Are electronic signatures legal in California?

California's long exclusion list

Civil Code § 1633.3 is where California departs most from the uniform act. Beyond the usual carve-outs for wills and most of the Uniform Commercial Code, it excludes:

• Separately signed or initialed text. Any law that requires specific text or disclosures in a record to be separately signed or initialed. Liquidated damages clauses in real estate purchase contracts (§§ 1677–1678) and real estate arbitration clauses (Code Civ. Proc. § 1298) are carved back in (§ 1633.3(b)(4)).
• Named consumer and housing transactions (§ 1633.3(c)), including home solicitation contracts (§§ 1689.6–1689.7), home equity sales contracts, retail installment sales under the Unruh Act, vehicle sales under the Automobile Sales Finance Act, rental application screening fees (§ 1950.6), notices about property a tenant leaves behind (§ 1983), certain foreclosure notices, common interest developments and residential utility shutoff notices (Pub. Util. Code § 779.1).
• Notices to tenants served under Code of Civil Procedure § 1162, part of California's summary eviction procedure. An electronic record can't substitute for them.

The list also names sections of the Insurance, Financial, Health and Safety and Vehicle Codes. Two rules soften it. An excluded transaction can still be done electronically if another law allows it (§ 1633.3(f)), and documents can still be recorded electronically with a county recorder (§ 1633.3(c)).

What the act says

California enacted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act in 1999 (Senate Bill 820), the earliest enactment in the Uniform Law Commission's records. It's Civil Code §§ 1633.1–1633.17 and took effect January 1, 2000. The core rule is § 1633.7: a record, signature or contract can't be denied legal effect just because it's electronic, and electronic records and signatures satisfy laws requiring a writing or a signature. A digital signature under Government Code § 16.5 counts as an electronic signature (§ 1633.2(h)).

Stricter rules on agreeing to go electronic

• An agreement to deal electronically can't sit inside a paper standard form contract, unless it's a separate, optional agreement whose main purpose is that consent (§ 1633.5(b)).
• Consent can't be inferred just because someone paid electronically or registered a purchase or warranty online (§ 1633.5(b)).
• A buyer who purchased electronically from a seller that also sells offline can refuse further electronic dealings about those goods or services (§ 1633.5(c)).
• If a law requires a notice of the right to cancel, an electronic notice works only if the cancellation can be returned electronically (§ 1633.16).

The federal ESIGN Act also applies, including its consumer consent steps when a law requires giving a consumer information in writing (15 U.S.C. § 7001(c)). Our plain-English guide covers both.

Notaries and penalty of perjury

An electronic signature can be notarized when the record includes the notary's electronic signature and the other required information, and a statement signed under penalty of perjury can be signed electronically with the declaration attached (§ 1633.11). California's Online Notarization Act (Gov. Code § 8231, passed in 2023) isn't usable yet. Notaries can't perform online notarizations until the Secretary of State completes its technology project, due by January 1, 2030 unless it reports a delay. SignMaster doesn't notarize documents.

Practical notes for California businesses

• Check § 1633.3 first for consumer, housing and finance documents.
• Make e-sign consent a separate, optional step, never a clause in a paper form.
• Let people keep a copy. A record the recipient can't print or save isn't enforceable against them (§ 1633.8(c)).

California is strict about how consent to go electronic is given (§ 1633.5). SignMaster asks every signer to agree to sign electronically before they sign, and records that agreement with the disclosure version they saw. Once everyone has signed, signers can download the PDF, which ends with a certificate of completion listing each timestamped event.