What is “Remote Presence”?

Do you travel a lot? Are personal encounters difficult to arrange? Are the dates of signing the contract, such as real estate sales contracts, difficult to negotiate? Maybe you need to avoid any kind of personal contact because of curfew restrictions of an epidemic, but still do not want to miss out on obtaining a promising property? Now we have some good news for you: you can legally buy or sell a real estate or sign any other business contract without personal presence, via a video call!

The need to enter into a contract without a personal meeting with the attorney countersigning the document has arisen several times during our career as lawyers. However, due to the preventive measures taken from the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, it may even become a common requirement to conclude real estate sales contracts in absentia, as well as other business contracts requiring a lawyer’s countersignature as the economic cycle never stops completely. The requirement of signing a contract without face-to-face meetings is not a new expectation, and we also need to be prepared for any recurring curfew restrictions.

The devices, computer programs, applications optimized for tablets and smartphones have been around for a long time and with these technical solutions, the live image and voice transmission is possible via a video call. These video calls can even be recorded.

We know that the legislation is generally a late-follower of the extremely fast development of technology, but it does provide an opportunity to legitimate the sales contract of real estates or other busines contracts via a video call fortunately for years by now. Therefore, we lawyers have established years of experience of doing so. The current legislation allows the parties to sign the contract at a different time and place, without even the presence of the lawyer countersigning the document.

 

Does it hold any legal risks?

Whether the lack of a face-to-face meeting creates legal risks, whether it breeds craftsmanship, whether it makes it easier to “scam” the signing party? All of these questions and doubts are recognized. Fortunately, we can assure you that the legislation and legal regulations of the Bar Association sufficiently regulate the process of the sale and purchase of real estate via video call in order to avoid every possible abuse.

Video calling is actually just a little different from face-to-face contracting. In practice, the act of signature is transferred to the client’s home, and the signature of the other party and the countersignature of the lawyer are separated in time.

How does it work?

First, it should be stated that signing a contract without the personal presence of the parties can only happen if all parties possess the IT equipment providing the technical conditions. This means that each signatory and the lawyer countersigning the document must also have the means to make a video call.

Compared to contracts signed during a face-to-face meeting, the content of the contract is developed exclusively through communications on remote access devices. Once the content of the contract formed this way evolves into its final form, the parties must sign the physical paper version. This is one of the most difficult parts of the process, since if the signing parties are unwilling or unable to meet in person for signing the contract, they will have to wait for the document (already signed by one party) to arrive to their premises and then to the countersigning lawyer.

Upon receipt of the document by a lawyer, the client may be remotely identified via video call and in legal terms, “remotely presented” in front of the lawyer. The process of doing this involves the client to repeat the signatory’s contractual statements by means of a recorded video call in front of the countersigning lawyer. Thus, the saved recording certifies that the person whose signature is on the paper is the same person who has signed the document.

It may sound way too easy, but the strictly developed procedural rules definitely require the involvement of an experienced lawyer. If you need to sign a sales contract or any other business contract between absentees, please feel free to contact our staff, we are at your disposal both in the editing of the document itself and during all phases of signing the contract!