Things must work much differently in Pennsylvania than here. In Connecticut when there is a conflict between the street address and the legal description...the legal description supersedes the street address. If the search discloses that the legal description contained in the title holder's deed is the same as that contained in the mortgage at issue, it is reasonable for the abstractor to believe that the mortgage encumbers the subject property, and to report it as such.

As for not ordering copies of the deed and encumbering liens/mortgages... that is inexcusable. I have never received a search order which did not require these copies. I would never accept an order that did. It sounds as though the desire to cut corners in the wrong places came back and bit the lender/title company in the rear. As a title insurance agent I would want to know exactly what I am excluding from coverage, and I would never issue a title insurance commitment without having the required copies as backup.

You seem to suggest that $150.00 for a full sixty year search is some exorbitant amount in Pennsylvania. If that is true Pennsylvania abstractors must work extremely inexpensively. Here that is the standard rate for a full search of 40 years.

Actually I see more fault with the lender and the title company than I do with the abstractor.