And Finally if you still thinking that we don’t about title examination then I am writing the complete definition to assure you that sir I know about Title please read it carefully and give me that marks (grades)

Sunil,

Once again you have demonstrated not your knowledge of the American title process but instead your flagrant disregard for American property and law. The definition that you claim to have written yourself  - you in fact clipped in its entirety from USLegalForms.com a Brandon Mississipi firm which claims the copyright for "YOUR" definition . http://definitions.uslegal.com/t/title-examination/ 

Unless of course you are next going to tell us that you also operate USLegalForms.com under the pretext of being an American firm. Or did you write this definition for USLegalForms under the pretext of being an authority in U.S. Law?

Your tendency to claim the work of American professionals as your own seems to know no bounds!

As for your "grade" , I think the true author of "YOUR" definition should probably provide this. I've written Mr. Frank Edens, the administrative contact for US.LegalForms.com to ask for his opinion. Maybe he can tell us if you are an expert at U.S. title work or simply a pretender.

David Bloys

Davick Services

When you concern about state laws that is not a big deal for a examiner who is doing examination for 2-3 yrs.

The post left in defense of outsourcing today by Mr. Ojha has some interesting content beyond the apparent plagerism of copywritten materials. The above statement should certainly act as a warning to any American company which is tempted by greed to ignore good practice. I would contrast your statement with my experience and the way that I conduct  my own business.To begin with, despite the fact that I have over the years been asked by clients to expand into other states, I have limited my business to Maryland, the state in which I studied real estate law and obtained my JD. The associates working for me have on average five to seven years experience in the abstracting business. They must be familiar enough with any of the jurisdictions we serve to work there in event of vacation or sickness of a colleague. Notwithstanding those events, 95% of their time is spent in the ONE OR TWO COUNTIES where they specialize. After 27 years in this business I can tell you that this approach allows and encourages the formation of the specialized knowledge necessary to properly serve your clients and by extension the consumer. I also believe that my most successful colleagues nationwide follow some version of this policy.

second and most important benefit is that, when case is being completed, it could also be used as a base file to verify the easement, restriction, covenants, conditions etc. on the subdivision for future cases coming on the same subdivision.

Yes.....Hmmmmm. I have had clients over the years take that approach, and simply do bring to date searches from that point forward. I certainly hope that you will do exactly the same.

Jerry Toadvine

Toadvine & Associates

Jerry:
When I read their statement about using the completed case as a back file for future cases, I could only think of the way 1st Am employes back cases for this very same purpose-the BIG problem with that is when a back case has all the exceptions but some do not apply- then the next one to use the new case file will not have "all" of the exceptions- thus a diminshing data base is created-which is the opposite of what should be developed- exceptions need to be "ADDED", not removed-it is just the worst type of data base management I can think of-but what do I know- I have only been doing this since 1976- not nearly enough time to know it all- and, I too, only perform title searches in the 4 Northern Virginia counties I have spent all that time in-
Just to risky to venture into unknown waters without the the experience of "hands on" in any new county or system-and that takes years , in my opinion. I have recently moved to the Nashville,Tn area and have signed on to the local county's web site to gain an understanding of how things work here in Tenn, but after 6 months, I still feel a lot more is required before I say "yes, I can do work here now".Maybe in a year - then it just might be OK.

Steve Meinecke
Franklin, Tn

Steve, 

I agree the scenario you present is a bad way to develop base files.  However, I don't see anything in Mr. Ojha's comments suggesting that is the way he is using base files.  It seems you are presenting an assumption of what Mr. Ojha is doing without any basis.

Perhaps you were just sounding off about the manner in which certain 1st American employees worked base files, but your comments left me with the impression that you felt Mr. Ojha is doing the same. Without any factual backup information, that seems unfair.

