Are electronic signatures legal in Pennsylvania?

What Pennsylvania's act says

The Electronic Transactions Act is Act 69 of 1999 (P.L. 971), enacted from Senate Bill 555 and signed on December 16, 1999. Most of it took effect 30 days later, in January 2000. Chapters 1, 3 and 5 may be cited as the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act; Chapters 7 and 9 are Pennsylvania's own additions.

The core rule is in section 303: a record, signature or contract can't be denied legal effect just because it's electronic, an electronic record satisfies a writing requirement and an electronic signature satisfies a signature requirement. Evidence can't be excluded just because it's electronic (section 309).

Consumer agreements: Pennsylvania's extra rules

Chapter 9 can't be varied by agreement in a consumer contract (section 903). It says:

• A paper consumer contract can include a clause authorizing electronic transactions only if the consumer agrees to it by a separate and express acknowledgment (section 901).
• That acknowledgment must say which parts of the transaction will be done electronically and how (section 901).
• Agreement can't be inferred just because the consumer paid an account or registered a purchase or warranty electronically (section 901).
• If a party knows an electronic record wasn't actually sent or received, the supposed sending or receipt has no legal effect (section 902).

Security procedures in business deals

Chapter 7 covers security procedures, the methods parties agree on to verify a sender or detect changes. A commercially reasonable procedure can attribute a signature to the person it identifies, and a procedure showing a record hasn't changed since a particular time means it's treated as unaltered unless the circumstances indicate otherwise (sections 701–703). Chapter 7 doesn't apply to any transaction with a consumer (section 704).

Pennsylvania and the federal ESIGN Act

Pennsylvania's act sits alongside the federal ESIGN Act, which covers e-signatures in interstate commerce (15 U.S.C. § 7001). When a law requires you to give a consumer information in writing, follow ESIGN's consumer consent steps before sending it electronically (§ 7001(c)), alongside Pennsylvania's Chapter 9. Our e-signature law guide covers ESIGN in detail.

What's excluded in Pennsylvania

• Wills, codicils and testamentary trusts (section 104(b)(1)).
• The Commercial Code (13 Pa.C.S.), except sections 1107 and 1206, Division 2 on sales and Division 2A on leases (section 104(b)(2)).

Remote notarization

Since October 29, 2020, a notary located in Pennsylvania can notarize for a remotely located person using communication technology, after identifying them and making an audio-visual recording of the notarial act (57 Pa.C.S. § 306.1). See remote online notarization. SignMaster doesn't notarize documents.

Whatever the deal, keep the paper trail. With SignMaster, consent comes first: each signer agrees to sign electronically, and that answer is stored with the disclosure version shown to them. When everyone has signed, the PDF gets a certificate of completion, a timestamped log of the signing, and signers can download the finished file. A consumer's Chapter 9 acknowledgment is still yours to collect (section 901).