Hello Cindy,

What Abstractor company are you having difficulty with? I would keep an eye on the land records, and see how soon they close.It may give you a feel as to whether they used your search or not. If they refuse to pay you, I would demand to know exactly why not (What did they find wrong with the seach).Once you know this you can go through your run to determine if they are right or wrong. I would tell them that your search is your property was not theirs to shred until it was paid for. If they refuse to return your search to you, I would argue that they have been unjustly enriched by your work, and that you are entitled to compensation. The fact that they may have shredded your search is no reason why they can not give you a written statement that they will not use it in their closing. That would be a letter that would be written after your search was shredded. If you wind up filing a small claims action against them all of their failures to respond to your attempts to get to the bottom of the problem will work against them.In most states the cost of filing a small claims action is not very expensive. It is very much like people's court. You go in and tell your story to the judge. He will ask you some questions, and render a ruling one way or the other. If they closed and did not use your search, they are going to have to come forward with the other search to prove that they did not use yours.

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