Did Buyer Legally Sign A Lot Purchase Agreement?

Is a sales contract to purchase a building lot in a condominium development legal if the buyer claims to have been out of the country at the time of the alleged purchase and had requested, over the phone, that the seller's secretary sign the buyer's name to the purchase agreement on his behalf, even though she did not have the buyer's power of attorney to sign his name; nor was the document witnessed (or notarized) by anyone else, other than the seller and this same secretary? NOTE: There was no annotation anywhere on the purchase agreement that the secretary had signed the buyer's name on his behalf.

Title to the lot was transferred to the buyer and recorded in the local registry of deeds.

We were in the midst of a law suit with the developer of our condominium complex; the court had awarded us attachments on 3 of 4 of his undeveloped building sites within the condominium; we believe the developer illegally transferred the 4th lot, which we were about to attach as well, to a friend in Florida, using the method described above. We eventually settled out of court, obtaining title to the original 3 attached lots plus all the assets of the developer's company (being an LLC, that wasn't much). We believe that a case could be made that the 4th lot was illegally transferred and then it would revert back to the builder, which would then belong to us, since we are entitled to the assets of his company.

Was the transfer of the 4th lot in the manner described in the first paragraph legal??

The geographical location of either buyer or seller is basically irrelevant in this day and age. Real estate contracts, closing documents, etc are routinely emailed or faxed for signature and all are typically considered valid. Transfer of the lot would've occurred with a notarized warranty deed (or similar legal device) and assuming a valid notary seal was used at the time of witnessing signatures, the transfer was considered legal when presented to the appropriate county office. (A recorded copy on public record is probably available by now.) Unless the buyer claims no knowledge or participation in this transaction and can successfully prove forgery, in my opinion, both purchase and transfer were legal. (Not to be construed as legal advice.)

"Transfer of the lot would've occurred with a notarized warranty deed (or similar legal device) and assuming a valid notary seal was used at the time of witnessing signatures, the transfer was considered legal when presented to the appropriate county office."

Nothing was e-mailed or faxed for signature. The seller's secretary signed the buyer's name to the purchase agreement, allegedly on behalf of the buyer. In addition to this, the warranty deed was only signed by the seller without witnesses or notarization.

If we could overturn the sale of lot #4 on a technicality because of the apparent underhanded way it was done, we would pursue this in court. Keep in mind that all 23 previous warranty deeds for the purchase of lots in this development were notarized.

My point in mentioning faxes, etc was in response to your statement that the buyer was out of the country at the time. If he authorized the secretary to sign the document on his behalf, in my opinion that is a legal document. Whether or not the property actually changed hands may be a completely different story. Check with your local county recorder's office to see if they've received any type of documentation transferring ownership; also check to determine what documents and procedures would be involved. It's not likely one signature (not notarized) on a deed legally transferred ownership, but your county recorder can make that determination. The recorder's office (or any title company) can also conduct a title search to determine who is currently in title.
Just a thought here: property can legally be transferred for as little as $1 and a properly executed and recorded deed. An outright purchase isn't required. Unless the same builder is still in title, I don't believe you have much of a case here. (Again, this is only an opinion.) You may want to check that with a real estate attorney in your area.
Good luck.

We suspect that the seller attempted to execute an "end run" around the courts and the lawsuit he was involved in with us for the purpose of removing his last unattached asset (i.e. building lot #4) to prevent us from attaching it.

We contend that in the absence of a legitimate buyer, the developer concocted a sale to a friend in Florida, with the knowledge and consent of this friend, to rapidly transfer lot #4 by executing all the necessary documents of the sale and title transfer himself - in other words, this was done in the grayest area of legality, bordering on fraud.

What is of particular interest here is the timing and the manner in which the developer's last (unattached) building lot was transferred from his company (LLC) to this out-of-state buyer, who never actually signed any documents, and for which none of the purchase or warranty deed (title) documents were notarized before being filed by the county clerk. We know this because these documents are available online at the county's Registry of Deeds website.

The buyer set up the sale, drew up and signed ALL the documents on behalf of ALL interested parties, then went to the registry of deeds and had the title to lot #4 transferred to the buyer, all without the use of a POA, a notary, or any other instrument that would give someone permission to sign the buyer's name to any document.

Again, to answer your original question, if the buyer verbally authorized the seller to act on his behalf (as his agent,) I believe that the seller complied with the law. Unless there was some sort of injunction prohibiting transfer of his lots in effect at the time of the transfer, I don't believe you can prove what you suspect in fact occurred. You may well be 100% correct in your suspicions, but without a sworn affadavit from the borrower attesting he did not participate in the original purchase, I don't believe you would prevail here.
Again, I strongly recommend a conference with a qualified real estate attorney in your area.