Seth:  I understand what you are saying and I would generally agree that we need to work together.  We are all on the same side after all. 

However, the profit margin for an abstracting business is very thin - more so than a title agent's.  I know... I do both.  The point really isn't a matter of WANTING to work together, its the reality that abstractors generally CAN'T wait for a title agent's files to close to get paid. 

Title agents know that they don't get paid until the file closes.  That is not the arrangement that abstractors agree to when they take on a client.  Abstractors usually bill NET30 - unfortunately, many of their clients do not adhere to such terms. 

I hate to use the same old example, but have you tried to contact your electric company and explain to them that you can't pay your electric bill until your files close.  Or, the phone company, gas company, office supply store, insurance company, etc...  Why is it that the abstractors should "understand" that the title agent hasn't gotten paid yet, when none of its other vendors would?

As I have said before, if the title agent is unable to pay for title work before the deal closes, they are undercapitalized and should not have "bitten off more than they can chew."  The "independent agents" should stop trying to run with the big "national companies" if they can't afford to operate on that scale. 

That said... some of the excessive criticisms probably go too far.  I don't like to see it either.  But, you can't blame the abstractors for creating the animosity.  They did their work, advanced copy costs, labor costs, etc... They have bills to pay as well.  They can't call their vendors and explain that their clients are just waiting to get paid before they can pay them.  It doesn't work.

Best,
Robert A. Franco
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