Illinois Seller Disclosure Requirements: Yes, Even Selling As Is

Illinois seller disclosure requirements come down to one duty for most residential sellers: you give the buyer a written Residential Real Property Disclosure Report covering the material defects you actually know about, and you deliver it before the contract is signed. A short list of transfers is exempt, and those are covered below. That duty lives in the Illinois Residential Real Property Disclosure Act, 765 ILCS 77. Selling as is does not remove it. The statutory form says so on its own face, in capital letters, at the top of the page.

I am Dan Firks, Founder and CEO of the Dan Firks Team at Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group here in Naperville. This article covers the legal obligation only: what the disclosure law asks of you, what it does not ask of you, and where the as is confusion comes from. If you want to talk through your own house before you fill anything out, call or text me at 630.637.9009 or email Dan@Naperville.com.

What this guide covers

• What do Illinois home sellers have to disclose
• What is on the Illinois seller disclosure form
• Does selling as is get you out of disclosure
• Who is exempt from the Illinois disclosure act
• Radon, lead paint, and the separate disclosures
• What happens if a seller does not disclose
• How your listing agent handles disclosure
• Do you still need an inspection if the buyer waives one
• Frequently asked questions

What do Illinois home sellers have to disclose?

Material defects you actually know about, written on the statutory disclosure report, delivered to the buyer before a contract is signed. That is the whole rule in one sentence.

The Illinois Residential Real Property Disclosure Act covers residential real property, which the statute defines as property improved with not less than one and not more than four residential dwelling units, plus units in residential cooperatives and condominium units. It applies to a sale, an exchange, an installment land sale contract, an assignment of beneficial interest, a lease with an option to purchase, and a ground lease. If you are selling a house, a townhome, or a condo in Naperville, you are almost certainly inside it. Statute text read directly on ilga.gov as of August 11, 2026: 765 ILCS 77, the Illinois Residential Real Property Disclosure Act.

Two definitions inside the form do most of the work, and most sellers never read them.

• Aware means actual notice or actual knowledge without any specific investigation or inquiry. You are reporting what you know, not what you could find out.
• Material defect means a condition that would have a substantial adverse effect on the value of the property, or that would significantly impair the health or safety of future occupants, unless the seller reasonably believes the condition has been corrected.

The Act also says outright that the seller is not obligated by it to make any specific investigation or inquiry in order to complete the report. That surprises people. Illinois does not make you go hire anyone to hunt for problems before you list. It makes you write down the ones you already know about, and it makes you do it in writing, on the state form, before the buyer signs.

In my experience, the sellers who get into trouble are not the ones with a bad house. They are the ones who filled out the form in four minutes at the kitchen counter because it looked like a formality. It is not a formality. It is a signed legal document with your name at the bottom, and it is the single most consequential piece of paper a seller touches. If you want the broader picture of the whole transaction first, start with our guide to selling a home in Naperville.

What is on the Illinois seller disclosure form?

Twenty four numbered statements, grouped into about six practical categories. You answer each one yes, no, or not applicable, and every yes other than the first item requires a written explanation.

A few structural notes that live in the form itself and are easy to miss. The disclosures are not intended to cover the common elements of a condominium, only the unit and the limited common elements allocated to its exclusive use. The disclosures reflect the current condition of the property and are not intended to include previous problems the seller reasonably believes have been corrected. And the report is not a warranty of anything, by you or by anyone representing either side.

The Act also carries a duty most sellers have never heard of. If you learn about an error, an inaccuracy, or an omission in a report you already delivered, and you learn it before closing, you supplement the report in writing. The disclosure is not a one time event you sign and forget. It runs until the deal closes.

Does selling as is get you out of disclosure?

No. This is the single most common misunderstanding I hear, and the statute answers it directly. The notice printed at the top of the state disclosure form says the report does not limit the right of the parties to contract for a sale of residential real property in as is condition. The two things are designed to coexist.

Here is the clean way to hold the two ideas apart:

• As is is a repair term. It tells the buyer you are not planning to fix things or credit for them. It is a negotiating posture inside the contract.
• Disclosure is a knowledge term. It tells the buyer what you already know about the condition of the house. It comes from statute, not from your contract.

