C
an You Bind The Other Party to a Contract if All You Have is Their Faxed Signature?
If possible, having a good ole-fashioned signature on a document is always preferable. Fortunately, the law generally recognizes that business is not always done that way today.
There is some legal precedent for a faxed signature satisfying the legal requirement for a signature on a contract. There is even one case where the court ruled that the parties had formed a contract when the only identification of the transmitting party was the party's name printed across the top of the message.
The question gets a little more complicated when the sending party is using fax software to generate a fax directly from their computer. In that situation, the fax can only contain a digitally created or computer-generated signature. Although, apparently, no court has ruled on this issue, I think that it's likely that this "signature" would be found sufficient to create a legally binding contract.
The key word in the preceding sentence is "likely." Whenever possible, get a penned signature to form a contract. If the practical reality of doing business requires that you accept a faxed signature, sleep well knowing that it should suffice.
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