Hello, Illinois security companies.
Private alarm contractor license requirements in Illinois
Chicago area: 1,531 new owners last week
Agency employees register with IDFPR for a Permanent Employee Registration Card.
The list adds Illinois home purchases weekly where the buyer's side marked the principal residence box on the state's real estate transfer declaration. One purchase becomes one row. A row lists the mailing name, address, sale price and deed date, and can name multiple buyers.
Alarm contractor licensing in Illinois
License checks are part of how buyers screen alarm contractors.
Do I need a license to work as an alarm contractor in Illinois?
Illinois requires a license to act as or advertise as a private alarm contractor, through IDFPR, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
A business with employees needs an agency license, and each branch office needs its own.
Under the act, a private alarm contractor is anyone in the business of alarm work at the premises, which covers selling, installing, designing, monitoring, maintaining, testing, inspecting, repairing or servicing alarm systems there, and also offering that work, bidding it or working through others. Alarm systems include burglar and fire alarms, access control and surveillance video. The Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004 (225 ILCS 447) licenses these contractors. The definition does not cover businesses that only sell systems from their own location.
A person who sells, installs or services only car alarms is exempt from the alarm contractor licensing provisions. So is a licensed electrical contractor who works only on fire alarm systems. A sole proprietor with no employees still needs the contractor license but can operate under an assumed name registered with IDFPR instead of taking an agency license.
To qualify, a person must
- be at least twenty-one,
- pass a state exam,
- submit fingerprints
- and maintain general liability insurance.
They also need at least three years of alarm-industry experience in the five years before applying.
A four-year degree or higher in electrical engineering or a related field from a program the Board approves, or a business degree from an accredited college or university, counts for two of the three years, and a national certification program the Board approves counts for one.
An agency must have a full-time licensed alarm contractor as its licensee-in-charge, who cannot hold that role at more than one agency.
Employees must complete at least 20 hours of basic training within thirty days of being hired, and the employer certifies completion on state forms.
Employees exempt from the card are those with no access to confidential or security information who do not provide security services, such as delivery drivers, receptionists and cleaners. Armed responders who answer alarms take a classroom course in place of the basic training: at least 20 hours within 30 days of being hired. New private alarm contractor applications go through IDFPR's online system, CORE.
New owners last week
Chicago area, Illinois, November 2 to 6, 2026
1,531 new owners, each listed as a principal residence purchase.
Weekly counts
| Week | New owners |
|---|---|
| Week of May 11, 2026 | 1,525 |
| Week of May 18, 2026 | 2,074 |
| Week of May 25, 2026 | 1,362 |
| Week of Jun 1, 2026 | 2,130 |
| Week of Jun 8, 2026 | 2,213 |
| Week of Jun 15, 2026 | 1,630 |
| Week of Jun 22, 2026 | 1,965 |
| Week of Jun 29, 2026 | 1,897 |
| Week of Jul 6, 2026 | 1,986 |
| Week of Jul 13, 2026 | 1,982 |
| Week of Jul 20, 2026 | 1,958 |
| Week of Jul 27, 2026 | 1,960 |
| Week of Aug 3, 2026 | 1,741 |
| Week of Aug 10, 2026 | 1,837 |
| Week of Aug 17, 2026 | 1,850 |
| Week of Aug 24, 2026 | 2,123 |
| Week of Aug 31, 2026 | 1,677 |
| Week of Sep 7, 2026 | 962 |
| Week of Sep 14, 2026 | 2,198 |
| Week of Sep 21, 2026 | 1,562 |
| Week of Sep 28, 2026 | 1,488 |
| Week of Oct 5, 2026 | 1,452 |
| Week of Oct 12, 2026 | 1,196 |
| Week of Oct 19, 2026 | 1,749 |
| Week of Oct 26, 2026 | 1,260 |
| Week of Nov 2, 2026 | 1,531 |
List and postcard cost in a typical Chicago mailing
The table uses the Local plan at $49 a month, ten typical Chicago ZIP codes and Lob's free-plan postcard.
| Local plan, per month | $49 |
|---|---|
| New owners a month, ten typical Chicago ZIPs | 251 |
| List cost per new owner | $0.20 |
| Lob's smallest First-Class postcard, per piece | $0.905 |
| List plus postcard, per new owner | $1.10 |
| Monthly total, list and postcards | $276 |
Top cities and ZIPs
Cities and Chicago ZIPs sorted by new homeowners over the last 12 months.
| City | New owners, last 90 days90 d | New owners, last 12 months12 mo |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cook County | 5,147 | 20,538 |
| Naperville DuPage County | 451 | 1,631 |
| Aurora Kane County | 433 | 1,603 |
| Plainfield Will County | 397 | 1,472 |
| Elgin Kane County | 323 | 1,247 |
| Joliet Will County | 334 | 1,237 |
| Schaumburg Cook County | 236 | 858 |
| Arlington Heights Cook County | 201 | 846 |
| Orland Park Cook County | 222 | 841 |
| Des Plaines Cook County | 222 | 834 |
| Palatine Cook County | 216 | 812 |
| Tinley Park Cook County | 194 | 800 |