Ethics Citation Form

The Ethics Citation Program allows members of the public and REALTORS® to report unethical conduct under expedited procedures. The program is limited to only certain Articles and Standards of Practice of the Code of Ethics. Click Here to view a list of qualifying Articles and Standards of Practice in a new window.

To file a complaint, the complainant must support the alleged unethical conduct with their written statement or other documented evidence. Complainants are encourgaged to provide as much detail and information as possible.

Step 1: Complete Complainant Information (unless choosing to remain anonymous).
Step 2: Complete Respondent (REALTOR®) Information.
Step 3: Answer Required Questions.
Step 4: Select the Article(s) or Standard(s) of Practice applicable to your complaint.
Step 5: Provide your written statement or narrative that supports your complaint.
Step 6: Upload supporting documentation (Required if submitting anonymously. Otherwise, optional.)

Click Get Started to begin your filing. You may save your progress at any time by clicking Save and Continue Later on any page. You will have 30 days to complete your submission once you begin.

Complainant Information

Ethics Citations may be submitted anonymously. Please note that if you choose to remain anonymous, we will be unable to follow-up with you on your complaint, including any status update or request for additional information.

Complaintant's Name(Required)

Your name and information as the person filing the complaint.

First Last

Complaintant's Firm

If applicable

Complaintant's Address(Required)

Street Address City State ZIP Code

Complainant Phone(Required)

Complainant Email(Required)

This email address will receive a confirmation of the complaint.
Please note that all communication pertaining to this complaint will be sent to the email address you provide here. You are solely responsible for ensuring such emails are not blocked and/or that your spam filters are properly configured to receive emails from email domain @chicagorealtor.com

Enter Email Confirm Email

Respondent Information

This is the person you are filing the complaint against. This must be a Chicago REALTORS® member. We will verify this after your submission. If they are a REALTOR® with a different association, we will forward your citation complaint to the appropriate association.

Respondent's Name(Required)

The person you are filing the complaint against.

First Last

Respondent's Firm(Required)

Respondent's Firm Address(Required)

Street Address City State ZIP Code

Respondent's Phone

If known

Respondent's Email

If known

Required Questions

Date of violation/incident:(Required)

Date of knowledge of alleged misconduct:(Required)

Has a formal ethics complaint already been filed with the Chicago Association of REALTORS®?(Required)

Yes

No

Has a formal complaint been filed with any other administrative, regulatory, or government agency?(Required)

For example: IDFPR

Yes

No

If yes, which ones?(Required)

Is this incident involved in civil or criminal litigation?(Required)

Yes

No

Supporting Evidence

You are strongly encouraged to upload evidence/proof that will support your complaint such as: advertisements, business cards, flyers, emails, text messages, screenshots, screenrecords, appointment details, lockbox access records, pictures, video, etc…

The panel is unable to independently visit and research websites, URLs, social media or the MLS. If your complaint is based on a website, URL, social media, the MLS, etc…upload screenshot images or screenrecord videos of the specific section(s) that contain the violation.

If submitting an anonymous complaint, the complaint must have clear evidence submitted to support the violation. Unsupported anonymous complaints cannot be processed.

File

Drop files here or

Max. file size: 20 MB.

Before you submit your citation complaint, please read the following:

Your complaint will be reviewed by CAR's Citation Panel at their next scheduled meeting. The Citation Panel meets once per month. Their job is to review complaints to determine if the allegations made, if taken as true, support a violation of the Article(s) cited in the complaint.
If the Citation Panel issues a citation to the Respondent, you will receive a courtesy notice of that decision. CAR will then provide notice of the citation and fine to the Respondent. The Respondent has 30 days after receiving the citation to either accept it and pay the fine, or request a hearing with CAR’s Professional Standards Committee. If a hearing is requested, you will be notified so that you can participate and present your complaint. If the fine is paid, you will receive a courtesy notice that the fine was paid and that the case is now closed.
If the Citation Committee dismisses your complaint, it does not mean they do not believe you. Rather, it means that they do not feel that your allegations support a possible violation of the cited Article(s) of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics in your complaint. If your complaint is dismissed, you can appeal that dismissal to the Board of Directors of the Chicago Association of REALTORS®.

Electronic Signature(Required)

By typing your name below, you are signing this document electronically. You agree that your electronic signature is the legal equivalent of your manual signature on this document.

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Ethics Citation Complaint Form

Complainant Information

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Required Questions

Ethics Citation Complaint

Select an Article(s) or Standard(s) of Practice Before Continuing

Supporting Narrative

Supporting Evidence

Article 1: Accessing or using or allowing others to access or use a property managed or listed on terms other than those authorized by the owner or seller (SOP 1-16) – $2,500 Fine
Article 3: Providing access to listed property on terms other than those established by the owner or the listing broker (SOP 3-9) – $2,500 Fine
Failure to disclose existence of dual or variable rate commissions (SOP 3-4) – $500 Fine
Failure to disclose existence of accepted offers to any broker seeking cooperation (SOP 3-6) – $250 Fine
Article 4: Failure to provide written disclosure of REALTOR’s® interest in property being bought or sold – $500 Fine
Article 5: Providing professional service without disclosing interest in property – $500 Fine
Article 6: Accepting any commission, rebate or profit on expenditures with client’s knowledge or consent – $500 Fine
Article 12: Failure to present a true picture in real estate communication, marketing and advertising – $250 Fine
Failure to disclose status as a real estate professional in advertising, marketing and other real estate communications – $250 Fine
Failure to disclose potential compensation or benefit received from a third party for services provided free to a client (SOP 12-2) – $250 Fine
Advertising or offering to sell/lease property without authority of owner or owner’s authorized agent (SOP 12-4) – $500 Fine
Failure to disclose name of real estate firm in advertising in a readily apparent manner (SOP 12-5) – $250 Fine
Failure to disclose status as both owner/landlord and REALTOR® or licensee when advertising property in which REALTOR® has ownership interest (SOP 12-6) – $500 Fine
Falsely claiming to have “sold” property (SOP 12-7) – $250 Fine
Failure to disclose on a website the firm’s name and state of licensure in a reasonable and readily apparent manner (SOP 12-9) – $250 Fine
Failure to present a true picture in advertising and representations to the public including Internet content posted and the URLs and domain names used (SOP 12-10) – $250 Fine
Registration or use of deceptive URL or domain name (SOP 12-12) – $500 Fine
Representing that the REALTOR® has a designation, certification or other credential that the REALTOR® is not legitimately entitled to use (SOP 12-13) – $500 Fine
Article 14: Failure to cooperate in any professional standards proceeding or investigation – $500 Fine
Article 16: Use of terms of an offer to modify listing broker’s offer of compensation – $500 Fine
Placement of for sale/lease sign on property without permission of seller/landlord (SOP 16-19) – $250 Fine