Sometimes things happen in an escrow transaction that will lead you to say, “What were you thinking?” This is one of those instances and it involves a dead person, a contract and an electronic signature.
An “electronic signature” or “e-signature” is a digital version of a person’s handwritten signature and carries the same weight and legal authority as the hand signature. In the real estate industry we have a number of electronic signature platforms. The signer sets up an image of his signature in the platform database and from then on, any document that is sent via email on the platform can be signed with just a click. Simple, fast, efficient, the wave of the future, right? Unfortunately, it can also lead to abuse. This is a story that also asks that question, “Who is really behind that click?”