One would think that a signatory to a contract is bound upon
signing. Unfortunately, it is not always that simple.
Did the person sign above or below the signature line? Did the
person sign as a representative of a corporation? If there are two
places to sign, once in a representative capacity and once in an
individual capacity and the person signed only once, for whom did
the person sign? Two recent cases shed some light on the issue: Proulx v. Canadian
Cove Inc. 2014 ONSC 3493 (Ont SCJ) and H.S.C. Aggregates
Ltd v. McCallum, 2014 ONSC 6214 (Ont SCJ).
Proulx
A dealer and a boat owner (the "buyer") entered into a
contract whereby the buyer would purchase a very fancy boat from
the dealer for cash and his existing boat. Before completion, the
dealer decided that there was no binding contract and then re-sold
the fancy boat for a higher price than the contract price.
