I do not reply here often (if ever? can't be sure) - but in this instance - I feel it necessary. Ms. Leitch - you are absolutely correct. And one of the sad things is - even in an ATTORNEY state such as mine, "overseas" work is, apparently, being "signed off" on - and the attorney is often blind to the fact (settlement company deceit, in my view) that the product they (the attorney) received - is often not even the work of the attorney's "approved" abstractor/s.  The very saddest thing is - (in my opinion) - abstractors no longer care about each other.  It is dog-eat-dog, and to hell with you if you can't compete with 25.00 current owner searches, or 40.00  full searches. 

As to the "client" end of things - I am going to have my say - and the hell with the outcome.

Five years ago - I put (and granted - a STUPID judgment error on my part)...all of my "eggs in one basket", concerning TITLE SOURCE  (quicken loans). I, along with  the attorneys of record for my counties - were doing a very good job for them - until....a law firm out of Matthews, N.C. - (quite large now, btw) decided to undercut every attorney and paralegal in NC who had been previously doing the searches for TITLE SOURCE - and because I had not in the past done work for this law firm -  I was in essence cut off by 1 - the extreme "cut in price" the new firm offered, and 2 - the "current owner" search attorney had title searchers she had used for years - and you know the rest.

In a 2013 "seminar" (which I attended in hopes of getting some work) with the company that took over the North Carolina work of TITLE SOURCE, there was a segment that began..."In the first quarter of this year - we made 6 million...." and in that split second - my mind went immediately to "then why can't I have some work?" But ...the rest of that statement went on to say.. "6 million in ERRORS.. DUE TO MISSED MORTGAGES, JUDGMENTS, ACCESS, ETC. ETC. ETC. ".  I was astonished - but apparently, on the firm's end - those errors were, at some point,  caught - I guess. 

All this to say - Ms. Leitch- or anyone  else out there trying to make a living in this business who agrees with Ms. Leitch - please - keep on with your word that you will "not contribute to our downfall.."  however  naïve that may sound.    

Here I will post a caveat to the above - the firm in question offered me a TOTAL of 85.00 for fulls - all-inclusive - to which I agreed.  The first day after agreeing - they sent me five full searches (two separate counties) with a turn-around time of 24 hours.  Well....I failed.  I value my work ethic - and I simply could not do 5 full searches (30 + years, foreclosures in 24 hours) - so I pretty much lost my "reputation" with them at that point.  I understand from paralegals who continue to do the "firm in question's" work - that the price for fulls, TIME ALLOTED, COPIES, etc. ,has increased.  Oh well - "c'est la vie".

If anyone out there knows of anyone looking for a good N.C. abstractor (counties will be provided) - who is willing do thorough work for a decent price...just let me know.

Thanks for reading - and thanks for any response...good, bad...indifferent.