Have you ever wondered why it’s  important that signatures to an agreement be witnessed? If you have, you’re not alone. Recently, we’ve done deals with other agents who have tried to tell us that signatures don’t need to be witnessed if an offer is negotiated by fax or email and that it’s okay to witness your own signature. Our reply to these agents: a resounding “Uh uh. Ask your broker or lawyer and then please get the signature witnessed.”

We don’t care if we’re known as sticklers for detail. In fact, quite the opposite. We’d like to be known as sticklers for detail because we care about protecting our clients.

It’s true that an agreement is valid whether or not the signatures are witnessed. The witness is required for another reason, best illustrated by this story. One of the first files I worked on when I started practising law was very skinny. It contained only an agreement of purchase and sale and a note from our client saying essentially this: “I just bought this property. I don’t want it anymore. Here’s the agreement. Get me out.”

Most deals go smoothly  because both parties want to close, but when one party has a change of heart, the first thing they’re going to do is look for a loophole in the agreement that will allow them to get out of the deal without losing their deposit. If their signature is unwitnessed, they might claim that they didn’t sign the agreement, that someone else signed their name and that they’re not bound by the agreement because of this fraud. (Whether their story is true or not is a topic for another blog.) The purpose of the witness is to have someone who can testify to the fact that they did indeed sign the agreement so they won’t be able to use this loophole to get out of the deal.

When you buy or sell your home, the last thing you want is to find out that the other party wants to get out of the deal and has found an easy way to do that. Having signatures witnessed is a simple thing to do and closes one possible loophole. In an ideal world, the witness’ name and address should be printed under their signature to make it easier to contact them if needed.

There are other potential loopholes, as well, and it’s difficult to close them all, but being detail oriented is a step in the right direction to making sure your deal closes as expected.