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DORA Contracts E-signatures Explained Part I

DORA Contracts E-Signature

We recently launched an updated e-signature function to assist you in e-signing your Colorado Real Estate Commission Forms.  While the functionality is much more robust, to take advantage of all the features it might help to have them explained in detail for you.  This is part I in our series explaining the features of our e-sign feature.

The E-signature Control Panel

The e-signature control panel is where the “magic happens,” from here you can control all aspects of your DORA e-signature transactions.  Pictured below is a screen shot of the first screen you will see when you enter the control panel.

Colorado Real Estate Commission Forms DORA Contracts E-signature Control Panel

There are four tabs near the top of the screen, as highlighed in the screenshot.

1. Pending transactions:  All of the documents that you have sent out for e-signatures will be listed here until all parties in the transaction have signed the document.

2. Completed transactions: all transactions in which all parties have signed will be listed here.

3. Canceled transactions: all transactions that were canceled at any point during the signature process will be listed in this tab.

4. My documents: all of the documents that you have sent out for e-signatures and have chosen to save for use at a later time will be listed in this tab.

Working with transactions

BULL Forms Colorado Real Estate Commission DORA e-signature pending transactions

From within the pending transactions tab you will see all of your DORA Contracts that are currently pending e-signature in the area highlighted above.

If you wanted to check on the status of one of your pending transactions, you can retrieve more information by clicking on the blue triangle to the left of the transaction name.

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Forms e-signatures triangle

Once you click on the triangle the current status of the transaction will be displayed, as illustrated below:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Forms esignatures expanded

In the expanded view you will see all of the participants in the transaction and if they have signed the document and the time they signed the document.

Available Functions

  • View PDF: Clicking on the view PDF button will open the document for viewing. You will see all of the signatures placed on the document as well as the transaction log, which is appended to the last page of the document.
  • Edit Transaction: Clicking on the edit transaction button will open the advanced e-signature panel, where you can add parties and place signatures.
  • Cancel: This button will cancel the entire transaction.  Only the party that is currently inline for signatures will be notified of the cancellation.
  • Edit Email: Next to the party’s email address there is an edit link, clicking on it will give you the ability to update the party’s name and email address.
  • Resend Email: Clicking on this button will resend the e-signature email to the party, this email includes the link that the party will need to click on to sign the documents.
That is all for now.  Please be sure to follow us on twitter and Facebook.

Switching from RealFast for DORA Contracts

August 1 2011 RealFast announced that it was acquired by ZipLogix.  For many Colorado Real Estate professionals, this meant it was time to look for a new provider of DORA Colorado Real Estate Contracts.  Change is difficult, especially if you have been using RealFast for an extended period of time and you have built up a large library of transactions.

Here at BULL Forms we are doing our best to ensure a smooth transition to our new users coming over from RealFast.  This guide will assist you in copying over your existing transactions to BULL Forms.  With unlimited storage included with each paying subscription there is no need to worry about uploading too many documents!

Migrating Documents from RealFast2Go

Once you have logged into your realfast2go account, navigate to a transaction that you would like to export.  Click on the create pdf link near the bottom lefthand side of the page, highlighted in yellow below:

Switch from RealFast to BULL Forms For DORA Forms Create PDF

Next, check each of the documents you would like to export into PDF format, again, highlighted in yellow below:

Switch from RealFast to BULL Forms Colorado for DORA Forms Export your PDFs

Almost there! Next you have to select the location where the PDF files will be saved. Enter the output directory into the location highlighted below.  Make sure that you select any easy to remember and easily accessible location.

Switch from RealFast to BULL Forms Colorado Save File

Final step in the export process, click on the create PDF button highlighted below:

Switch from RealFast to BULL Forms Colorado Create PDF

Repeat this process for all of the transactions you would like to import into BULL Forms and you can now start importing your transactions.

Importing transactions into BULL Forms

Now you are ready to import your PDF documents into BULL Forms.  Start by creating a new deal for all of the forms you are going to import.  Click on create new deal near the left hand side.

BULL Forms Colorado Create New Deal

You will be prompted to choose a deal name:

BULL Forms Colorado Select Deal Name

Once you have created the deal, click on the files icon for the deal, as highlighted in yellow below:

BULL Forms Colorado Files

After clicking on the file icon you will enter the file management window.  You can create a folder, or upload all of your documents anywhere you choose.  Click on the upload link:

BULL Forms Colorado Upload Files

From the upload window you can upload multiple files at a time, navigate to the location where you saved your RealFast documents and click on the upload button.

