Every Illinois homeowner selling a house fills out the same form. It is four pages, it has 24 questions, and it creates real legal exposure if you answer it carelessly.
Most sellers fill it out in about six minutes at the kitchen table, checking boxes as fast as they can read them.
That is a mistake. This form is the single document most likely to bring a lawsuit back to you after you have moved out and spent the money. Here is what every part of it means and where sellers get into trouble.
What the form is
It is called the Residential Real Property Disclosure Report. Illinois REALTORS publishes it as Form 108, and the questions come straight out of state law.
It applies to most homes with one to four units, along with condos and co-ops. You have to give it to the buyer before the contract is signed, not at closing, and not after you are already under contract.
Two things it is not. It is not a warranty, and it is not an inspection. You are reporting what you know, and the form says so directly.
The two words that decide every answer
Before the questions, the form defines two terms. These definitions control how you answer all 24 items, and almost nobody reads them.
“Aware” means you have actual notice or actual knowledge. The form adds a phrase that matters a great deal: without any specific investigation or inquiry. You are not required to go looking. If you genuinely do not know about a problem, you are not expected to hire someone to find out before answering.
“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. There is an exception built in: it is not a material defect if you reasonably believe the condition has been corrected.
That second definition is where judgment lives. A stained ceiling tile from a leak you fixed properly eight years ago is different from an active leak you have been placing a bucket under. The first one you reasonably believe is corrected. The second one is not.
Items 1 and 2: the questions that are not about defects
The first two questions stand apart from the rest.
Item 1 asks whether you occupied the property within the last 12 months. If you did not, you explain your relationship to the property. This is context for the buyer, not a defect question. It signals how much you would reasonably know about the house.
Item 2 asks whether you currently carry flood hazard insurance.
These two matter for a specific reason that comes up later: they are carved out of the buyer’s termination rights in a way the other 22 items are not.
Items 3 and 4: water coming from outside
Item 3 asks about flooding or recurring leakage in the crawl space or basement. Note the word recurring. A one-time event during a historic storm is not the same as a basement that takes on water every spring.
Item 4 asks whether the property sits in a floodplain.
Along the Fox River corridor, these two questions carry more weight than they do elsewhere in the state. Answer them carefully and answer them honestly.
Items 5 through 7: the structure
Item 5 covers material defects in the basement or foundation, and the form specifically names cracks and bulges.
Item 6 covers leaks or material defects in the roof, ceilings, or chimney.
Item 7 covers material defects in the walls, windows, doors, or floors.
Older housing stock in this market means most sellers have some history here. A repaired crack you reasonably believe was fixed is handled differently than one you have been watching widen. When you are unsure, disclosing and explaining is nearly always the safer path.
Items 8 and 9: electrical and plumbing
Item 8 is material defects in the electrical system.
Item 9 is material defects in the plumbing system, and the form defines plumbing broadly. It expressly includes the water heater, sump pump, water treatment system, sprinkler system, and swimming pool.
That definition catches people out. Sellers think about pipes and answer no, forgetting the sump pump that has not worked since last fall.
Items 10 and 11: wells and drinking water
Item 10 covers material defects in the well or well equipment.
Item 11 asks about unsafe conditions in the drinking water.
Both apply to properties outside municipal water service, which includes plenty of homes in the unincorporated areas around the corridor towns.
Items 12 through 14: systems
Item 12 is heating, air conditioning, or ventilation.
Item 13 is the fireplace or wood burning stove.
Item 14 is the septic, sanitary sewer, or other disposal system.
Items 15 through 17: environmental conditions
Item 15 asks about unsafe concentrations of radon on the premises.
Item 16 asks about unsafe concentrations of or unsafe conditions relating to asbestos.
Item 17 covers lead, and it is broader than most sellers expect. It asks about lead paint, lead water pipes, lead plumbing pipes, and lead in the soil.
Two separate requirements sit alongside these. Illinois has its own radon disclosure law that requires giving buyers a state pamphlet in addition to answering item 15. And for any home built before 1978, federal law requires a separate lead paint disclosure, a pamphlet, and an opportunity for the buyer to test. Neither of those obligations goes away because you answered no on Form 108.
Item 18: earth stability
This one asks about mine subsidence, underground pits, settlement, sliding, upheaval, or other earth stability defects.