Almost every as is conversation I have starts the same way, which is some version of if I am selling it as is, do I still have to fill out the form. You do. Marking the listing as is changes who is expected to handle the furnace. It does not change the fact that you know the furnace is failing and the buyer is entitled to know that too, in writing, before signing.

Whether selling as is is the right call for your house in the first place is a separate strategy question, and it is a real one. Condition, the size of the buyer pool willing to take on work, and how the home is priced all interact, and they interact differently on a cosmetically tired house than on one with a structural issue. I am not going to put a percentage on what as is costs a seller, because any single number you see quoted for that is an average of houses that are nothing like yours. We cover the decision itself in our guide to selling your home as is in Naperville.

If you are trying to figure out what condition is doing to your number, two tools on this site help. Start with a home value estimate for your Naperville address, which is an estimate of market value only, not your net proceeds and not a tax calculation. Then run the Naperville net proceeds calculator to see what is left after the costs of the sale, which is the number most sellers are actually asking about.

Who is exempt from the Illinois disclosure act?

Nine categories of transfer are exempt, and eight of them are about who is transferring rather than what the house is like. The statute lists them in full.

• Transfers under a court order, including probate administration, transfers between spouses resulting from a dissolution of marriage or legal separation, orders of possession, bankruptcy trustee transfers, eminent domain, and decrees for specific performance
• Foreclosure related transfers, including a deed in lieu of foreclosure, a judicial deed to the successful bidder at a foreclosure sale, and transfers by a mortgagee or successor
• Transfers by a fiduciary administering a decedent estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust
• Transfers from one co owner to one or more other co owners
• Transfers from a decedent by testate disposition, intestate succession, or a transfer on death instrument
• Transfers to a spouse, or to someone in the lineal line of consanguinity of one of the sellers
• Transfers from a relocation company that took title from the seller, as long as it passes along the report the seller gave it
• Transfers to or from a governmental entity
• Transfers of newly constructed residential real property that has never been occupied

Read that last one closely, because it is the one people misapply. The statute adds an explicit carve out: it does not include rehabilitation of existing residential real property. A gut renovated 1962 ranch is not new construction. If you rehabbed a house and are selling it, you are a disclosing seller.

Notice what is not on that list. Selling without an agent is not an exemption. An unrepresented seller carries exactly the same statutory disclosure duty as a seller with a listing agent, because the Act grants no exemption for representation status at all. That is worth knowing before you decide how to sell, and we lay out what each path actually requires in our comparison of FSBO versus a Realtor in Naperville.

What about radon, lead paint, and other separate disclosures?

Radon and lead paint are handled twice, which is why they confuse people. Both appear as items on the state disclosure form, and both also carry their own separate disclosure requirements outside that form.

Radon. Item 15 on the state form asks whether you are aware of unsafe concentrations of radon on the premises. Illinois also has a separate radon disclosure law, the Illinois Radon Awareness Act, 420 ILCS 46, under which a seller gives the buyer the state radon pamphlet titled Radon Testing Guidelines for Real Estate Transactions along with a Disclosure of Information on Radon Hazards form before the buyer becomes contractually obligated. That law requires disclosure. It does not require you to test, and it does not require you to mitigate. If a test has already been done on your house, though, the result is something you now know, and known results belong on the paperwork.

Radon comes up often enough in this market that it is worth knowing the two sides of the service exist locally. Reliable Radon Inspections is a Naperville area company that performs radon testing for buyers, sellers, and homeowners, and Heritage Radon handles radon mitigation work in the Fox Valley area. Those are descriptions of what each business does, not a recommendation from me, and neither has any relationship with our team.

Lead paint. This one is federal, not Illinois. For any home built before 1978, federal law requires the seller to give the buyer the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home along with a lead based paint disclosure form before the sale. The EPA explains the requirement on its own page covering real estate disclosures about potential lead hazards, reviewed August 11, 2026. Plenty of Naperville housing stock predates 1978, so for a lot of sellers here this applies. The state form separately asks about lead paint, lead water pipes, lead plumbing pipes, and lead in the soil.

The general principle behind both: a separate statute can add a disclosure obligation on top of the 24 item report, and the disclosure Act itself says it is not intended to limit obligations to disclose created by other statutes or by common law.

What happens if a seller does not disclose?

The law provides remedies to the buyer, and a knowing violation can carry money damages. I am going to describe what the statute says and stop there, because how any of it applies to a specific house is a legal question and I am not an attorney.

