E~Sign Your Life Away

SYS-CON-

04/18/12 — eSignSystems, a division of Wave Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: WAVX), announced today that Medallion Analytics has licensed and implemented the SmartSAFE electronic vault for use in its web-based mortgage audit and analytics solutions. SmartSAFE provides lifecycle management of electronically signed, legally-binding documents and records, meeting ESIGN and UETA compliance. The combination of Medallion and eSignSystems’ technology gives loan originators a break-through solution to automate the entire pre- and post-close loan origination audit and compliance process.

[…]

eDeliver, eSign & Conduct MERS eRegistry Transactions
Medallion has also licensed the SigningRoom application from eSignSystems to simplify the entire eDelivery and eSigning process. Users can now electronically sign and “seal” electronic documents securely with user name and password, making it convenient for all parties to remotely access and electronically sign important documents related to closing a loan. In addition, Medallion has also incorporated eSignSystems’ SmartCLOSE, an optional module that extends the power of the SmartSAFE to include electronic integration to the MERS® eRegistry to register and track eNotes. MERS® is the industry-endorsed tracking tool for electronic mortgages.

[SYS-CON MEDIA]

We all know where very similar words got MERS…

“E-signatures will reduce the volume of lost paperwork, reduce signature fraud, reduce the time required to close a loan, and may lead to lower borrower costs.”

MERS cannot even keep track of who owns what loan and with all the alleged fraudulent signatures originating from it’s certifying officers signing virtually any number of documents to land records… special caution to permit e-signatures that can easily be cut and pasted.

What if this ever gets “hacked”… nothing is bullet proof.

Read the letter below…

[ipaper docId=57025234 access_key=key-145ld1yf6pkpn8zowucm height=600 width=600 /]

HuffPO-

When banks were caught improperly signing off on foreclosure documents last fall, consumer advocates and property rights experts hoped the public outcry would force the companies to change their foreclosure processing systems to ensure that meaningful document reviews were conducted and wrongful foreclosures were prevented.

But in at least one county in North Carolina, banks have responded by exploiting a filing loophole that has allowed them to continue signing off on key documents en masse, according to a local official.

Come back and check these two links below…

MERS Signing Agreements /Corporate Resolutions Signed Using Stamps

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ARE MERS’ SIGNATURES ON DOCUMENTS REAL or SCANNED DUPLICATES?

ELECTRONIC REAL ESTATE DOCUMENTS- CONTEXT, UNRESOLVED COST-BENEFIT ISSUES AND A RECOMMENDED DECISIONAL PROCESS

Excerpt:

56. Some fear that the strong support will lead to coercion. A recurrent/theme in informal discussions with recording officials and attorneys before, at, and after the conference has been that, if the states do not authorize and implement electronic recording in a timely manner, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will impose it on the states. Such an imposition will emerge either through federal legislation that requires recording officials to accept electronic documents for recording, or by the development of a private land records system analogous to the MERS system for recording interests in notes. For more information about the MERS systems, see http://www.mersinc.com/ index1.htm (last visited Oct. 7, 2002). Notwithstanding Fannie Mae’s allusions to the creation of a national registry for electronic notes, Announcement 02-08, supra note 32, Fannie Mae Guide, supra note 26, and the considerable resonance of the theme among recording officials, this author is skeptical of the claim.

Continue below…

[ipaper docId=50761736 access_key=key-1rlrfd8sxik5dao0ikqo height=600 width=600 /]

Highlights:

• Uses a real pen
• Yes, It crosses all T’s and Dots all I’s
  
• Resulting product looks like it was processed by an actual human
  
• Unlike a human…it makes NO mistakes!

Check it out below:

NOTE: Not saying this is an actual machine used, for demonstration only of amazing technology today!

Here is the work of Robo-Scanners “signing” Satisfaction of Mortgages/ Discharges below…no different!

Only that the above uses a “real pen” that a real human can use.

I also included MERS exec. sigs at the end…

[ipaper docId=42947649 access_key=key-1khopfb5zy15wihne1na height=600 width=600 /]

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

JACK R. LORRAINE AND, :
BEVERLY MACK :
Plaintiffs :
:
v. :        CIVIL ACTION NO. PWG-06-1893
:
MARKEL AMERICAN :
INSURANCE COMPANY :
Defendants

Excerpt:

Thus, when a lawyer analyzes the admissibility of electronic evidence, he or she should
consider whether it would unfairly prejudice the party against whom it is offered, confuse or mislead
the jury, unduly delay the trial of the case, or interject collateral matters into the case . If a lawyer is
offering electronic evidence, particularly computer animations, that may draw a Rule 403 objection,
he or she must be prepared to demonstrate why any prejudice is not unfair, when measured against the
probative value of the evidence. In this case, counsel did not address whether Rule 403 was implicated
with respect to the electronic evidence attached to their summary judgment memoranda.

