Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 5.0 "Knock-off" Alert

The Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 5.0 (a/k/a the "Common Contract") which is in widespread use in Illinois is a copyrighted form. The contract is designed to facilitate use in primarily residential transactions across a wide geographic area. The basic provisions are contained on the initial pages, and optional provisions follow. Members of IRELA`s board of directors were instrumental in its development and implementation.

Because of its popularity, the Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 5.0 has been the subject of copying schemes resulting in unauthorized versions designed to lock unwitting parties to a transaction into the use of a particular service provider, such as a title insurance company. The "knock-off" versions can look similar to the official form maintained on IRELA`s web site. Use of an unauthorized version can lead to unexpected problems.

To avoid problems with an unauthorized version of the contract, verify that the form you receive is the copyrighted version. It should show "© 2009, Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association" at the bottom of the signature page, along with a listing of the several organizations which have approved the contract. (The current version was approved by several realtor organizations and bar associations in July, 2009.)

IRELA members can download the OFFICIAL Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 5.0 in the "Members Only" section of this web site.  A SAMPLE version of the contract can be viewed by clicking on:

• Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 5.0 with SAMPLE Watermark