I don't know about other abstractor's but my fees were developed with normal searches in mind.  By normal I mean a residential search where somebody is buying a house or refinancing and liens & judgments and tax sales and forclosure documents are the exception rather than the norm.  It seems that more than half of my business now regards property that is either in foreclosure or has been sold for taxes or both.  Of course it takes a lot longer to properly search this property and get all the information and copies involved.  I am strongly considering imposing a "Distressed Property Surcharge" in the amount of $50 per search on any property that is in foreclosure or has been sold for taxes.