corporate-law
Who has authority to sign on behalf of company
<p>When it comes to corporations, who has the authority to bind a company and what evidence should they provide to prove this please? I assume company officers do have the power, but how can this be validated for sure? I am using the state register database, but it only has the registered agent. 
They also want credit card information for this! 
I ask for a contract with an employer, which are requested modifications to. The company says the project manger will sign. I requested for the signature from the registered agent. The point is how can I trust a verbal confirmation that x or y has the authority to make modifications to the company policy? </p>

<p>Anyone with <a href="https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Ostensible+authority" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ostensible authority</a> can bind the company. That is, authority that appears from the circumstances to exist whatever the reality may be. </p>

<p>The person’s role and the nature of the transaction feed into the circumstances. For example, consider a national supermarket chain:</p>

<ul>
<li>The cashier has ostensible authority to sell the supermarket’s goods.</li>
<li>The manager has ostensible authority to resolve customer complaints.</li>
<li>The purchasing officer has ostensible authority to enter into contracts with suppliers.</li>
<li>The state manager has ostensible authority to buy and sell land.</li>
<li>The officers (CEO/Board) has ostensible authority to do anything.</li>
</ul>

<p>Anyone who enters into a transaction with a person who has ostensible authority can rely on that to bind the company. Of course, ostensible authority ends if a reasonable person would believe (or actually knows) that the person was exceeding their actual authority, for example, if the supermarket cashier sold you the supermarket, the company wouldn’t be bound.</p>

<p>If the person acts as if they have authority and it’s reasonable to assume they do, then they do.</p>
