I really think that what's bothering us so much in this and other threads is our increasing awareness that we as abstractors are essentially powerless vis a vis our customers.  Until NALTEA comes into true fruition we will remain so.

If we get certified as a NALTEA abstractor and get our customers aware of the value of that certification (i.e., a NALTEA certified abstractor is always reliable and always accurate and knows the intricacies of the areas he or she covers) that should entitle us to charge more for our efforts.  As the membership in NALTEA grows, so would our negotiating strengths with out customers as they would have no choice other than to use the NALTEA abstractors if they want to be sure of their title work.   But until that happens, we're not going to make anything change. And right now it seems to be a ways off in the future, although I've read with interest the discussions about developing testing for that certification.  I'm certainly interested both in terms of being able to market my company for better prices with this NALTEA certification, but also because I'm getting increasingly nervous about the general sloppiness we've all been seeing.  Imagine closing without any title search at all, just the deed!  How can you possibly issue a valid title insurance policy?  And what kind of security to the lenders have? Makes me very nervous about E & O in the future - I'm told that many of them have gone out of business recently.