Conclusion

In this case the failure of counsel collectively to establish the authenticity of their exhibits,
resolve potential hearsay issues, comply with the original writing rule, and demonstrate the absence
of unfair prejudice rendered their exhibits inadmissible, resulting in the dismissal, without prejudice,
of their cross motions for summary judgment. The discussion above highlights the fact that there are
five distinct but interrelated evidentiary issues that govern whether electronic evidence will be
admitted into evidence at trial or accepted as an exhibit in summary judgment practice. Although each
of these rules may not apply to every exhibit offered, as was the case here, each still must be
considered in evaluating how to secure the admissibility of electronic evidence to support claims and
defenses. Because it can be expected that electronic evidence will constitute much, if not most, of the
evidence used in future motions practice or at trial, counsel should know how to get it right on the first
try. The Court hopes that the explanation provided in this memorandum order will assist in that
endeavor.63

May 4, 2007

/S/
PAUL W. GRIMM
CHIEF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

[ipaper docId=42055149 access_key=key-ny71zs8lak1m06d9kgo height=600 width=600 /]

DinSFLA Here: Now if we just put these time frames such as ‘1999’ with all that is happening today we arrive to some answers…Don’t we?

Electronic communications make it possible to conduct old transactions in new forms.  Some of the oldest kinds of transactions governed by law are transactions in real estate:  for example, sales, leases and mortgages.  In the Middle Ages transactions in real estate were conducted symbolically, without paper or signatures.  Writing, printing and more universal literacy brought paper deeds, mortgages and leases, memorialized by words on paper with manual signatures.   These were filed in public records to establish who had rightful title to any piece of land.  Several centuries have gone by since that initial migration to the then-new technology of paper documents and manual signatures.  A new technology of computers, software to run them, and electronic communications has come to replace paper.  The law of real property must now make a transition to accommodate the new technology.  The efficiency of real estate markets makes this imminently necessary.

This long dependence on paper, however, casts up certain barriers to using electronic communications to carry on real estate transactions.  The law of the states of the United States has many “statute of fraud” requirements that inhibit the use of electronic communications.  Statute of fraud requirements put total and express reliance upon paper documents and manual signatures to make transactions enforceable.  No paper, no enforcement.  These same requirements have also made it more difficult to develop electronic analogues to transactions in paper that are equally enforceable.

The first step to remedy the problem took place in 1999 when the Uniform Law Commissioners promulgated the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA).  This act adjusted statute of fraud provisions to include electronic “records” and “signatures” for the memorialization of all kinds of transactions, including basic transactions in real estate.  It is possible to have sale contracts, mortgage instruments (in whatever form a jurisdiction uses) and promissory notes memorialized in electronic form with electronic signatures that will now be treated the equal of the same paper documents with manual signatures.  This is the result of the widespread enactment of UETA and of the subsequent enactment of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-Sign) by Congress.

Real estate documents must be recorded on public records to be effective.  Recording takes place in most states in a county office devoted to keeping these records.  Recording protects current interests in real estate by clarifying who holds those interests.  The chain of title leading to the current title-holder, meaning the historic record of documents relating to transactions for a specific piece of real estate, establishes the marketability of that piece of real estate by the current owner of interests in it.  The real estate records establish this chain of title.  State law governs these local recording offices, and there are requirements in the law of every state relating to the originality and authenticity of paper documents that are presented for recording.  UETA included optional provisions dealing with governmental authority, including that of local governments, to accept and utilize electronic records.  However, not all states adopted these optional provisions, and confusion still persisted whether these provisions, coupled with the rest of UETA, authorized recordation of electronic records.

The Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (URPERA) removes any doubt with regard to the ability of a local recording office to accept and otherwise process electronic documents and signatures for recording.  Further, there must be an orderly conversion of every recording office in the United States for electronic recording to become accepted universally.  That will be a complex process, but it needs a starting point in the law.  URPERA, promulgated by the Uniform Law Commissioners in 2004, provides that essential start.

The act does three fairly simple things that will have monumental effect.  First, it establishes that any requirement for originality, for a paper document or for a writing manually signed before it may be recorded, is satisfied by an electronic document and signature.  This is essentially an express extension of the principles of UETA and E-Sign to the specific requirements for recording documents relating to real estate transactions in any state.  Second, it establishes what standards a recording office must follow and what it must do to make electronic recording effective.  For example, the office must comply with standards set by the board established in a state to set them.  It must set up a system for searching and retrieving electronic documents.  There are a minimum group of requirements established in URPERA.  Third, URPERA establishes the board that sets statewide standards and requires it to set uniform standards that must be implemented in every recording office.

These may be simple steps in the law, but the entire process of implementing electronic recording of electronic real estate documents will be complex from state to state.  Inserting URPERA in the law of a state requires careful scrutiny of its real estate law.  If paper documents are effective, for example, when they are time-stamped when delivered to a recording office, when should electronic documents that may be delivered electronically when an office is closed be considered effective?  Answers to questions like this one will take some work and some complex decisions as URPERA is considered for enactment in any state.

Notwithstanding this need for careful effort, it is important to make the start on electronic recording of real estate documents.  Real estate transactions involve billions of dollars in the United States.  The efficiency of real estate markets depends upon the adoption of technology to make them faster and more competitive.  After UETA and E-Sign, the key is URPERA.  Every state needs to consider it as soon as possible.

More info…ElectronicRecording.org

RELATED ARTICLE:

Electronic Property Document Recording (ERDS)