BULL Forms Colorado Upload Files ModalFor more information on our file storage functionality, please read this previous blog post.

If you need assistance transferring previous transactions please contact us here.

Cheers,

BULL Forms!

DORA Contracts Clause Library

We have been busy introducing new features lately, check out our unlimited additional provisions and if you don’t already, please follow us on twitter.

New Clause Library Feature for Colorado DORA Forms

As of last week BULL Forms Colorado has had a clause library available for all DORA Colorado Contracts. As with most features, we try to make them as easy to use as possible. Let’s take a brief walkthrough of the feature.

You can use the clause library to insert your favorite clauses in any field where you see the green + next to field label, like this one;

DORA Colorado Contracts Clause Library Icon

When you click on the green + button, the clause library will open:

DORA Colorado Contracts Clause Library Main Window

From within this window you can create, edit, delete and insert clauses into your DORA Colorado Contracts.  To add a new clause click on the add new button near the top right corner of the window:

DORA Colorado Contracts Clause Library Add New

When adding a new clause, you select a title for your clause and enter as much text as you like into the content.  If you are inserting a long clause into a small field the text will cut off, so please ensure you pay attention where you are inserting your clauses.

DORA Colorado Contracts Clause Library Add New View

Once the new clause is added it will appear in your main clause library window.  When you are ready to insert a clause into the DORA Colorado Contract, select the clause you would like to insert and click on the “insert clause” button as illustrated below:

DORA Colorado Contracts Clause Library Insert

The clause will automatically be inserted into the field.  If there is text currently in the field, the inserted clause is appended to the end of the current text.

DORA Colorado Contracts Clause Inserted

Thank you,

BULL Forms Team

How to E-sign DORA Colorado Contracts

All subscribers to BULL Forms Colorado have unlimited e-sign capabilities built into their accounts. Just as fax machines made our lives as real estate professionals easier in the 1990’s, e-signature capabilities are increasing our efficiency today. You no longer have to print out documents and fax or scan them to your clients. Then sit and wait for them to return the documents hoping and praying that they are sent back correctly the first time. Then the revisions begin!

Why not increase your efficiency and save some time during the signature process? Send out your contracts for e-signature and you don’t have to worry about your clients signing or initialing in the wrong places.  All of the DORA (Division of Regulatory Agencies) forms can easily be sent out for e-signatures.  Adding to the time savings is the fact that all of the signature spots and initial locations have already been placed for you. All of this is great! But how do you use e-signatures on your DORA contracts?  Read on:

E-signature Process for DORA Forms

After you have completed all of the DORA contracts that you would like to send out for e-signatures, click on the email icon, which is an envelope with a pen, highlighted in the yellow circle below:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-sign Icon

Once you have clicked on the email icon, the email window will appear on the screen. You want to send out documents for e-signature, click on the yes radio button:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Email Window

After choosing to send out your documents for e-signatures, you will be presented with options for e-signing your DORA forms. All of the signature spots have been placed for you, all you have to do is select who you want to sign the documents and where you want the parties to sign.  We have assigned “roles” to all of the available signature locations.

Roles for E-Signatures

  • Buyer 1
  • Buyer 2
  • Seller 1
  • Seller 2
  • Tenant 1
  • Tenant 2
  • Landlord 1
  • Landlord 2
  • Buyers or Tenants Agent
  • Listing Agent
  • Escrow Agent
At this time, these are the only roles / signature spots available. Do not worry if you are looking for more functionality from our e-signature feature, its coming soon..

Sending your DORA Forms out for E-signature

Enter the first name, last name and email address for the party you want to sign the documents and then select their role.

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Add Role

To add another party to the transaction, click on the add signer link:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Add Signer

If you have added all of the parties that you want to sign the document you are ready to send it out for signatures. Make sure you have added all of the roles, if they are not included now you will have to start a new e-signature transaction.

Before sending out the documents make sure you select all of the forms within the deal that you want to send out for signatures. You should also enter a descriptive subject line and comments to all of the parties receiving the email.

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Send Signatures

Congratulations, you have just sent your DORA Forms out for e-signatures.

