That is interesting. I do not know of any law firm here in Connecticut that will record without first updating the title search. If an encumbrance has been recorded between the time of the last search and the recording date, the law firms will not record. I can't imagine a law firm opening itself to the liability of a malpractice suit by doing otherwise. I am having difficulty seeing how the electronic recording method is going to get around that problem, unless they are also thinking about doing some on line search in connection with the recording. Right now there are only two towns here that offer that capability for a subscriber fee. That is not to say that private industry may not buy the town's in house computer records and market them through some form of title plant. There has been enough said on this board about that approach.
On the otherhand there does seem to be a movement in the real estate industry to bypass the attorneys altogether, especially in the case of refi's. The title companies order their searches directly from the abstractors. Unless their client requests that a law firm conduct the closing, the title companies then contact a notary either directly or through a signing service to have the doc package signed, and then record the mortgage. This may remove the attorney and any malpractice liability from the picture, but merely substitutes a defendant in a subsequent law suit.
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