Form of Written Instruments in Real Estate Transactions
Louisiana law provides for three forms of written instruments used in real estate transactions: the authentic act, the act of private signature duly acknowledged, and the act under private signature or private writing. In residential real estate transactions, the most commonly used written instrument is the authentic act. Louisiana Civil Code Article 1833 sets forth the requisites of and defines an authentic act as, “a writing executed before a notary public or other officer authorized to perform that function, in the presence of two witnesses, and signed by each party who executed it, by each witness, and by each notary public before whom it was executed. The typed or hand-printed name of each person shall be placed in a legible form immediately beneath the signature of each person signing the act.”