He said the sellers, relatives of the late tobacco heiress Doris Duke, signed the contract yesterday.

"We have the seller fill out the certification form and sign it," he said, and then the title company allows the closing to proceed.

The buyer and seller must both sign the license and may each keep one copy for his or her records.

It required that sellers and buyers, but not agents, check off the list and sign it.

The seller must sign forms stating that there is no known lead paint in the home.

Trouble was, the seller had already signed exclusive agreements with two other companies.

But after several days of silence, the Singhs learned the sellers had signed with another buyer.

The contract, he said, consists of two parts - the form contract itself and a "cover sheet," which the buyer and seller will sign.

Last week, one buyer offered the asking price, Ms. Kleier said, and the seller has signed a contract on that bid.

Both the buyer and the seller of the house must sign these forms for the sale of the house to be legal.