What the Act sets out:

• If the seller fails or refuses to provide the disclosure report before the property is conveyed, the buyer has the right to terminate the contract.
• A seller who knowingly violates or fails to perform a duty under the Act, or who reports information on the disclosure report that the seller knows to be false, is liable for actual damages and court costs, and the court may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party.
• If a material defect is disclosed but the report reaches the buyer after everyone has already signed, the buyer generally has five business days after receiving it to terminate and get earnest money back.
• There is a time limit. No action for a violation may be started later than one year from the earliest of the date of possession, the date of occupancy, or the date the conveyance is recorded.
• The Act does not replace other law. It says specifically that it is not intended to limit remedies or modify any obligation to disclose that exists under another statute or at common law to avoid fraud, misrepresentation, or deceit.

There is a protective side to the statute as well, and it is the reason honesty is the cheap option. A seller is not liable for an error, inaccuracy, or omission if the seller had no knowledge of it, or if it rested on a reasonable belief that the condition had been corrected, or if it came from information provided by a public agency or by a licensed engineer, land surveyor, structural pest control operator, or contractor working within the scope of that occupation, and the seller had no knowledge of the error.

Read those two halves together and the pattern is obvious. The law is hard on sellers who knew and stayed quiet, and forgiving of sellers who did not know. Disclosing what you know is how you stay in the second group, though it is not a guarantee of immunity, because accuracy, completeness, and timing all still matter. If you are weighing whether a specific issue rises to a material defect, that is a conversation for a licensed Illinois real estate attorney, not for a blog post and not for your agent.

How does your listing agent handle disclosure?

Your agent hands you the form, explains the mechanics, tracks the timing, and makes sure it is delivered the way the statute requires. The statements on it are yours. Your agent does not fill it out, does not sign it, and cannot tell you to leave something off.

The delivery mechanics matter more than people expect, because the timing is where the buyer termination right in the Act gets triggered. The statute allows delivery by personal delivery, by fax, by email or other electronic delivery, by first class mail, or by a delivery service such as FedEx or UPS. Delivery to one prospective buyer counts as delivery to all of them, delivery to someone authorized to act for the buyer counts too, and delivery is effective on receipt. A good agent treats delivery as a documented step with a date attached, not a file emailed at some point.

Attorney review is where the legal questions belong. Illinois is an attorney review state in practice, not because a statute orders it but because the standard Multi Board contract used across DuPage and Will County builds an attorney review period into the deal, commonly five business days from full execution. That window is when a licensed Illinois real estate attorney looks at what you disclosed and how it interacts with your contract. It is one of the reasons I tell sellers to have an attorney lined up before the offers come in rather than after.

In my experience, buyers react far better to a defect that was disclosed up front than to the identical defect discovered at inspection. The first one is a known condition they priced around. The second one feels like something was hidden, and it puts every other line of the disclosure under suspicion. Disclosure done well is not just legal hygiene. It is deal protection.

How an agent handles this paperwork is a legitimate thing to ask about while you are still interviewing. It is on the list in our guide to how to choose a listing agent in Naperville.

Do you still need an inspection if the buyer waives one?

Your disclosure duty is completely independent of any inspection. A buyer waiving an inspection changes nothing about what you have to report, because the Act ties disclosure to what you already know, not to what an inspector would find.

That is worth repeating in the other direction as well. The Act says the seller is not obligated by it to make any specific investigation or inquiry in order to complete the disclosure report. Illinois does not require a seller to order a pre listing inspection, and not ordering one is not a violation of anything.

Whether to order one anyway is a strategy decision with a real trade off on both sides, and sellers should go in with their eyes open. A pre listing inspection can surface issues while you still control the timeline and the repair pricing, and it can take away the surprise that kills deals in the inspection period. It also converts things you did not know into things you do know, and known conditions belong on the disclosure report. Neither of those is a reason to skip the conversation. Both are reasons to have it with your agent and your attorney before you order anything.

If you decide to look, our local directory lists independent inspectors. The Home Inspection Man is a Plainfield based inspector whose stated service area includes Naperville, and Sound Home Inspections is a Channahon based inspector working across the greater Chicagoland area. Again, those are directory listings rather than endorsements or partnerships.

