Stock photo licensed from iStockphoto.com

Be Careful with E-mail and Fax

Posted September 21st, 2014 under pitfalls, smart buying, smart selling.

For some time now, the standard Agreement of Purchase and Sale has included a clause that allows for documents to be e-mailed or faxed, so long as an e-mail address or fax number is provided.

When a document is e-mailed or faxed, the signatures, as well as any changes that are properly initialled, are deemed to be "original" , and have full legal force.

This can lead to serious problems, because errors (or even intentional changes) can be introduced without all parties being aware.

In the days before e-mail, the parties would usually make changes to a single paper document. With e-mail and fax, the document is usually printed many times, and it can be easy to lose track of signatures and changes.

To safeguard against problems (regardless of whether you're a buyer or a seller), ask your agent to provide a copy of all faxed or e-mailed documents. You should also ask for each page to be numbered, and the total number of pages to be noted.

This will ensure that you are completely aware of the state of your agreement after each change, and that nothing goes amiss during the process.

Want to know more about handling your real estate documents safely? Just ask me, I'll be happy to help.