Spokane · Stevens · Lincoln counties

Getting your wildfire grant documents to upload

The REALTORS® Relief Foundation application runs on Acrobat Sign, and it rejects files for reasons its error messages do not explain well. This is what each rejection actually means and how to fix it.

This is an unofficial helper written by a neighbor working through the same application. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced by Spokane REALTORS® or the REALTORS® Relief Foundation. Program rules come from them, not from this page. Apply and confirm every detail at spokanerealtors.com/wildfire.

Deadline

Nov 4, 2026

Maximum

$1,000

Per

Household

Awarded

First come

Before you spend an hour on this

Five things people find out too late

You do not have to be a REALTORThe fund is open to residents of Spokane, Stevens and Lincoln counties who lost housing to the 2026 wildfires.
You pick one category, not threeMortgage payment, rental cost, or hotel reimbursement. The cap is $1,000 either way, so choose the expense you are actually paying out of pocket. If insurance is already covering your rent, your mortgage is usually the stronger claim.
Housing damage onlyThe home and attached structures qualify. Detached garages, sheds, barns and pavilions do not. Neither do food spoilage, appliances or clothing lost to a power outage, second mortgages and home equity lines, vehicles, or mileage.
The downloadable PDF is not fillableDespite the label, it has no form fields to type into. Use the online Acrobat Sign version unless you plan to print and write by hand.
A typed signature in Word gets rejectedScript fonts do not count. You need a real e-signature or a wet signature. The online form handles this for you.

Step one

Gather your documents

Two required, plus at least one that ties your name to the damaged address.

Photo ID showing residencyDriver's license or other government document. Check what address is printed on it. If you already changed it to your temporary address, it no longer proves you lived at the damaged property, and you will need a second document that does.
Mortgage statement, new lease, or hotel receiptWhichever matches the category you chose. One of the three, not all of them.
One proof of residency at the damaged addressAny one of these: photos of the damage, insurance forms, a written claim or settlement or claim status report, or a contractor's repair estimate. Each must carry your name and the damaged property address.
Check whether your mortgage statement doubles upMost statements are addressed to the damaged property and show your name and the payment amount on the same page. That single document can satisfy the mortgage requirement and support the residency proof at once.
Decide about the photo consent boxIf you attach damage photos there is a checkbox letting the foundation use them publicly. It is optional and does not affect your application either way.

Step two

Prepare each file

Most rejections happen here, before anyone reads a word of your application.

Format	PDF is safest. If you only have phone photos, convert them to PDF or JPEG. iPhone HEIC files are frequently rejected. Settings, Camera, Formats, Most Compatible fixes it going forward.
Size	Keep every file under 5 MB. Raw phone photos run 3 to 12 MB each, so a handful of them will blow past the limit fast.
Pages	Send only the pages that prove the point. A 26 page lease will trip the page limit. Three pages will not.
Security	Bank and mortgage PDFs are often password protected. Open the file, then re-save it as an unlocked copy before uploading.
Orientation	Rotate sideways scans before uploading, and save the rotation. Reviewers should not have to tilt their heads.
Legibility	Open every file one last time and read it. A photo of a screen, a cut-off margin or a thumb over the account number all mean a second round of emails.

Step three

What the rejection messages actually mean

These are the exact strings Acrobat Sign shows, matched to what is really wrong.

Acrobat Sign was unable to process your document(s). This can occur if uploaded documents contain scripts, macros or Visual Basic code.

What it usually isAlmost never scripts. Your document was already signed electronically somewhere else, through Buildium, DocuSign, Dotloop or a property manager's portal, and it still carries that service's signature fields inside it. Acrobat Sign will not stack its signature layer on top of another one.

The fixFlatten the file. Open it, press Print, and choose Save as PDF as the destination instead of a printer. That produces a clean copy with the old form layer gone. Upload the new copy. Your visible signatures and dates stay exactly where they were.

Acrobat Sign was unable to process your request because the document exceeded the allowed page limit.

What it usually isLeases and policy documents run long. A residential lease with all its addenda is commonly 25 to 50 pages, and the whole transaction has a cap.

The fixSend an excerpt. For a lease, that is the page naming the parties and the address, the page showing the monthly rent, and the signature page. For a mortgage statement, page one. Use Print, then set a page range, then Save as PDF.

File exceeds the maximum allowed size.

What it usually isScanned pages saved as full resolution color images, or photos straight off a phone.

The fixRun it through Print to PDF, which usually cuts the size substantially. On a Mac, Preview also offers Export with a Reduce File Size filter. Scan documents with your phone's built in scanner in the Notes or Files app rather than photographing them, since the scanner produces far smaller files.

The document is password protected and cannot be processed.

What it usually isStatements downloaded from a bank or servicer portal often carry an owner password even when they open without prompting you.

The fixOpen the file with your password, then Print to PDF. The saved copy has no password on it.

Unsupported file type.

What it usually isHEIC photos from an iPhone, HEIF images, or a phone screenshot saved in a format the uploader does not read.

The fixOpen the image and export or share it as JPEG or PDF. Emailing a photo to yourself often converts it automatically.

Print to PDF is the answer to most of this. It rebuilds the file from what you can see on screen, which strips form layers, removes passwords, drops the file size and lets you choose a page range. On a Mac it is the PDF menu in the print dialog. On Windows it is the Microsoft Print to PDF printer. In Chrome, open the file and press Ctrl or Command plus P, then set the destination to Save as PDF.

Step four

Upload in this order

If the transaction hits a limit partway through, the documents that matter most are already in.

1Photo identificationRequired, and the first thing a reviewer looks for.
2Mortgage statement, lease, or hotel receiptThe document that matches your chosen category.
3Your residency proof for the damaged addressInsurance paperwork or a contractor estimate is usually cleaner and smaller than photos.
4Damage photos, if you are including themTwo or three good ones beat twenty. Every extra image is size you may need elsewhere.
5Anything optional, lastIf it gets rejected for size or page count at this stage, you have lost nothing that was required.

Step five

Before and after you submit

Reopen every attachment from the confirmation screenConfirm the pages are all there and readable. Uploaders sometimes accept a file and store a truncated version.
Check that long text fields did not get cut offThe damage description field has a character limit and will silently trim what you pasted. Tab out and read it back.
Save the confirmation and any reference numberScreenshot it. Adobe also emails a signed copy, so keep that message.
Use a mailing address that reaches youIf the damaged home is where your mail still goes, the check will be sent somewhere nobody is living. Fill in the alternate mailing address section.
Deposit the check within 180 daysAfter that the check voids, the request closes, and the money goes back into the fund.
Do not wait for the deadlineAwards are first come, first served and depend on money still being available. November 4 is when the door closes, not when to start.

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