"Once the quality of the work no longer mattered ... anyone with a pen ... overseas by someone who barely speaks English."

 Risk v. Reward.  With house and mortgage flipping every 3-5 years, title insurance companies take greater risks with greater rewards.  At the end of the day, if they aren't holding the "bad thing that came to light" because of a sale or refinance of the property, the reward is great.  My guess, at the end of the year net profits are so high the loss on the risks is tolerable.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year to you abstractors and title searchers!

This is one ancient semi-former title searcher (60+-year minimum searchers in my day and no assuming the index description line is correct, an abstractor found and READ every document in the chain of title) who takes Great Joy in reviewing a professional, quality title search. They are a rare delight to behold.