Illinois REALTORS® gather outside the State Capitol on Lobby Day 2016.
Today is Illinois REALTORS® Day thanks to a proclamation signed by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner.
The proclamation was presented by Rauner to leaders of Illinois REALTORS® on April 6 to commemorate the association’s 100th anniversary during a meeting in his office. Read the proclamation.
On April 25, 1916 the Illinois Secretary of State approved articles of incorporation for the Real Estate Association of Illinois. William C. Johnson of Danville, the association’s first president, and Joseph Brittain of Chicago, the association’s first secretary, traveled the state to build support and increase membership for the new organization.
Since its founding, the association sought a unified voice at the state level to shape tax policy, enforce a code of ethics, promote good roads and require testing and a license fee for those entering the real estate profession. Today, we describe those goals as advocacy, ethics and education.
On Friday April 22, the Illinois Senate passed a resolution declaring April 25 as Illinois REALTOR® Day. On Tuesday, the Illinois House Business and Occupational License Committee passed a similar resolution and the House is expected to eventually approve it, too.
On April 4, Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder presented the association with a proclamation declaring April 4, 2016 as Illinois REALTOR® Day. Congressman Darin LaHood presented another proclamation honoring Illinois REALTORS® that was read into the Congressional Record.