Items 19 and 20: insects, in two parts
Item 19 asks about current infestations of termites or other wood boring insects.
Item 20 asks about structural defects caused by previous infestations.
Read those again. You can honestly answer no to 19 and still owe a yes on 20. A treated infestation from a decade ago that left damage behind is a yes on item 20, even though nothing is living in your walls today.
Items 21 through 24
Item 21 asks about underground fuel storage tanks on the property. Older rural and semi-rural parcels sometimes have a buried oil tank the current owner has never thought about.
Item 22 asks about boundary or lot line disputes. A running disagreement with a neighbor over a fence line belongs here.
Item 23 asks whether you have received notice of a violation of local, state, or federal law relating to the property that has not been corrected. An open village code violation goes here.
Item 24 asks whether the property has been used to manufacture methamphetamine, as defined in state law.
The explanation requirement sellers skip
Here is a rule that gets missed constantly.
If you answer yes or not applicable to any item except number 1, the form requires you to explain it in the additional information area. Checking the box is not enough. There are extra pages available and a checkbox to indicate you used them.
An unexplained yes is worse than a clear yes. It tells a buyer something is wrong without telling them what, which invites the worst possible assumption and gives a future attorney something to work with.
Your obligation does not end when you sign
Illinois law requires you to supplement the report if you learn before closing that something in it is wrong or incomplete. Finding out about a problem after you have handed over the form does not release you. It obligates you to update it.
What happens when you get it wrong
The consequences fall into a few clear categories.
Late delivery of a material defect. If you disclose a material defect after everyone has signed the contract, when the law required you to deliver it beforehand, the buyer has five business days after receiving it to terminate and get all earnest money back, with no liability to you.
Defects revealed in a supplement. Here the buyer’s right to walk is narrower. They can terminate only if you had actual knowledge of the problem when you completed the original form, or the defect cannot be repaired before closing, or it can be repaired but you decline or fail to agree in writing to repair it within five business days.
Knowingly false answers. A seller who knowingly violates the Act, or who reports something on the form they know to be false, is liable for actual damages and court costs. The court may also award attorney fees to the winning side.
There is a time limit. No action under the Act can start more than one year after the earliest of the date of possession, the date of occupancy, or the date the deed was recorded.
What protects you
The Act also builds in real protection for honest sellers.
You are not liable for an error or omission if you had no knowledge of it. You are not liable if your answer rested on a reasonable belief that a problem had been corrected. You are not liable if you relied on information from a public agency, or from a licensed engineer, land surveyor, structural pest control operator, or a contractor speaking to matters within their trade, and you did not know it was wrong.
And you are under no obligation to investigate. The Act says so plainly.
The protection runs on honesty. It does nothing for a seller who knew.
Two situations worth naming
Selling as-is does not exempt you. This is the most common misconception we hear. The form’s own notice says it does not limit anyone’s right to contract for a sale in as-is condition. As-is governs who pays to fix things. The disclosure form governs what you tell the buyer. You still fill it out. If an as-is sale is the direction you are headed, our cash offer page explains how that route works and what it changes.
Some sellers are exempt entirely. The Act lists specific transfers that do not require the report, including transfers by court order, transfers in probate or divorce, foreclosure and deed in lieu transfers, transfers between co-owners, transfers to a spouse or a direct relative, transfers to or from a government body, and newly built homes that have never been occupied. Rehabbed homes are not newly built for this purpose. A 2023 amendment also narrowed who counts as a seller, excluding a trust beneficiary who both never lived in the property and never had management responsibility for it.
Whether you fall inside an exemption is a question for your attorney, not a box to guess at.
How to actually fill this out
Set aside real time. Walk the house room by room with the form in hand. Pull out your old repair receipts and permits. Write full explanations rather than one-word answers. When you are unsure whether something rises to the level of a material defect, disclose it and explain the context.
Nobody has ever been sued for disclosing too much. Plenty of Illinois sellers have been sued for the opposite.
The rest of our seller guide covers where this form fits in the timeline, and the closing cost breakdown covers what happens once you are under contract.
If you are getting ready to list and want to go through the form together before you sign anything, let us know.
This post explains the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act in general terms. It is not legal advice. Your attorney should review your completed disclosure report before you deliver it.
