Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
204832320
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Oak Brook, IL, US
Phone
(312) 600-7720
Rating confidence
Limited
Sector
Chambers of Commerce & Business Leagues

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$403,133
Expenses
$229,685
Assets
$698,654
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN G O'BRIEN (PRESIDENT)
  • ERICA CROHN MINCHELLA (VICE-PRESIDENT)
  • ADAM WILDE (VICE-PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN G O'BRIEN (PRESIDENT): $54,001 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association (IRELA) is to educate, advocate, and assist its members and their clients in seeking solutions to the increasingly complex issues that clients face in real estate transactions, and to educate the public at large regarding the importance of having an experienced, independent attorney representing the interests of each buyer and seller in a real estate transaction.

What it reported doing in 2025

Providing resources for professional development and education to Illinois real estate attorneys, including holding seminars on legal topics affecting the practice of real estate law and providing updates. Irela continuously works on drafting, modifying and analyzing current, pending and necessary legislation and regulations to promote and maintain the role of the real estate lawyer in Illinois.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 66% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 43%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.04; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.5%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $197K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $54K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.