First let me state that I do not do collections work as a part of my law practice.  But, as a business owner, I would probably sue them here in my county and state.  I believe that they would have sufficient contacts with your state because they ordered the search in your state and the work was done in your local county.  I would think it would be much more cost effective to obtain a judgment in your state.

However, actually collecting on a judgment once you get it is a whole other issue.  Getting the judgment certified in another state is something I am not familiar with and I do not know what the requirements would be.

One of the things I would like to see is contracts that allow abstractors to include their attorney fees in a judgment for collections in the event of non-payment.  Many clients insist on vendor contracts, but they never include this provision.  Along those same lines, it would be nice to have a contract that provides the jurisdiction and venue for any litigation would be the abstractor's home county, and state.