Is signing online safe?

Is signing online safe?

Ask Phyllis: a blog series of frequently asked real estate questions. Email us here

Dear Phyllis,

We recently co-signed for our son to buy his first home. But we haven’t’ been involved in a real estate sale in 25 years. Not since the purchase of our La Crescenta home. Our son is good with the computer but while we email and do the simple stuff that’s about it. Everyone wanted us to use DocuSign and we just weren’t comfortable doing so. Are we just old fashioned or is signing online safe?

Thank you in advance,
Jim

Dear Jim,

DocuSign has certainly made life more convenient. Obtaining signatures takes minutes. It is done remotely from a computer, tablet, or phone. Electronic signatures (e-signatures) are widely recognized as legal. Signing documents remotely is a time saver.  In addition, with more people working from home it’s now a business necessity. DocuSign is used and trusted in: Real estate transactions, Human Resources employee hiring, Government services/applications, and Financial services.

Is online signing safe? Keep in mind that the DocuSign is emailed to your personal email address. Electronic signatures authenticate, track and store signatures and signer information at each stage. Each electronic signature has a unique sequence of encrypted numbers; one public and one private. This encrypted data offers a record of the date and time that signing took place. It also stores information regarding the signer’s IP address.

My concern with DocuSign, is that it’s too easy. There are so many forms in a real estate transaction. Certainly, some are much more important than others. So, while online signing is safe, I think it’s critical to thoroughly read and understand what you are signing.