Hi Spencer,

There is another advantage to the new system. Many of the abstractors currently listed in my home county do not actually service the county at all. I think some just took advantage of the fact it was a free listing and listed in every county they could. I know this because one of the ones listed in my county is actually in India. This particularly county is not online so there is no way this company in India can offer this service. Another company listed in this county and a couple of hundred others is actually servicing only 20 according to the comments portion of their information.

I am not saying these companies did anything wrong. They may be using independent contractors.(except for the Indian Co.) But they have exploited the free listings to the extent that the directory has become muddied with listings of companies that do not work in the county. Some of my clients complained about this when they asked for references and I reffered them to SOT. They wanted looking for independent abstractors who lived and worked in the county. They didn't want to find abstractors who were working hundreds or miles away by going online. They didn't want to find Vendor Management companies. They wanted to go direct to the source, the local independent abstractor.

Since the fee for enhanced listings are based on the number of counties served, many of the abstractors who are not in the county will probably not get an enhanced listing for that county. I think my clients will be better able to separate the local independents now from those who just took a free listing in every county.