Reply #36: The last time I bought a home was nearly nineteen years

[SheilaT]

ago. My now ex husband went to the closing -- I stayed behind in a different city -- and I doubt if he read every word. We paid off the house early, and so it's something of a non-issue at this point.

However, I am hoping to buy a home of my own sometime soon, and I fully intend to read every document I have to sign. I don't care if it holds up everything. Last year I was working for an attorney who was doing some foreclosures, and I wound up reading some of the loan documents the clients had signed, and it absolutely convinced me all over again that you NEVER sign anything without reading it through.

I taught my sons that, and I've been with my older son when he was buying a car, paying cash, and he read everything he was signing. He's not the world's fastest reader, and so it took some time, but I was proud of him.

Some years back I needed to have some serious trust work drawn up, and I not only read everything carefully, but anything I did not understand I asked the attorney about, and in some cases the language was changed.

Unfortunately, the standard operating procedure is just to sign, being reassured by those who do not have our best interests at heart, that everything is okay. Hah! NEVER EVER sign anything without reading it through and making sure you understand. Don't feel bad if you need something explained. Make them reword it in simpler language. You are not stupid, but you are not a lawyer.