E-signing the DORA Forms

All of the parties you included in the transaction will receive an email when it is their turn to sign the documents. All parties will have to consent to transacting electronically with you and your company, if you have added your company in your membership profile. This consent ensures that you are complying with all of the e-sign laws.

When a signer clicks on the link in their email, they will be taken to the main e-signature page:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Esignature Consent

Once the party e-signing agrees to conduct business electronically they will receive an email with their confirmation. They will then be taken to an area that allows them to customize their signatures and initials.

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Esignature Steps

The program can either generate initials and signatures for the user, or they can create their own using the mouse to write their initials or signatures.  The option to change your initials is below:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Esignature Initials

Here is the window to change the signature:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Esignature Custom Signature

Once the user has created their signature preferences they will be taken to the signature window:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-signature Start

On the left hand side of the page the signor will see all of the pages that require attention.  On the document above pages 1 through 8 require attention and are showing with a red background and orange tab.  As initials and signatures are completed on each page, that page will turn green. By clicking on the next location button the user will be taken to the next initial or signature location requiring their attention.

An initial location will look like this:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-signature Initial Location

A signature location will appear as follows:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-signature Signature Location

Once all initials and signatures have been completed a green button near the bottom of the screen will blink and the user will be prompted to complete the transaction.

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-signature Complete

After the user has completed their portion of the signature transaction they will receive an email notifying them they have completed signing the document.  They will also receive a link allowing them to download the document they just signed.  The next party in the transaction will now be notified via email and will start the e-signature process over again.

Checking on the Status of DORA E-signatures

You have sent out your DORA contracts for e-signatures, but you have not received the completed document back yet. What do you do? You can access your e-signature transactions from your e-signature dashboard.  From within the BULL Forms click on the “dashboard” link near the top right of the screen:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Dashboard

From within the dashboard, click on the e-signature tab:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-signature Panel

When in the e-signature panel you can view all of your pending, completed and cancelled transactions. If for any reason one of the members in a transaction has not received an email you can resend the email.  If you need to cancel a transaction at anytime you can also do it from here.

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-signature Transaction List

This wraps up our tutorial on how to use our e-signature feature with Colorado DORA Forms.  If you have any questions please feel free to use our contact form.

Thank you,

BULL Forms Team

DORA Colorado Contracts – Autofill Update

BULL Forms Colorado has updated our autofill feature

One of the most frequently requested feature updates by our Colorado real estate agents is autofill. When we first launched our product we struggled with how to best implement the autofill feature. We chose to roll it out with limited functionality and improve upon it based on user feedback.

Based on our Colorado user feedback we have upgraded the autofill function.  You can now choose which side of the transaction you are representing, either the buyer or seller. You can now also pre-populate up to 4 buyers and sellers on the DORA CREC contracts.

Below is a brief walk through of the update:

You can access the autofill fields at any time from within a deal by clicking on the icon next to the deal name:

BULL Forms Colorado Autofill Icon

Autofill is also accessible when you first create a deal by checking “create deal and view auto fill options”:

BULL Forms Colorado New Deal Auto Fill

Below is what the auto fill window will look like when it is first opened.  The top portion of the window is where you select which side of the transaction you are representing.  If you are representing the buyer, click on the buyer radio button and all of your information will be pre-populated on the buyers side of the DORA contracts.

BULL Forms Colorado Auto Fill Representing

When entering buyers and sellers you now also have the option to include up to 4 buyers and sellers. Click on the show more button to add more buyers:

BULL Forms Colorado Add Buyers Autofill

You will now have two additional fields to add buyers 2 and 3 to the transaction:

BULL Forms Colorado Auto Fill 4 Buyers

You have just added these 3 buyers to all of the contracts that you create within this deal.  If at any time you would like to update any of the information you can open the autofill window and change the information. This will affect all of your forms within the deal moving forward.

As always we want to hear your feedback. We want to find out if you would like changes in the autofill function to be applied to all of your previous contracts in the deal.

Cheers,

BULL Forms Team

DORA Forms and File Storage = Ultimate Real Estate Tool

BULL Forms is proud to announce the launch of our fully integrated file storage solution.

What does this mean for agents using our product to generate DORA forms?

All BULL Forms Colorado users can now upload, share and store all of their files easily using the same familiar interface they have become accustomed to. There is no additional charge to our users and all users have unlimited file storage!

