Posted by Genkichan on 2/5/07 11:42am
Msg #174093

Article on Abstractors

I found this article in the Washington Post interesting. Looks like we are not the only ones looking for our money when a deal goes south! Many folks on the board insist that appraisers get paid regardless of the outcome of the loan/transaction. A large percentage of abstractors are claiming that they don't...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/02/AR2007020200712.html

Reply by PAW on 2/5/07 11:53am
Msg #174096

Some appraisers are paid at closing, so they are paid by the title or settlement company when the proceeds are disbursed. If the loan doesn't fund, then there are no proceeds and the appraiser is not paid. That's why many appraisers want to be paid up front, by the homeowner as their fee is not a part of the loan funding process, but a part of the application process.

Reply by Kevin/Ct on 2/5/07 12:42pm
Msg #174102

Actually the abstractors are in worse shape than the signing agents. Take a look at all of the complaints on Source of Title's web site about abstractors being stiffed by their clients. To begin with the prices of title searches paid to abstractors have declined drastically in recent years. Consequently, they wind up running themselves ragged trying to meet ridiculously short turn around times in return for constant pressure by their clients to reduce their fees further
.
They actually seem to have less bargaining power than the signing agents. It is not unusual for a client to run up a bill of thousands of dollars, and then employ the services of another abstractor while delaying payment to the first abstractor for months. Worse yet, it is common for an undercapitalized client to run up a huge bill with the knowledge that it is going out of business. In which case the abstractor is hung out to dry.

Reply by NCLisa on 2/5/07 1:37pm
Msg #174115

I also do title abstracting. I charge $55 for a current owner search and prices go up from there. In NC I have to go to the ROD or clerks office to do a judgement check, so no matter what, I have to go to a county seat. I can check judgments in every county, from any county, but if there is a judgment, none of them are online, I have to go to that county clerks office.

I have had at least 40 calls in the last few months, requesting that I do searches with a 12 to 24 hour turn around for $35 to $45. That is a crazy turn around time. Why in the world do lenders think that the title search is the last thing they need to do before docs? It is the second thing they should do after getting the loan app and credit report!! Not all liens and judgments show up on credit reports, an if it's a purchase transaction, it really bites when you find out the seller has a $100,000 worth of liens and judgments that there won't be enough money to payoff so the deal is dead. You have no idea what that can do to peoples lives! Turn around time also should be at least 3 days.

I'm finding that lots of abstractors will no longer work for out of state TC's because they aren't getting paid. I can't even get paid by ServiceLink for searches done last summer!

Reply by Stamper_WI on 2/5/07 1:55pm
Msg #174118

When I was a realtor, I had a few deals not go through because of liens or the loan was denied at the last minute. Because I was in a low population area, it was a pretty sure thing that when that property did finally sell the title work was done and waiting. There were only 2-3 Tc's in the area at that time.
Tc's offer star reports on listed properties which is a cursory look at a listed property while it is on the market. Any problems with the deal canceling were usually on the borrowers end which should have had any problems highlighted during the application process.
So the ground rules for traditional TC work is there. The Refi stampeded has highlighted flaws in the basic ground rules. They are not designed for the high speed turnaround on refinancing and home equity loans.
Appraisers are protected by law in WI.

Reply by Kevin/Ct on 2/5/07 2:28pm
Msg #174126

Title abstracting has become a very unattractive line of work. The liability insurance is extremely expensive. The clients contantly nickle and dime the abstractors to death, and there are a multitude of fly by night abstractors that will undercut their prices. This results in constantly declining prices that were already low at the outset. Added to this data miners are now purchasing information from the land records offices and selling the information for online searches. Much of the online work is being outsourced to India, China and the Phillipines...thus reducing the amount of work available.