It is more than a theory. It is a fact. Contract rights are property. You were contracted to perform a service involving production of an abstract. The abstract is the product of the service you perform. You own the product until the client pays for that for which it contracted.

Since the land records are public information that is not to say that the client is not free to have an alternate abstractor perform a duplicate search if you refuse to allow them the use of your product until paid in full.

Whether or not he elects to use an alternate abstractor, he still owes you payment. In fact he now owes two abstractors. If he elects to use your abstract before paying you in full...it is going to be almost impossible for him to assert a viable defense.

However, you should inscribe a notice somewhere on your abstract that it remains your property until you are paid, and use of its contents is expressly conditioned upon timely payment.

If the client claims that he used the services of an alternate abstractor rather than the abstract you produced...you have the ability to verify that defense through interrogatories and requests for production of documents. You also have the right to take the other abstractor's deposition. Guaranty that it will cost the client far more to defend than to pay you.

If you did the work, if they accepted the work and if you can prove this...you are holding four aces, and they usually fold. The biggest problem is that they may have no assets to pay the judgment.