E-Signature Consent: Disclosure Template and Contract Clause

Most people searching for "electronic signature consent" need one of two very different texts. A business that sends statutory notices to consumers (a lender's disclosures, an insurer's notices, a landlord's required notices) needs the full ESIGN consumer-consent disclosure. A business signing a contract with another business needs a sentence, not a page. Using the long form everywhere adds friction without adding protection; using the short form for a consumer notice leaves the notice legally undelivered.

For whom: a US business that sends documents for electronic signature and wants the right consent text. Not for: someone who needs the rules for a specific regulated product (credit, insurance, housing). The statute that requires your notice may add conditions; have counsel adapt the template. This is our reading of the federal text, not legal advice.

Which one you need

Getting the consumer step wrong has a specific consequence. ESIGN says the electronic notice satisfies a writing requirement only if those conditions are met; it also says a contract with a consumer is not denied effect solely because the electronic confirmation of consent was not obtained (§ 101(c)(3)). In other words, the contract usually survives, but the notice you were obliged to give may count as never given.

The short clause (business counterparties)

The parties agree to conduct this transaction by electronic means. Each party may sign this agreement and any related document by electronic signature, and each party agrees that an electronically signed copy, kept in a form that can be accurately reproduced, has the same effect as a signed paper original.

Why this wording: UETA applies only between parties that agreed to transact electronically, and the agreement can be read from conduct; writing it down removes the argument. The last phrase tracks the ESIGN retention rule, under which a record can be refused effect if it cannot be retained and accurately reproduced for later reference.

The full disclosure (consumer notices)

Show this before the consumer consents, not after. Each numbered item answers one requirement of 15 U.S.C. 7001(c)(1).

Consent to receive documents electronically

1. Paper is available. You may receive [the notices and documents listed below] on paper instead. To ask for paper, [method].
2. What this consent covers. This consent applies to [this transaction only / the following categories of documents during our relationship: list].
3. Withdrawing. You may withdraw this consent at any time by [method]. If you withdraw, [describe any condition, consequence or fee, including whether the relationship ends]. Withdrawal does not affect documents already delivered.
4. Keeping your contact details current. To update the email address or phone number we use, [method].
5. Paper copies later. After consenting, you may request a paper copy of any electronic document by [method]. [There is no fee / The fee is: amount].
6. What you need. To open and keep these documents you need [hardware and software requirements, for example: a device with a current web browser and a PDF reader, and the ability to save or print files].
7. Confirm you can open them. To consent, open the test document at [link] and enter the code it shows: [field]. (Or another step that shows the consumer can access the format you will use.)

[ ] I consent to receive the documents described above electronically.

Item 7 matters most and is the one most often skipped. The statute requires that the consumer consent, or confirm consent, electronically "in a manner that reasonably demonstrates" they can access the information in the form you will use. A checkbox alone does not show that; opening a sample in the same format does.

When your system changes

If you later change the hardware or software needed to open or keep these documents, and the change creates a material risk that the consumer cannot access them, ESIGN requires you to give a statement of the revised requirements and of the right to withdraw consent without fees or undisclosed consequences, and to repeat the step that shows the consumer can access the new format (§ 101(c)(1)(D)). Keep the disclosure versioned so you can show which text each consumer accepted.

Our position

Use the full disclosure only for information a law requires you to give a consumer in writing, and keep each acceptance with its date and version. Use the short clause for everything between businesses. Counter-case: lenders, insurers, landlords and other regulated senders should treat this template as a checklist and have counsel conform it to the statute behind each notice. For which documents an e-signature cannot cover at all, see are electronic signatures legally binding.