KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ****************************** can you rely on electronic signatures October 2, 2025 ******************** can you rely on electronic signatures ********************* Ken Your contract that does it all is subject to this problem that can make it totally unenforceable. With electronic programs that employ an electronic signature that many of us do not use for some valid reason, how can you can you ensure or can you at all that the signer is the right person in the food chain as opposed to just anyone with a title so that it can be enforced and therefore not stated eventually that the person who signed it is not authorized to do so or no longer works here? Do not state that you need to do diligences here that sound good but is not always the case in real world? Next, in many cases people sign it with the use of a script word font that is not a real signature so what about that? Additionally, if the signature is just some sort of unreadable scribble that can be denied, that we all know is intended what then? In all the stated cases it would seem that if the time comes to enforce the contract there are potential problems with denials having to do with the signature or signer. As you know in many cases in today’s world that this is done electronically via an email and the chance of seeing some one and get it signed when you are there is little to none, so do not state that as the best way to do this. Several firms use to just send a letter stating that the contract is renewing under the same terms as opposed to a new agreement, does that hold any water? Lasty, these questions are more directed for signing renewals as opposed to the original agreements but can apply to them as well. We all await your response on this crucial problem that we are all subject to. Yours truly, Truth or Consequences ************************* Response ************************* This issue has been addressed in this forum before. The use of electronic execution of an agreement and other documents is widely accepted. Most of us have moved on to the 21st century, 2025 to be more precise. "The times are a changing" and you need to get on board or step aside. Of course there is concern who actually signed the document. Is that much different than meeting in your customer's office and asking the person before you to execute the contract? When is the last time you asked to see, and photograph, the driver's license or other government issued identification of the person signing? How about asking for the corporate filing records and current resolutions authorizing your contract? It's just not done. Driver's licenses, indeed even Global Entry Renewal Applications, Passports too, can be applied for electronically. The "signatures" are electronic. If the issue is who is actually signing the contract electronically the same issue exists if a person appears and signs in front of you unless you verify identity, which you don't. You could verify identify by getting on the phone with the person getting ready to sign electronically and confirming the execution. If the issue is authority of the person signing, you have the same problem with hard wet copies. We get claims of "no authority" in plenty of collection cases, almost all of which are rejected [another topic]. So hard copy or electronic, in person or through the mail or through the airwaves or internet, we see all the same issues. Electronic signatures are easier and I encourage use of this technology. 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