What you don't know can hurt you and most consumers make sure they don't get hurt.

FindLaw, a legal self-help Web site says Americans scrutinize contracts more than previously thought, especially when it comes to eye-glazing real estate contracts.

The percentage of Americans who say they read every word or at least enough to understand the contract before signing on the dotted line is 85 percent of those buying or selling a home and 70 percent of those signing housing rental agreements.

Eighty-two percent of those signing employment contracts read the fine print, 77 percent of those signing credit card agreements also do. For sports and recreation liability waivers 67 percent read the contract and for rental car agreements 63 percent read before signing.

"It really pays to make sure you understand everything before you sign," says Rick Lord, a contract law professor at Campbell University School of Law in North Carolina.

Reading can give you a negotiating edge.

"Many times, for example in mortgage agreements or employment contracts, you can negotiate better terms, such as avoiding prepayment penalties or getting better perks, and it really pays to make sure you understand everything before you sign," Lord said.

Not reading can cost you plenty.

Lord said failing to read a contract can be costly in terms of penalties, liabilities or inability to recover damages, say because you signed away your right to a jury trial.

Less than one quarter of people said that they only glance at the wording or completely ignore these contracts before signing them, FindLaw found.

People were mostly likely to not pay attention to sports and recreation liability waivers (18 percent), rental car agreements (16 percent) and credit card agreements (15 percent).

"If you fail to read a contract thoroughly, you do so at your own hazard," says Lord.

Ignorance of the facts won't stand up in court as a reason to make the contract null and void.

"Generally, if you sign a contract, you're bound by it whether you read it completely or not. People should read every agreement thoroughly before they sign it," Lord said.

The same applies to disclosures, privacy policies and "terms of agreement" commonly found on Web sites.

In the case of a real estate or mortgage contract, hire a capable real estate agent, real estate attorney or mortgage consultant to read through papers you either can't or don't want to take the time to understand, experts advise.

Another legal self-help Web site, Nolo.com, offers additional information on real estate contracts.

Published: September 26, 2003

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the Web site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for "Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home" (Nolo $24.99) and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.