Ultimately, it is up to our clients to determine the level of experience they require in their abstractors. There will always be those in the business with less experience than you, who is going to decide where to draw the line? I don't want to be part of an elitist Association that is going to refuse an application just because they have less experience than I do and they may become competition for me. This mentality is probably why the abstractors have not banded together before... we should be working on bettering the industry for all of us and not merely furthering our individual objectives.

You don't think that membership in the association will improve the quality of an abstractor's work? I disagree. I have joined many associations over the years that have increased my knowledge in specific areas: the American Land Title Association, The Ohio Land Title Association, The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, The Experimental Aircraft Association, and others. NALTEA will offer the same benefits to title abstractors. The news letter will be an excellent source of information that will benefit every member, experienced and novice alike.

Abstractors who are already "seasoned", as you put it, will benefit by receiving CERTIFICATION in recognition of their level of experience. Those who do not qualify for certification will be encouraged (and assisted) to improve their services until they do. This will benefit the industry.

I DO think the Association should encourage all abstractors to carry E&O insurance, and should discourage rock-bottom pricing as a means to buy business, but it is still the clients' decision whether or not to use them. As long as there are companies that only care about price and do not require E&O, there will be a market for them. A good association should benefit the entire industry, not just the "elite" in the field.

In short, the association has something to offer all abstractors and denying access to some of them will NOT be good for the industry as a whole.

The real benefit to all of us will be in the uniting of a large number of abstractors to address concerns that we all face, like off-shore title plants, E&O prices, and ever changing legislation.

~Robert A. Franco

to post a reply: login - or - register