The more you write, the more I know that you do NOT know about title searching.  You can hardly speak or write English.  Who would trust you to understand the application of technical legal documents?  Taking care in keying a legal description is commendable, but you still didn't understand the importance of accurately inputing indexing and other information.  Using a back file is good only when it relates EXACTLY to the next search.  Just because it is in the same subdivision does not mean all documents are identical, or that the source tract is the same.  Many subdivision were put together from several parcels, and restrictions and easements are applied section-by-section.  You were truthful when you made your point:  you can turn around income faster than us "old-fashioned" abstractors.    You may offer some sort of "guarantee" to your customers, but that is not any good if the guarantor is out of business.  A few years from now, attorneys and title companies will be spending a lot of money to correct problems and errors arising from out-sourced work products today.  As in many areas of  life, you get what you pay for.  The shame falls on your customers.  Why would anyone with any real understanding of real estate titles, put their trust is off shore providers.  Simple common sense should scream, "Caution! Buyer Beware!" 

Since you chose to address me personally, Mr./Ms. Ojha, I shall take the occasion of this blog to address some of the "resolutions" you set forth in your post.

First and foremost, "faster and cheaper" does not mean "better".  While my company does make every effort to turn searches around within a reasonable time frame, at NO TIME will any deadline ever take precedence over a thorough and properly conducted search.  Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with a time-honored concept handed down to us "dumb Americans" by our parents: that a job worth doing is worth doing right.

Secondly, I do not question the skill of your typists or the thoroughness of your quality control procedures.  The typographical and indexing errors of which I speak are the ones which often occur in the county office.  Someone not familiar with the "quirks" of a particular computer system used by a county would find it difficult, if not impossible, to find items which are lost in the system due to such errors.

Thirdly, your ability to write the definition of title examination is not impressive to me.  I could copy and paste the textbook definition of "open heart surgery", but that does not qualify me as a cardiovascular surgeon.  Local knowledge and expertise are as much a part of title searching as textbook knowledge.  Can you tell me, for example, in what office one would look for a Treasurer's Deed in Westmoreland County, PA?  Or why mortgage foreclosures are indexed under three separate file numbers in Butler county, PA?  How many different spellings would you use to look for the surname "Schreckengost"?

And finally, please spare me your assurances of how secure your systems are with "ISO Certification" which, in my opinion, is not worth the paper it is written on:
 

Vendors are always ISO Certified with a highend data security.

So was Choicepoint, but that did not stop a data security breach in 2005 which resulted in thousands of American consumers having their identities stolen.  The last time I checked, over 52 million people have had their personal information compromised from supposedly "secure" databases similar to yours.  Your assurances are not convincing in the least.

Hi Scott

I was on leave for few days and when I came back, I saw your questions and I am answering. I would like to appreciate that you asked me these question.

what office one would look for a Treasurer's Deed in Westmoreland County, PA? 

Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds
2 North Main Street, Suite 503
Greensburg, PA 15601
Phone (724) 830-3518
Fax (724) 853-4647

How many different spellings would you use to look for the surname "Schreckengost"?

It is a German name, so may be i'll try these spellings:

Schrecken
Heuschrecke
Schreck
Schröck
Schreckhaas
Schreckeisen
Schreckengast
Schreckenzeit

Sorry, Sunil, no soup for you.  Treasurer's Deed records are indexed in the Office of the Prothonotary, not the Recorder of Deeds.  But, I'll spot you five bonus points if you can name the index in which they are found.

As to the name question, there are at least eighteen different phonetic variations on the spelling of the surname "Schreckengost", of which you only got one right.

Wanna take a crack at the one about Butler County foreclosures?

Let's say that you are searching a property located in Westmoreland County, PA and you have found a mortgage for $150,000.00 which encumbers the property that you are searching.  Elsewhere in the index you find an instrument which states that the $150,000.00 mortgage has been released.  How would you handle this situation?

Scott

It is unbelievable what has happened in our field, isn't it?  It seems anybody can call themselves a Title Searcher.

See you next time you are in Washington County

Sheila

Ps: I know the answer to the super-special bonus question, but I don't want to spoil it for your buddy....

You're right, it seems as if abstractors like you and me who actually care about quality and doing the job right are a dying breed.  It would be a surprise to me if our friend Sunil was actually able to provide the correct answer.

Say hi to Betsy and Gretchen and everybody for me.

Scott Perry