The Pen vs. the Pixel: Which Signature Is More Trustworthy?

Have you ever had a client who balked at the idea of signing transaction documents digitally? They may have worried about the legality of it all, perhaps wondering how something as ephemeral as an electronic signature could hold its weight against the "real world" tangibility of the handwritten kind.

It's a reasonable reaction. After all, you're asking them to trust an unfamiliar technology with the fate of what's likely the biggest transaction of their lifetime--the purchase of a home.

As an agent, you're likely familiar with eSignatures, but may struggle with explaining why they're not just safe, but actually safer than old-fashioned ink. Today, we're providing you with a little cheat sheet that you can use to counter common client objections to electronic signatures.

The Vulnerabilities of Ink

What people presume is the greatest strength of handwritten signatures--that each is unique to its owner--is actually its greatest weakness. Ink signatures are so unique, in fact, that they vary slightly each time they're written. That variability can be an issue if an ink signature is ever legally challenged.

The biggest problem with something so individual, however, is that it's usually unknown to others. Unless I'm already familiar with Sally's handwriting style, how can I know for sure that that's Sally's signature? I can't, and even handwriting experts can only establish the 'likelihood' that a signature belongs to someone; they can't establish certainty.

Written signatures are easy to forge, too, and paper documents can be modified just as easily.