In my experience, the sellers who handle this best are the ones who stop treating the disclosure form as an exam they can fail and start treating it as an inventory. Walk the house room by room with the form in hand. Write down what you know. Explain the yes answers plainly. A defect explained in your own words on page two is a much smaller problem than the same defect found by a stranger on a Saturday morning.

Talk it through before you sign anything

Disclosure is one of the few parts of a home sale where the right answer is almost always the simple one, and where getting it wrong is expensive in a way that lasts past closing. If you are getting ready to list in Naperville and you are not sure how to handle something on the form, the fastest path is a short conversation before it becomes a contract issue.

Call or text me at 630.637.9009, or email Dan@Naperville.com. If you would rather start with numbers, get a home value estimate for your address and we can go from there.

Frequently asked questions

Is a seller disclosure required in Illinois?

Yes. Under the Illinois Residential Real Property Disclosure Act, 765 ILCS 77, a seller of residential real property with one to four dwelling units must complete the Residential Real Property Disclosure Report and deliver it to the prospective buyer before the contract is signed. A short list of transfers is exempt, including estates, court ordered transfers, and newly built homes that have never been occupied. Everyone else fills it out.

Does selling as is waive disclosure in Illinois?

No. The statutory disclosure form states on its face that the report does not limit the right of the parties to contract for a sale in as is condition, which means the two coexist. An as is contract sets who is responsible for repairs. The disclosure report sets what the seller has to tell the buyer about known material defects. Selling as is does not erase the second one.

What form do Illinois sellers use for disclosure?

The Residential Real Property Disclosure Report, which is printed inside the statute itself at 765 ILCS 77 section 35. It is a set of 24 numbered statements the seller answers yes, no, or not applicable, covering flooding, foundation, roof, walls, electrical, plumbing, heating, radon, asbestos, lead, pests, fuel tanks, boundary disputes, and code violations, among others. Any yes answer other than the first item requires a written explanation.

Do I have to disclose a problem I already fixed?

It depends on whether you reasonably believe the condition has been corrected. The statutory form defines a material defect as a condition with a substantial adverse effect on value, or one that significantly impairs the health or safety of future occupants, unless the seller reasonably believes the condition has been corrected, and the form notes that the disclosures reflect current condition rather than previous problems the seller reasonably believes were fixed. That is a judgment call with real consequences, so take the repair history to a licensed Illinois real estate attorney rather than deciding alone.

What happens if I forget to disclose something?

The law provides remedies to the buyer. If a seller fails or refuses to provide the report before the property is conveyed, the buyer has the right to terminate the contract, and a seller who knowingly violates the Act or reports information the seller knows to be false can be liable for actual damages and court costs, with the court able to award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party. There is also a one year limit on starting an action. How any of that applies to a specific situation is a question for a licensed Illinois real estate attorney.

Is a disclosure the same as an inspection?

No. A disclosure is a written report of what the seller actually knows, and the Act says a seller is not obligated to make any specific investigation or inquiry in order to complete it. An inspection is a paid professional examination of the property, usually ordered by the buyer, that can surface conditions nobody knew about. One reports knowledge and the other gathers it.

Sources and as of dates

Every statutory statement above was read directly from the text of the Act on the Illinois General Assembly website on August 11, 2026: 765 ILCS 77, Residential Real Property Disclosure Act, sections 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, and 60. The federal lead based paint requirement for pre 1978 homes comes from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, reviewed August 11, 2026. The separate Illinois radon disclosure requirement is the Illinois Radon Awareness Act, 420 ILCS 46.

This article explains a statute in plain language for Naperville homeowners. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for a licensed Illinois real estate attorney reviewing your specific transaction. Laws change, and statutory language is the controlling text, not this summary.

Written by Dan Firks

I am Dan Firks, Listing Specialist, Luxury Home Specialist, Realtor, Broker, and Founder and CEO of the Dan Firks Team at Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group in Naperville. Over the course of my career I have sold more than 1,500 homes and led one of the top producing real estate teams in Illinois, grounded in my core values of infinite worth, integrity, and excellence. My work and market insights have been featured in Chicago Magazine, Zillow, Realtor.com, Top Agent Magazine, Naperville Magazine, and Glancer Magazine. To talk about your move in the Naperville area, call or text me at 630.637.9009 or email Dan@Naperville.com.