How E-Signatures Work (and When They Don’t)

An electronic signature is any electronic way of showing you agree to a document: typing your name, drawing it on a screen, or clicking a Sign button. In the US, the EU and the UK, the law says a signature can't be refused just because it is electronic, so most leases and everyday agreements can be signed this way.

There are exceptions. Wills, deeds, some court documents and certain notices still need paper or a formal process, and the list differs by country. This guide explains what makes an e-signature hold up and when not to use one.

What counts as an electronic signature

The law in most places is broad. All of these can be electronic signatures:

• A typed name, or a name in a signature-style font
• A signature drawn with a finger or mouse
• An uploaded image of your handwritten signature
• Clicking "I agree" or "Sign" next to a clear statement
• A cryptographic digital signature tied to a certificate

The EU's eIDAS Regulation sorts them into three levels. A simple electronic signature is any of the above. An advanced one must be uniquely linked to and capable of identifying the signer, created with data under the signer's sole control, and linked to the document so that any later change is detectable. A qualified one is an advanced signature made with a qualified signature creation device and based on a qualified certificate. Under Article 25, no electronic signature can be refused as evidence just because it is electronic, and a qualified one has the equivalent legal effect of a handwritten signature in every member state.

Most leases and offer letters are signed with simple electronic signatures. What makes them strong is the evidence around them.

What makes an e-signature hold up

1. 1

   Intent

   The signer clearly chose to sign: a Sign button next to a statement that the signature is meant to be binding, not a box ticked by accident.
2. 2

   Consent to sign electronically

   For consumers in the US, ESIGN requires a clear statement before consent: the right to paper copies, how to withdraw consent, and the hardware and software needed, and the consumer must consent in a way that shows they can open the records.
3. 3

   Who signed

   A link sent to the signer’s own email, often with a one-time code, ties the signature to a person.
4. 4

   The document didn’t change

   A fingerprint (hash) of the file and a seal on the final PDF show whether anything changed after signing.
5. 5

   An audit trail

   A record of when the document was sent, opened and signed, and from where, attached to the final copy.
6. 6

   Everyone gets the final copy

   Each party keeps the same signed PDF, so nobody depends on the other to produce it later.

The rules, place by place

What not to sign electronically

The US ESIGN Act doesn't apply to these, and similar exceptions exist elsewhere:

• Wills, codicils and testamentary trusts
• Adoption, divorce and other family-law matters
• Court orders, notices and official court documents
• Notices that utility services such as water, heat or power will be cut off
• Notices of default, acceleration, repossession, foreclosure, eviction or the right to cure, under a credit agreement secured by, or a rental agreement for, someone's primary home
• Notices cancelling health or life insurance, product recall notices and hazardous-materials documents

Deeds and land transfers deserve the same caution almost everywhere. They are usually registered with a government land office that has its own signing rules. Use your lawyer or conveyancer's process.

Can I sign this electronically?

Before you sign

• Read the whole document, not only the pages with signature boxes.
• Check the names, the address, the dates and every amount and currency.
• See who else signs, and in what order. A lease is often signed by the tenants first and the landlord last.
• If you are pushed to sign before you've read it, stop. A real landlord or seller can wait an hour.
• In the US, you can ask for paper copies; the sender must tell you how before you consent to electronic records.

After you sign

Download the final signed copy and its certificate or audit page, and keep them somewhere you control. If anyone later shows you a different version, compare it with your copy. In a PDF reader that checks signatures, a sealed PDF shows whether it was changed after signing.

How Roofy Sign works

Roofy Sign, in the free Roofy dashboard, uses simple electronic signatures. Before you sign for the first time it asks for your consent to sign electronically and offers a paper path. It sends each signer a link by email (with a code for leases), records an audit trail, seals the finished PDF and gives every party the same copy. Anyone can check that a PDF is unchanged at roofy.io/verify.

Roofy Sign refuses the documents listed above: eviction, default and right-to-cure notices for a home, court filings, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, deeds and conveyances, and affidavits. It doesn't claim advanced or qualified status, so use a qualified provider where the law or the other party requires one.

Signing a lease after a move-in walk-through? Read how to do a move-in inspection first. Signing in New York City? See NYC lease clauses to read before you sign.