Banks still requiring "wet" signatures? Don't they want to go paperless and GREEN?

Banks do not generally release the figures on their losses due to electronic fraud.. it would be embarrassing if they did.

It would demonstrate how vulnerable electronic transactions are.

The fact that the majority of banks will not accept electronic signatures on real estate transactions is a good indicator of their aversion to opening them selves up to more losses due to fraud.

If you were gambling several hundred thousand dollars of your own money on the transaction would you accept an electronic signature?

Personally I would not.

I just received a timely email from Docusign.  They are having a cyber convention 2/24/ & 2/27:

http://recyber.cyberconventions.com/speaker.cfm?speaker_id=558&interview_id=437

Docusign also has a 30-day free trial.

I think they are scared of some negative court decision that will screw up all the loans or something.  And with our wacky government they could get nailed for something if they try to get to innovative.

A lot of people are uncomfortable with electronic signatures and want to see an original signature wet. Arcahic maybe, but I do understand some.

No teck. is accepted by all when it comes on the sceen. They will get there when it seems OK to them. In the mean time us it where you can and educate all in your sphere.

My clients love my use of electronic signatures- and around here, time is of the essence. It's fast and easy and you get a great copy. Often, I send the contract back to the signers by snail mail so they can ink them. But, a buyer's agent should know if their client's lender accepts electronic signatures upfront.

Hmm. and as for those signatures that were faxed or scanned- who's to say that they were signed by the right party?  So, should we ban faxed and scanned signatures too? Is a faxed signature more secure than a verified e-mail address and IP information?

I just heard that "banks" are not going to be accepting eSigs on short sale contracts.  Ridiculous.  My clients love ti and it is so convenient and saves paper.

On bank loan documents, and all documents in the loan file, they must be "wet" signatures for the purchase contract, title, and loan documents, and those real paper documents must be kept on file, for the life of the loan. In addition, if a lein holder appears at a foreclosure proceeding w/o the original loan documents (not copies, but the original ones signed at the closing of that loan) and the home owner asks for the lender to produce their loan documents, and the lender can't produce them, they therefore cannot prove that they are in fact the holder of the note. That is the law in every state in the US.

Therefore, until they change the laws on land titles, that won't change. I know CountryWide had done an audit, and they couldn't produce about 20% of their own documents.

Banks not only do not like e-signatures, but they do not even like wet signed, scanned, and emailed documents.  except for banks, my fax machine would only be used as a scanner.

You've all convinced me to give this a try. However, I'm still a people person and will sit down with my clients face-to-face whenever possible. 

Eric #26 - Here's my point.  From Merriam-Webster: Main Entry: fa·ce·tious Pronunciation: \fə-ˈsē-shəs\ Function: adjective  1 : joking or jesting often inappropriately : waggish <just being facetious>
2 : meant to be humorous or funny : not serious <a facetious remark>

I am much more competitive in my market because I can produce cleaner offers in a more timely fashion.  I'd rather be in a position to better serve my buyer clients than other local agents.  You know those other agents - the ones that don't even know how to properly complete the standard forms provided by our state associations.

If possible, I'd like everyone to stop using fax machines and just mail offers via the Postal System. ;-)

Pacita,

We are slowly moving toward a complete e-sig system, but for now closing docs at least need a wet one. Green is good.

I still think electronic signatures would be more meaningful if everyone had their own particular signature token and certificate, registered by a central depsitory for verification and can only be released by the signer.  This is like PGP encryption certificates and as long as the sender sends all the info to the client, the vulnerability still exists in who is the client.  It's too vulnerable to a "man in the middle attack".  If the agent has to send all the instructions and authentication data, then anyone can be on the other end. 

I come from this as a former IT security consultant so my discussion may seem nitpicky to many but it's still valid.

This suffers from the same problems I came across in IT.  The easier you make it, the less secure you make it too. You can't have it both ways.

Hi Pacita,

We are totally nowhere near paperless around here.  We need "wet" signatures, and they need to be in blue pen.

I don't see the problem with wet signatures. Do they have a handwriting expert on staff to check every signature? Such a waste of time and resources.

When I run into this issue (as I have) I just tell them that it has been ten years now since they feds have accepted electronic signatures and if they can show me a revision to that law, I will have my clients resign.  I then assure them that if they fail to close based on the "legal documents" I have provided, we will see them in court!  Fannie and Freddie are on record as accepting Electronic Signatures now, so that helps a lot too.

It is funny that when I went to set up some accounts at a bank (Wells Fargo) they only had me sign "electronically" and we never printed my paperwork for my four new accounts!

SEPTEMBER 2010: New frustration very recently with Wells Fargo declining Digital Signatures. The files had been accepted into the FHA Pre-foreclosure process USING digital signatures...now the contracts are NOT being accepted--and all prior docs are requiring physical signatures as well. Is this a Wells Fargo rule or an FHA/HUD rule? Given that the law is FEDERALLY MANDATED and over 10 years old, I feel frustrated that we are fighting this battle AGAIN. Any advice or similar stories?

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GENUINE BANK GUARANTEE (BG) AND STANDBY LETTER OF CREDIT (SBLC) FOR LEASE AND SALE AT THE LOWEST RATES AVAILABLE. OTHER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS MTN, CD, DLC, PB ARE ALSO AVAILABLE.

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