1. Control your documents.

In modern, large-scale commercial real estate closings, it isquite unusual to have an actual in-person closing with all partiesin attendance. More often than not, documents are sent via pdf,with original signature pages following by overnight delivery to anescrow agent (invariably a title company), who is charged withclosing the subject transaction in compliance with escrowinstruction letters sent by all parties.

To the extent possible, you must retain control over yourdocuments to ensure that the latest negotiated revisions arefinalized appropriately and that no inadvertent or intentionalmodifications are made by any other party in the transaction.Accordingly, when circulating documents for execution, be sure topdf, and not forward finalized documents in word format.Additionally, you must always insist that signature pages on alldocuments be broken prior to execution by any party.