ESignatureguarantee.com no liability

[curlyq]

Jurisdiction

California

I contracted with e signature guarantee via signing documents and paying a fee of almost $150 to obtain a medallion signature guarantee stamp to 147 direct registered shares AND 147 paper shares that I held of the same company. E signature would then forward by courier the medallion guarantee to Equiserve so that the shares could be transferred to my name.

I asked E signature how I should proceed with the 147 paper shares. I specifically inquired if I should mail the certificates to e signature's office, scan the front and back of the paper shares and forward them via email to e sig or to Equiserve, or do nothing. THE email response was 'scan them and send them to us, e sig.' I did so.

E sig wrote to me that the shares had been sent by courier to Equiserve and that the transaction was completed. An agent OF EQUISERVE told me upon arrival of the documents a few days later that yes, the signature guarantee for 147 direct reg shares had been received and approved, but that 'THE paper shares were not in the packet, so we cannot approve the name change on the account. YOU will have to do that part again.'

As E signature HAD told me IN WRITING that all I had to do was scan the front and back sides of EACH paper certifcate and email it to esignature AND I complied with the PROCEDURE, I notified E sig by email that it should fulfill its contract by stamping the paper 147 shares after I send them via us mail. I included a copy of the email correspondence in which I had asked the question about the paper shares and E sig had replied to 'scan them.'

E sig said, 1. Equiserve is wrong. We have worked with that company for years and never had this problem; and 2. YOU should have known what to do--let the buyer beware. We are not responsible for your mistake.

E sig refuses to affix a medallion stamp to the paper shares unless I pay another $150. I claim that E sig broke its contract by not stamping all 294 shares and by giving me erroneous advice.


DO I have a claim? Should I notify the SEC or another agency?

Thanks

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[Tax Counsel]

This boils down to a dispute over who was supposed to do what under the contract you had. I haven't read the contract, don't know which jurisdiction's law applies, nor do I know what stocks are involved and what amount of money is at stake. I'd need to know all that if a potential client came to me with this problem. What I can tell you is that if the law of my state applied, one of things you need to do to protect yourself is take steps to limit your loss. If paying the company another $150 will solve the problem and get you the shares you want, that's the best way to limit your potenitial loss. At that point, all you'd be arguing about is $150. That's something that could be resolved without a lot of cost in arbitration or small claims court. The law in most other states is similar.

If there is a significant amount of money at stake in this then you really ought to see a local attorney who litigates contract cases and bring a print out of the contract that is involved, copies of the e-mails, and any other documents related to this. The attorney should be able to sort out for you what recourse you have, what you can expect to get out of it, and what you can expect that to cost.

The SEC regulates the issuance, transfers, and sales of securities, including stocks. But as I read your post, what is involved here is what that $150 fee was supposed to cover. That's simply a matter of state contract law, and the SEC can't help with that.

 

[curlyq]

Mr 'T,' YOUR words about paying the $150 to complete the transaction, limit my losses, and get the shares in my name, makes great sense, but I admit that I resent having to pay the money; however, if I am responsible for the failure of the paper shares to be transferred because I listened to the bad advice that esignature provided me, then I will grudgingly pay the money.

Here is the part of the contract that says '294 shares.' THE other part, which I did not include, says that esig will 'medallion stamp all of the shares and send them by courier to Equiserve.'

The 2nd issue that you mentioned, namely, jurisdiction, is difficult for me as a layman to answer because I live in CALIF and esig is based in NY. HOW is jurisdiction determined?

thanks.

Medallion information

Stock Symbol	Price Per Share	No. of Shares	Market Value	Approved	Pending	Denied	Cost
CMCSA	$xxx	294	$xxx	0	1	0	$149

 

[Tax Counsel]

The 2nd issue that you mentioned, namely, jurisdiction, is difficult for me as a layman to answer because I live in CALIF and esig is based in NY. HOW is jurisdiction determined?

Well, there are two questions that come up under this kind of fact pattern. The first is which state's law applies. The second is which state(s) may you bring a lawsuit for the claim. Those two are not always the same. Does the contract anywhere address either of those issues, have a mandatory arbitration provision for disputes, or does it not have anything that relates to how disputes are supposed to be dealt with?

 

[curlyq]

The transaction was online. I do not have a copy of the contract and I do not see it under my account on the website.

THE contract, to my recollection, focused on what the site would do and what my responsibility was. I, for $149, would upload the docs and the company would give a medallion signature guarantee is the gist of the agreement. THE company said that if the shares were under diff acct numbers, then I would pay a $149 fee FOR EACH acct. MY 294 shares, although in paper and direct registry form, were in THE SAME ACCT.

A small claims court case in a diff state would not be cost efficient, which reminds me of your earlier statement to limit my losses. I wrote to the President and the CEO of the company and both of them forwarded my complaints to the broker who handled my transaction. SHE stuck to her guns and said that I was to blame for not knowing what to do. The resolution that would make me happy is the company agreeing to stamp the paper shares for free

 

[adjusterjack]

I do not have a copy of the contract

Therein lies your weakness. You really have no idea what the terms and conditions of the contract are.

Resent it all you want, but if you want the transaction completed, I suggest you pay the $150.

 

[Tax Counsel]

A small claims court case in a diff state would not be cost efficient

I agree. But if the company has some kind of business presence in your state you may be able to sue in your state small claims instead. That assumes the contract doesn't specify something different for resolution of disputes.

 

[curlyq]

I returned to the esignature guarantee site to search again for the contract, but I did not locate it. I found the document that I pasted below instead. THE document was not completed by me earlier, as I was not advised of its presence.

IF I complete the document, which includes disclosing the cusip #s of the paper shares, am I signing over the ownership of the 147 paper SHARES of common stock to esignature? If so, then what is to stop ESIG from keeping the shares rather than stamping them, forwarding them to Equiserve, and letting Equiserve transfer the shares to my name?

I might be losing my power, that is, my ownership, if I sign the doc; conversely, I may be able to get the transaction completed without having to spend another $150. What is the prudent course of action?

Thanks

 

[curlyq]

--Tax counsel wrote, 'the SEC can't help with that.'--

THE Medallion program is not an SEC program and eSignature Guarantee is therefore not registered with the SEC. I understand.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) deals with consumer complaints, from what I have read and heard. Maybe I should contact the CFPB. ALL I have to lose is time, but I wonder if my odds of winning are significant.