With technology today, it is so easy to do business, even if you clients are on the other side of the country. But there has to be something said for doing business face to face. When I sit down with a client to sign papers, I make sure they know exactly what they are signing. Often times, they go back to their home town during the escrow process and there are always more papers to be signed. With technology, it is easy to email, fax or zip a paper right over to them, have them sign it and it is back in my hands within 10 minutes.
The problem is that most clients do not read what they are signing. I send over a paper with several spots for a buyer to sign. I give detailed instructions to sign on this line because it is saying....., then sign this line stating that you ....... but do NOT sign this line because you do not want to....... and do not sign here because you do not want to waive your rights. Then I get the paper back and it has been signed in every spot possible for a buyer to sign. The buyer has obviously ignored my written instructions, ignored my x's to mark the right spots and ignored the warning at the top of the section that says in bold letters, Buyers sign here ONLY IF................
I will be the first to admit that I do not always read all of the fine print on every single thing that I sign but I sure have a good idea about what it says or I have an expert telling me the main points. And I sure don't sign something that waives my rights or gives up something important. I think the headline could say "Buyer to give up first born child as commission" and they would still sign. It is amazing to me that people just see a signature line and start writing.
Any suggestions on how to stop this behavior in clients? I appreciate the trust that they obviously have in me and sign whatever I put in front of their face but at some point, they should read what they are saying. This happens to me way too often.
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