{"id":6829,"date":"2014-04-21T07:15:09","date_gmt":"2014-04-21T14:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.keytlaw.com\/azllclaw\/?p=6829"},"modified":"2016-11-16T08:23:42","modified_gmt":"2016-11-16T15:23:42","slug":"improper-signature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.keytlaw.com\/azllclaw\/2014\/04\/improper-signature\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning:  Improper Contract Signature May Create Personal Liability"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><strong>Question<\/strong><\/em>:\u00a0 My LLC is to be the tenant on a real property lease.\u00a0 The landlord&#8217;s lease has a signature block that indicates I will sign the lease as the manager and as a member of the LLC.\u00a0 The signature block looks like this:<\/p>\n<p>World Wide Widgets, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company<\/p>\n<p>By:_______________________________<br \/>\nHomer Simpson, Manager and Member<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If I sign the contract will I be personally liable under the lease in addition to the LLC?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Answer<\/strong>:\u00a0 Probably.\u00a0 If you sign the contract with the signature block as indicated above the landlord will claim you signed the contract in your capacity as the manager of the LLC <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>AND<\/strong><\/span> <strong>in your individual capacity as a member<\/strong>.\u00a0 A court might agree because that is the strict reading of the text under your signature.\u00a0 Arizona LLC law says that a member does have have the legal power to sign a contract and bind the Arizona LLC on legal obligations.\u00a0 Therefore the text &#8220;and Member&#8221; can only mean the signer is signing in his or her individual capacity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Bottom Line<\/strong>:\u00a0 If you do not want to be liable for obligations under a contract, make sure the signature line\/block shows that you are signing only on behalf of the LLC.\u00a0 The signature block should be one of the following:<\/p>\n<p><strong>If the LLC is member managed<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>World Wide Widgets, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company<\/p>\n<p>By:_______________________________<br \/>\nHomer Simpson, Member<\/p>\n<p><strong>If the LLC is manager managed<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>World Wide Widgets, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company<\/p>\n<p>By:_______________________________<br \/>\nHomer Simpson, Manager<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question:\u00a0 My LLC is to be the tenant on a real property lease.\u00a0 The landlord&#8217;s lease has a signature block that indicates I will sign the lease as the manager and as a member of the LLC.\u00a0 The signature block looks like this: World Wide Widgets, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company By:_______________________________ Homer Simpson, Manager and Member If I sign the contract will I be personally liable under the lease in addition to the LLC? Answer:\u00a0 Probably.\u00a0 If you sign the contract with the signature block as indicated above the landlord will claim you signed the contract in your capacity as the manager of the LLC AND in your individual capacity as a member.\u00a0 A court might agree because that is the strict reading of the text under your signature.\u00a0 Arizona LLC law says that a member does have have the legal power to sign a contract and bind the Arizona LLC on legal obligations.\u00a0 Therefore the text &#8220;and Member&#8221; can only mean the signer is signing in his or her individual capacity. Bottom Line:\u00a0 If you do not want to be liable for obligations under a contract, make sure the signature line\/block shows that you are signing only on behalf of the LLC.\u00a0 The signature block should be one of the following: If the LLC is member managed: World Wide Widgets, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company By:_______________________________ Homer Simpson, Member If the LLC is manager managed: World Wide Widgets, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company By:_______________________________ Homer Simpson, Manager<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,51,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faqs","category-how-do-i","category-operating-llcs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - 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