a managing broker and designated with the Department as a designated managing broker by their sponsoring broker shall identify themselves to the public in advertising, except on “For Sale” or similar signs, as a designated managing broker. No other individuals holding a managing broker's license may hold themselves out to the public or other licensees as a designated managing broker, but they may hold themselves out to be a managing broker.