June 2007 — Your Digital Signature Please?


From Realtor Magazine…

E-signatures have been slow to gain acceptance in real estate, but the benefits seem clear to many practitioners. Are you ready to jump on board?

BY MIKE ANTONIAK

Seven years have gone by since former President Bill Clinton signed a law that gave digital signatures on electronic documents the same legal status as pen and paper. But what seemed at the time to be such a promising solution for streamlining paperwork for real estate transactions has been slow to take hold.

Fortunately for fans of quick closings, that may soon change. More real estate professionals are testing out digital solutions to distribute forms and sign documents, and proponents are sensing that the technology is moving closer to mainstream.

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Kevin Boer of Alain Pinel REALTORS® in Palo Alto, Calif., has been using DocuSign and WinForms for two years. He also meets resistance — not from his clients, but from other real estate practitioners.

“My clients are very tech savvy so they understand the advantages as soon as I tell them this is available,” Boer says. “But I’ve been evangelizing digital signatures to other real estate professionals for two years now and still haven’t had one transaction where both parties signed documents electronically.”

Boer’s not giving up, though. When submitting contracts and forms to practitioners on the other side of a sale, Boer includes an article from the CALIFORINIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® explaining the benefits of digital signatures. He hopes the article will help combat misperceptions that e-signatures aren’t legally binding or that the use of such technology would not be embraced by consumers.

“The fact is this has huge benefits for us by streamlining our business and the amount of time and work it takes to close a deal,” he says.

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