Thanks Kevin for the good wishes.  I agree with your post.  I have been in this industry 35 years, so I have seen these changes first hand.  I believe that greed is the reason behind the decline.  We have all been sold the bill of goods that the "borrower " wants everything faster and cheaper.  It isn't the borrower that started all this.  The lending institutions were told that they could get their products cheaper & faster if you send everything to one place.  And of course they did.  The abstractors were told that we will give you all our work, but you have to do it cheaper & faster.  And they complied.  The underwriters were convinced that there should be no need for an extensive search on properties.  A short form search should be good enough to get  title insurance.  And they caved.  The quality may not be as good, but as long as it doesn't come back to bite them, it is OK.  The Title Insurance Industry was started to protect the consumer, but they are hardly an after thought anymore.  There are companies out there that are making millions if not billions.  Some of their executives make more money from their bonuses then their salary (which is also BIG)  They make their bonuses from their profit margins.  Their profit margins are made by paying everyone else in the process the lowest amount they can.  They don't care about how good the product is,  just how much money did they make off it.  We all want to make a profit, but I hope that I never do so by degrading others and their profession.  Abstractors are on the bottom rung of the ladder.  If I do nothing else this year, I hope that I am able to help bring them up a few rungs. 

Thanks for listening
Wanda Steudel
AccuSearch Co