You no longer have to use multiple programs, frequently jumping between programs. Instead you can now easily upload multiple files into your deal and you will have all of the information you need in one easy to access location. Your files are automatically synced into the cloud and available from any computer with internet access using your account credentials.

Let’s see how the file storage solution works. When you log into your account you will now notice that there is a file icon on each one of your deals:

BULL Forms Colorado File Storage Icon

Click on the “files” icon to be taken into the file navigator:

BULL Forms Colorado File Storage Dashboard

 

Once within the files dashboard you will be able to navigate between deals to view all files in each of your files.  All of your deals will automatically be listed on the left hand side of the window.  Please note: If you delete a deal, you will delete all associated forms and files!

From the main screen you can choose to create a folder or upload files.  If you want to keep your files nice and neat, you may want to add a new folder, you can do so by clicking on the “Create Folder” icon, you will be prompted to name the folder, as pictured below:

BULL Forms Colorado File Storage Create FolderType in your desired folder name and click create or enter to create the folder.  Here is what the folder you just created will look like:

BULL Forms Colorado File Storage Folder ListDouble click on the new folder to jump in and view its contents.

To upload files lets click on the “Upload” icon.  Click on the “Select” button near the top right corner.  Your browser’s file manager will open.  Select all of the files that you wish to upload.  You can select as many files as you like. Once you have started uploading files you will be shown your progress.  Once all uploads are complete you will see a window like this:

BULL Forms Colorado File Storage UploadedIf you are done uploading files you can click on the “finished” icon or the “X” on the top right corner of the window. You will now see your files, as illustrated below:

BULL Forms Colorado File Storage Uploaded FilesYou have the option to rename, download, share or delete each file.  If you want to send your client or co-worker a file, but don’t want to download and email the file, you can share the file with one click.  Click on the “Share” icon. The file will be shared, and you will see the following:

BULL Forms Colorado File Storage Shared

Click on the email link and you will see the email window:

BULL Forms Colorado File Storage Email Link

Your client or coworker will receive an email with a link to the file that you have shared. Be careful as this file will be available to any party with the link.  The public view of the file will look like this:

BULL Forms Colorado File Storage Public ViewAll of us here at BULL Forms hope that you enjoy the file storage solution and integrate it into your Real Estate Offices. You now have one location to generate your DORA Colorado Contracts and save all of your files!

As always, if you have any feedback or feature recommendations, please do not hesitate to contact us.  You will be surprised how quickly we respond.

Thank you,

BULL Forms Team

Feature Update – Classic View and Strike Out

We are excited to announce that we have just launched a new way to use BULL Forms.  Most of you are used to seeing a screen such as the one below when completing a contract.

BULL Forms Quick View

We are now calling this view “quick-view.”  Our intentions with this view were to make completing contracts as easy as possible by removing all of the additional text that experienced Colorado Real Estate agents do not need to read when completing their contracts.  While reception to “quick-view” has been mostly positive, we have received several requests to be able to view the contract while inputting information.  Another requested feature was strikethrough.  Given that you cannot view the entire text of the real estate contract was not visible in “quick-view” it was impossible to implement strikethrough.

Therefore, we decided to launch “classic-view.”  Now, when you toggle your view to “classic-view” you will see something like the image below:

BULL Forms Classic View

Using “classic-view” you can now see all of the Division of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) contracts while you are completing them. You can also easily switch between the views by clicking on the view toggle near the top of the page.

BULL Forms Select View

While you are in classic view you can also use the strike through feature.  Start by clicking on the “Turn Strike Out On” link, as pictured here:

BULL Forms Strike Out

Once you have clicked on the link, your cursor will take a new shape, start by clicking where you would like to begin striking out, drag your mouse along as far as you would like to strike out.  Don’t worry, the tool only allows you to create straight lines! When you have reached the end of the sentence or the end of the area you would like to strike out, click again, you should see something like below:

BULL Forms Strike Out in Progress

Once completed fret not, it is possible to remove the strike out from the document.  You can do so by clicking on the red “X” at the end of the line, as highlighted below:

BULL Forms Remove Strike Out

This about wraps up our coverage of our new “Classic-view” and strike out features.  Now get out there and generate some Colorado Real Estate Contracts and make some deals!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please drop us a line.

Thank you,

BULL Forms Team