Sign Lease in front of Notary?

Question

I'm sitting down with a selected tenant to go through the lease with them later today. Should we sign it in front of a notary?

Steve Morris · Answer

Should we sign it in front of a notary?

Is there some question regarding their legitimacy?

I don't think beyond establishing who they say they are as signer it adds anything to enforceability.

Steve Morris · Answer

Well, that's more dependent on how the lease is written.

Are you using a standard form like from the local CAR (in Oregon, that's the commercial association of realtors, they probably call it something else other places)?  Those things can be like 20 pages long.

Greg M. · Answer

No, but you need to view their ID before signing the lease. I take a picture of their drivers license. That way I know who they are (Patriot Act requires this) and if they ever say it wasn't them who signed the lease, I have reasonable proof that it was them.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

You don't need a notary to make it enforceable, but it could only help in case of a dispute, because a third party signs to witness the signing. If you have a notary in your office who can do it, great. That being said, it is not common practice to notarize leases.

As Greg said, check their ID and take a photo of it for your records. That is no different than at a title company when you sign documents, they take a copy of your photo ID. I would also make sure they initial every page at the bottom.

Robert Johnson II · Answer

I just wasn't sure if it HAD to be notarized to be enforced, I didn't think so but wanted to double check. I'm using the BP state specific lease agreement (Texas). It's 12 pages and seems to cover everything I can think of. I feel confident moving forward with it.

Robert Johnson II · Answer

@Steve Morris thanks the question was mostly in regard to enforceability.

Sign Lease in front of Notary?

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