Jim Valentine: Who is signing your offer?

Real estate is full of contracts and agreements. To validate each the parties must sign them. These days they are oftentimes signed using an online program such as DocuSign or Authentisign.

Those systems send a document to the party’s email where it is opened and signed. The question becomes, who received it and signed it? Married couples often share a family email, so the documents are sent to the same email twice for signature.

More often than not, the one spouse that is there signed the documents twice. For this reason, title companies require wet signatures (original) on documents that are to be recorded, i.e., conveyance deed, deed of trust, etc.

That way they are reasonably confident that the party in question signed the document. Those recorded documents must be notarized to be valid. Sometimes that’s where forgeries are caught.

We received a call from a fellow agent this week telling us about her experience with a fraudulent seller whose listing we wrote an offer on. The seller was out of state – both owner and “seller,” and the price was favorable.

There were multiple offers on the property with one elected for acceptance. The agent did a lot of work getting the property ready for market, handling multiple offers, communicating well with the other agents keeping them apprised of the goings on, and then through the escrow process with the accepted offer.

As the time to close drew near the seller was to sign a deed, wet signature of course. The title company was setting up a mobile notary with a notary vetted by them, but the seller wanted to use their own notary.

At that point the alarms went off and it was learned that the person communicated about selling was not the real owner. Other signature lapses can occur in a real estate transaction. All parties to a transaction should sign the documents.

If a couple owns a property together, both should sign. If they hold it in a trust or corporation then it is possible for only one to sign if allowed by the trust and the corporate resolution approving the sale allows for it.

If you don’t have all the required signatures the unsigned party can hold things up when it comes time to close the escrow if they won’t sign the conveyancing deed – the deed transferring title.

Sometimes other parties will be signing for the person in title. This can occur when an owner dies, and the estate has an executor. It can also occur when a party can no longer make decisions on their own behalf and have a guardian.

We occasionally see power of attorney documents when the party is going to be traveling or otherwise out of touch periodically when signatures will be needed. In all of these cases, they must have the correct supporting documentation such as court approval, notarized granting of the power, etc. Each is unique with its on process.

In the good ole days agents could sign for a customer at their request in our capacity as an agent. That practice was dropped awhile back with the advent of online communication where signatures and confirmation of agreement can be readily obtained via email, texting, etc. When we only had the telephone, and it wasn’t mobile, we had to do what we could to keep our clients in the game when a desirous property hit the market.

Having a scribble on the signature line doesn’t mean you have a true commitment from the signing party. If they don’t have the authority to sign, or aren’t who they say they are, you have nothing. Be careful what you sign and who you give your money to.

Be signature aware in all of your real estate documentation. Is the vendor licensed? Contractor licensed? Use known people to avoid fraud.

When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your Real Estate needs… Experience is Priceless! Jim Valentine, License No. BS-03481, RE/MAX Gold Carson Valley 775-781-3704. dpwtigers@hotmail.com.