If it is a foreclosure search, the treasurer/tax collector will always be named in the complaint and will file an answer providing a current amount due. So a tax search may not be necessary. Robert is right, though. The Treasurer/Auditor records are the best place to start a search--you get the current owner, the legal and the transfer history. The bottom line is that $5-$10 means alot more to you the abstractor than it does to the title company or any other entity or person in the whole transaction. Stand your ground.