5.1 45-Day Permit Sponsor Cards

Passing the exam is not a license to call bids

A passing PSI score report is not an Illinois auctioneer license. Until the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) issues the credential, the only document that lets a newly successful candidate — or a licensee moving between sponsors — step onto the stand is a 45 Day Permit Sponsor Card. 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1440.140 is the rule that still governs that card. IDFPR still publishes the 45 Day Permit Sponsor Card form. 1440.120(a)(6) still requires a properly completed sponsor card issued in accordance with Section 10-35 of the Act and 1440.140 as part of an individual auctioneer application.

The repealed-statute trap

225 ILCS 407/10-35 is repealed. Public Act 101-345 repealed it effective August 9, 2019. Do not cite 10-35 as live statutory authority for sponsorship, termination, inoperative status, or self-sponsorship. Commercial outlines that still quote the old 10-35 text are teaching a dead section. An exam option that says Section 10-35 currently requires a result is wrong.

What remains live is the administrative process. Part 1440 was not automatically scrubbed when the General Assembly repealed 10-35. 1440.140 still describes the 45-day temporary permit. 1440.120(a)(6) and 1440.150(a)(5) still tell applicants to attach a sponsor card issued in accordance with Section 10-35 of the Act and Section 1440.140. 1440.140(b)(2) still says an original terminated license is presented pursuant to Section 10-35 of the Act. Those leftover cross-references explain why the form and the rule stay in the packet; they do not revive the repealed Act section. Teach the current process from 1440.140, 1440.220(b), 1440.170(a)(5), and the IDFPR form.

1440.10 still defines the terms printed on the form. Sponsor Card means the temporary permit issued by the sponsoring auctioneer certifying that the named licensee is employed by or associated with the sponsoring auctioneer, and that the sponsoring auctioneer is responsible for the sponsored licensee's actions. Sponsoring Auctioneer means the auctioneer or auction firm that issued the card.

What the card authorizes — and what it does not

Under 1440.140(a), a properly issued 45 Day Permit Sponsor Card is a temporary permit. It allows the sponsored individual to practice auctioneering for 45 days after its issuance date, and only under the direct supervision of the sponsoring auctioneer or auction firm. Direct supervision is the exam's favorite limiter. A new licensee who takes a Saturday farm sale alone, with the sponsor in another county, is not practicing under the card; that is unlicensed activity. The card is not a pocket license, not a 45-day unsupervised apprenticeship, and not an extension of an expired license.

Two — and only two — issuance triggers

1440.140(b) lets a sponsoring auctioneer or auction firm execute a card only upon presentation of one of two documents:

1. A valid auctioneer examination passing score report from the Division or its designated testing vendor (PSI) that states that the sponsoring auctioneer or auction firm may issue a 45 Day Permit Sponsor Card; or
2. An original terminated license endorsed by the previous sponsoring auctioneer or firm.

A photocopied score report, a verbal I passed, a screenshot of a diagnostic, or a terminated license the old sponsor never endorsed does not authorize issuance. The score-report path is how first-time licensees start. The terminated-license path is how an already-licensed auctioneer moves from one sponsor to another.

The 24-hour packet, copies, and the missing-license affidavit

Once the card is properly completed, 1440.140(c) imposes three simultaneous duties.

The sponsoring auctioneer or firm must send to the Division within 24 hours:

• the original 45 Day Permit Sponsor Card;
• the original terminated license, if applicable;
• the original examination score report and initial application, if applicable; and
• the proper fee.

The clock runs from issuance, not from the next business day and not from the date the candidate hopes IDFPR will open the mail. If the sponsored individual cannot obtain an original terminated license from the previous sponsor, that individual prepares a sworn written statement explaining why the terminated license is not submitted, and the new sponsoring auctioneer or firm submits that statement in lieu of the original terminated license. The rule does not let the new firm skip the packet; it substitutes a sworn explanation for a missing original.

The sponsoring auctioneer or firm retains a copy of the card. The sponsored individual retains a copy and uses it in lieu of a license until the Division issues one, but not for more than 45 days after issuance. The current IDFPR form repeats the copy rule: retain two copies, one for the sponsoring auctioneer or firm's records and one for the sponsored employee. Mail the original to the Division of Real Estate Licensing Unit, PO Box 7570, Springfield, IL 62791, or the address then printed on the form.

The 45-day wall, extensions, and denial

1440.140(d) is absolute on its face: if the Division has not issued a new license within 45 days after issuance of the card, the sponsored individual shall not practice auctioneering. Mailing the packet on time does not extend the 45 days. Waiting on IDFPR processing does not extend the 45 days.

1440.140(e) allows the Division to grant an extension, but the sponsoring auctioneer or auction firm must request it in writing. The sponsored individual cannot self-extend. An oral call to the Division is not the written sponsor request the rule requires.

1440.140(f): if the Division denies any application in which a 45-day card was issued, the card is null and void upon written notice from the Division. Practice after that notice is unlicensed practice.

Who signs — 1440.220(b) — and self-sponsorship on the current form

1440.220(b) is a bright line: only the managing and/or sponsoring auctioneer executes and issues a 45 Day Permit Sponsor Card and terminates a sponsored licensee's license. A clerk, cashier, ring assistant, or unlicensed office manager cannot sign the card for the firm. 1440.220(a) separately makes the sponsor, firm, and managing auctioneer responsible for supervised licensees and unlicensed agents; that vicarious duty is not a grant of signature authority to those agents.

The current IDFPR 45 Day Permit Sponsor Card form still tells a self-sponsored auctioneer to complete the 45-day permit on his or her own behalf. That instruction is part of the live administrative process. Do not rest it on repealed 10-35. The form also requires the managing auctioneer's signature and license number when a firm is the sponsor.

The $25 sponsor-card fee

1440.170(a)(5) sets the 45 Day Permit Sponsor Card application fee at $25. 1440.170(a)(4) includes that $25 in the auctioneer restoration package (all lapsed renewals not to exceed $675, plus a $50 penalty, plus $25 for the card). The current IDFPR 45-day form states that the $25 is non-refundable and is not required for a new application. Teach both facts: the rule still lists $25; the current new-application form does not collect it on top of the $200 initial license fee in 1440.170(a)(1). Restoration and sponsor-change filings still need the $25 unless a later form says otherwise.

Worked timeline

A candidate passes PSI at 2:00 p.m. on Monday. Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. the managing auctioneer of Prairie State Auction Co. reviews the score report, confirms it authorizes issuance, and executes the 45-day card. From that Tuesday issuance, the candidate may call bids only under that firm's direct supervision. The firm must get the original card, original score report, initial application, and any required fee to the Division within 24 hours of Tuesday 9:00 a.m. The candidate and the firm each keep a copy. If IDFPR has not issued the license by day 45, the candidate stops practicing unless the firm has obtained a written Division extension.

Common misses on this topic:

• Treating repealed 10-35 as the current sponsorship statute.
• Letting an office manager sign the card in violation of 1440.220(b).
• Practicing without direct supervision during the 45 days.
• Using the card as a license after day 45 with no written sponsor-requested extension.
• Mailing a copy and keeping the original, which reverses 1440.140(c).