Written California property sale agreement; using initials for signature

[girg]

In California, if someone signs an agreement to sell a piece of California property to me for fair market value, all cash deal with no contingencies, can I take him to court to force the sale if all he used to sign his name were the initials of his first, middle, and last name?

Would it make a difference if he sent the agreement to me under separate cover signed with his full name, and the cover letter makes reference to various terms of the agreement he only initialed?

If there is legal precedent for my case one way or the other, can you give me the name of any case name or other legal authority?

Thanks.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

In California, if someone signs an agreement to sell a piece of California property to me for fair market value, all cash deal with no contingencies, can I take him to court to force the sale if all he used to sign his name were the initials of his first, middle, and last name?

Would it make a difference if he sent the agreement to me under separate cover signed with his full name, and the cover letter makes reference to various terms of the agreement he only initialed?

If there is legal precedent for my case one way or the other, can you give me the name of any case name or other legal authority?

Thanks.

My response:

Have you ever tried to read a doctor's handwriting? Fairly impossible, isn't it? You'd think that all doctors were absent from school on the day Penmanship was being taught.

Anyway, the same thing holds true for us "other" folk. California doesn't care how he writes his name, or whether he uses his "real" name, or his initials. All that matters in California is whether each of the principles to an agreement actually put pen to paper. It wouldn't matter if he signed it "Benjamin Franklin" or merely "BF."

If, with the help of a handwriting expert, you can prove to a court that he put pen to paper, then you've got a valid, enforceable, contract.

IAAL

 

[girg]

Thank you for your response.

Is there any chance you can tell me the name of any California cases or other legal authority that can be used as precedence for my case?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Thank you for your response.

Is there any chance you can tell me the name of any California cases or other legal authority that can be used as precedence for my case?

My response:

Of course there's a "chance" - - as long as there's money in it for me !

The subscription need not be at the end of the instrument; nor need it be handwritten. The principal's printed name satisfies the statute so long as intended as a signature (i.e., as an authentication), but not if the name appears simply for identification or some other purpose. [Rader Co. v. Stone, supra, 178 Cal.App.3d at 23, 223 Cal.Rptr. at 812; see also Marks v. Walter G. McCarty Corp., supra, 33 Cal.2d at 820, 205 P.2d at 1029--letterhead not sufficient subscription where not adopted as principal's signature]

Moreover, the statute is satisfied even if the signature appears solely on one of a series of papers . . . so long as, taken together, all the papers relate to the same transaction. "[T]his is enough, as all the papers are to be considered together as forming one contract or memorandum." [Thompson v. Walsh (1946) 76 Cal.App.2d 188, 194, 172 P.2d 745, 749; see Rader Co. v. Stone, supra, 178 Cal.App.3d at 23, 223 Cal.Rptr. at 812]

No particular manner of execution is required; the party need not sign his or her full name, nor need the signature be handwritten (e.g., signature may be typed, lithographed, rubber-stamped or printed). It is sufficient that the "party to be charged" intended there to be an execution, regardless of the form or location of the signature. [See generally, Marks v. Walter G. McCarty Corp. (1949) 33 Cal.2d 814, 820, 205 P.2d 1025, 1028; Rader Co. v. Stone (1986) 178 Cal.App.3d 10, 23, 223 Cal.Rptr. 806, 812]


Okay, you can send my $1,000.00 fee to me, care of FreeAdvice.com, attention to IAAL.

Good luck.

IAAL

 

[HomeGuru]

Very good IAAL. You're worth every penny. Thanks.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Very good IAAL. You're worth every penny. Thanks.

My response:

Thank you, thank you. (Bow, bow).

IAAL