More and more commercial lenders use online signing as a method of formalising finance agreements and Personal Guarantees, particularly those involved in secondary and asset based lending. Even the mainstream banks are getting in on the act and for some time both technology and the legal system seemed to struggle to keep pace with these major changes. This is no longer the case as both are much more in step with supporting this method of authorising documents such as Personal Guarantees.
In some ways committing to a document online ought to make guarantors more aware of what they are signing, whereas they may not subject paper based documents to the same level of scrutiny.
For others the reverse maybe true, particularly if they are not technically savvy. Yet for others it doesn’t matter whether it is paper based or online, they just sign anyway. Many people sign these Personal Guarantees without really considering the personal consequences of the business not being able to meet its obligations or are just so desperate for the funding for the company they will sign anything.
Much to most people’s ignorance most finance companies, that use an online process for the signing of documents, have systems in place that can identify actions carried out to the very computer, location and time that the online access took place, also linking it to any particular email address or previous correspondence on the matter.
However in some instances such records are not kept by the finance company involved.
Even if these finance companies do keep good records in this regard, if an alleged guarantor is sure they did not action such a transaction online then we can assist with dealing with the matter to better protect the alleged guarantor’s position.
