Well... for what it is worth, I posted my comments to the article on the Tulsa World site.
I host a Web site for title professionals which includes a directory of abstractors. There are thousands of abstractors who provide services in every state in the country listed. I have been an abstractor for over 15 years in Ohio... imagine my surprise when I read this article and saw that ONLY Oklahoma and Iowa involve abstractors in the buying and selling of real estate! There are, in fact, 9 states which have statutes regulating title abstractors. Every other state uses abstractors as well, they are just not regulated as a separate profession.
Those states that do regulate abstractors are ahead of the others, in my opinion. Title abstracting is a necessary part of the process to ensure clear title and is heavily relied on for the issuance of title insurance nationwide. In fact, issuing title insurance without an examination of the title is a violation of the title insurance laws of just about every state. Insuring titles without an examination would be akin to casualty insurance... something that title insurance companies are prohibited from writing.
This entire article is built on a gross misunderstanding of title abstracting and title insurance. It is disparaging to see World Publishing Co. disseminate such a misleading article. I sincerely hope that Mr. Hinton will do a little basic research and present a fair and balanced follow up... if not an outright retraction.
Again... the statement, "Oklahoma and Iowa are the only states in the country where abstractors are part of the process of selling land..." is absolutely FALSE.
Some days it feels like we, in the title industry, are just banging our heads against a wall. Nobody understands what we do, or how real property is conveyed (with clear title) in this country. Still, it doesn't stop ignorant people from publishing garbage like this. It is really no wonder we have such a hard time trying to explain title concepts to laypersons.
Best,
Robert A. Franco
SOURCE OF TITLE
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