We’ve come a long way from when an individual would sign by making their mark. That would have to be witnessed and the agreement or acknowledgement was complete. We still use notary publics to witness an individual signing an important document, but the world of signatures has changed in so many other ways. One’s signature is important. It is your way of agreeing to, confirming, acknowledging, or releasing something. In the old days you could give your word and that was better than anything. Unfortunately, times have changed, and you just can’t rely on people doing the right thing anymore. You need to get it in writing. This is also good protection for your heirs in case something happens to you. No need to try to prove a verbal agreement, it is in writing and signed by the parties. Many people develop their signature to a point where it is indecipherable. Some did it for speed as they sign a lot of documents, others because they think it is cool. That provides a bit of a problem if the signature isn’t witnessed for who knows what that scribble really says? Whatever your signature looks like, it is yours just as your mark would have been if we were back to days of prominent illiteracy. The best security for having a bona fide signature is to have the party sign in front of a notary public. The notary looks at their identification to confirm their identity and then must watch them sign the document they are notarizing. Once it is signed, the notary signs it and then puts their seal on it, a stamp these days. Important documents like a deed to transfer real estate, a deed of trust to encumber real estate for a security instrument (promissory note), etc. must be notarized to be valid and recordable. It is important to know that when dealing with such documents only original documents can be recorded. Remember that when doing real estate business as you must plan time for the originals to arrive back in time to be recorded if you have a party to the transaction out of time when their signature is needed. Many agreements are signed electronically these days. There are several such programs, the most prominent in Northern Nevada real estate being Authentisign and DocuSign. You can initial and sign your documents online without having to print, sign, scan and return them. It is interesting to note that the document goes to an email for signature. Many couples share the same email so both signatures go to the same email address. Of course, the sender has no idea who is signing in such circumstances. If you want to be sure that your spouse doesn’t sign your name without your permission, establish your accounts with the signatory companies with your own email and keep it private. Not trying to alarm anybody, just pointing out a weakness in the system in case you have a weakness in yours. Make sure things are written and authenticated when you do business. If someone misses an initial, make sure you get it completed. You never know when you’ll need that confirming initial so get it up front when the agreements are being put together. Many documents only have signature spaces at the end of the document, nothing to initial the pages as you go along. We’ve seen documents changed after signature so to be safe you might consider initially every page along the way to the signature page just to protect yourself. Granted, it was only once in 40-plus years, but it only takes once to wipe you out financially if there is chicanery occurring. You can shake hands to seal the deal, but it is a good idea for everyone’s protection to sign the agreement. Learn to sign electronically. It’s easy, convenient (you can do it on your phone!), and there is a good record kept of the signature having occurred. Business is business, do the right thing when you do business. When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your Real Estate needs… Experience in Priceless! Jim Valentine, RE/MAX Realty Affiliates, BS.3481, 775-781-3704. dpwtigers@hotmail.com
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