Live on Rightmove, terms still in the vendor's inbox
The vendor agreed to instruct you at the valuation and was keen to go live. The negotiator emailed the terms of business the same afternoon. Photos were done, the listing went live, viewings started. Three weeks later, with an offer on the table, someone notices the signed terms were never returned.
Usually nothing goes wrong. Occasionally a vendor disputes the fee, or the sole agency period, or says they never agreed to the terms at all, and then the missing signature matters very much.
Why signatures go missing
Terms are often sent as a PDF attachment for the vendor to print, sign and scan, which many people find a chore. Nothing in the listing process checks that signed terms are on file before marketing starts. Where the terms were agreed away from your office, your business may also have a cancellation period and information to provide, which your compliance lead sets out; tracking that by hand is easy to get wrong.
Fee changes agreed at the valuation also cause trouble when the terms sent afterwards show the standard fee, and nobody catches the difference.
| What should happen | What often happens |
|---|---|
| Terms sent the same day, with agreed fee | Standard template sent, fee adjusted by hand or not |
| Vendor signs before marketing | Listing goes live first |
| Cancellation information given where required | Included or not, depending on who sent it |
| Signed copy filed on the CRM | In someone's inbox |
What an unsigned agreement costs
Your fee rests on the agreement. If there is a dispute about the fee, the sole agency period or whether you were instructed at all, an unsigned or missing agreement leaves you in a weak position. Starting marketing without the steps your own compliance process requires can create further problems that your adviser would want to avoid.
It also costs time: chasing signatures, re-sending attachments and hunting through inboxes at the moment you most need the paperwork.
How we fix the signing process
- Generated terms: the agreement is produced from the instruction record in your CRM, including the fee and agency type agreed at the valuation, so what is sent matches what was said.
- E-signing: the vendor signs on their phone through an established e-signature service. Joint owners each sign in turn.
- Cancellation handling: if your process applies a cancellation period, the start and end dates are recorded and the required information is included in what the vendor receives, as your compliance lead has set out.
- Readiness check: the listing cannot be marked ready to go live until the signed agreement is on file, unless a manager overrides with a note.
- Filing: the signed agreement and its audit trail are stored against the property in the CRM.
- Reminders: unsigned agreements trigger reminders to the vendor and a flag to the negotiator.
Signed before the first viewing
Vendors sign on their phone within the valuation follow-up, and the signed copy is filed automatically. No listing goes live without terms on file unless someone deliberately decides it should. Fee disputes, when they happen, start from a clear signed record.
Negotiators also stop being the bottleneck. The terms go out as soon as the instruction is recorded, whether or not the valuer is back in the office, and the branch manager can see every instruction still waiting for a signature. Where a fee was agreed differently at the valuation, it is written on the instruction record once and carried into the agreement, so the fee on the document is the fee that was agreed.
Are your terms of business on file?
- Terms of business are sent as attachments to print and sign.
- Listings have gone live before terms were signed.
- Fees agreed at valuation do not always match the terms sent.
- Signed agreements are hard to find when needed.
- Cancellation periods are tracked by hand, or not at all.