Well... we all know that the abstractors as a group could never agree on enough issues or in enough numbers to actually unionize or incorporate together. But, you are probably right - nothing will change until we see some kind of miracle.

I would prefer to see state licensing of abstractors. Not many abstractors seem interested, and I'm sure the larger companies and traditional trade associations would oppose any such efforts. But, I think that it would help set standards, reduce competition from unqualified, out-of-market competitors, and it would be great to see an abstractor's lien that could help abstractors get paid. It would be even better if it were integrated with title insurance laws that should require all policies to be backed by searches conducted only by licensed abstractors.

But, I think we are both dreaming.

Best,
Robert A. Franco
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