I wouldn't dismiss a slander of title problem with this.  Filing a mechanics lien for a title search is clearly outside the scope of the MN law, and the homeowners are virtually never the party ordering title anyway.  There's a good chance that the homeowner has no idea who ordered the search.  We're finding that most files we're doing these days have several lenders chasing the borrowers, and consequently multiple title orders as well.  Only the title company that closes the deal is going to get paid. 

We pay our subs regardless of whether a deal funds or closes.  This is one reason why I think mark-ups are legitimate.  If we have to pay for three searches for every deal we actually get paid for, we're basically just recouping our production cost.   It's not the per file production cost, but our month-to-month cost of providing the service our customers demand.