State slaps $10K and $25K fines on Chicago rental agents

The most recent summary of disciplinary actions (pdf) from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) includes the following:

Eric Bolf, Chicago – real estate leasing agent license (473-010214) indefinitely suspended for a minimum of one year and fined $10,000 for advertising real estate property while his license was in an inoperative status.

Jo Anne Jones, Chicago – real estate broker license (475-104466) revoked and fined $25,000 for brokering real estate rental agreements without holding a valid license.

We’re heartened to see the State levying some serious fines against unlicensed rental agents. A recent tipster opined that “the state doesn’t ever do anything” to address the behavior of rental agents, and I’ve long complained to that effect. Perhaps the state’s dire financial condition will finally result in stepped-up enforcement. As part of our Craigslist Apartment Cleanup campaign, we’ve provided a link to an online form for reporting illegal advertising on Craigslist. If you see an illegal ad, file a complaint and help close the state’s budget gap. Help clean up Craigslist by liking the Craigslist Apartment Cleanup page.

My tipster suggested taking a look at the licensing status of Arnell Cordero, who’s running multiple ads at Craigslist offering rental finding services.

The IDFPR license lookup returns no results for Arnell Cordero. His Craigslist ads do not, as required by law, include the name of a licensed brokerage firm, but they do link to the following site (screen cap):

Blue City Chicago Apartments, Inc. d/b/a Blue City Chicago Properties is in good standing as an Illinois corporation. According to the IDFPR site the firm’s brokerage license was originally issued on 4/22/2011, expired 10/31/12, and was not renewed.

Cordero’s Facebook page still identifies him as the Leasing Director of Group Fox, although my tipster indicates he’s moved on from there.

(Visited 868 times, 1 visits today)