it can be very tempting when you've gotten exactly 5 orders in a week and your mortgage payment, utility bill and gas bill are due.  It has gotten extraordinarily difficult to get work in Florida because of companies like RedVision that offer "quality" searches for $20 with 2 hour turnaround.  They've taken just about every customer we have even though we've had relationships with some of them going back 10 and 12 years.   It's gotten to the point where my old customers (most of whom have new, extremely young-sounding staff) won't accept phone calls anymore - they just put you right into voicemail and then never return the call.  I thought I knew what I would be doing career-wise for the rest of my life - now I don't know anymore.  Very very depressing. 

I hear exactly what you're saying, Elizabeth.  I've also got a mortgage to pay and a family to feed, in addition to the overhead I'm putting out just to keep the doors open.  In fact my wife is working two jobs right now to help keep us afloat.  I'm taking work wherever I can get it, but I believe there is a God and that what goes around comes around.  Jesus Christ said it best in Mark 8:36 "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"  I just can't compromise my integrity for the sake of a buck.

I know it sounds empty right now, but I am certain that things will get better.  We entrepreneurs are an intelligent and resourceful lot.  That, combined with some Divine intervention goes a long way toward narrowing those "impossible odds".  My thoughts and prayers are with you and anyone else reading this who may be in similar circumstances.

good morning liz :) i know what you are talking about, here in ohio, companies i have done business with for 10 + years have done the same thing to me. but ya know those $20.00 searches will come back to bite them in the butt in the long run. just watch

We too are feeling the pressure from long time customers who know what our turn time policies are, but are asking us to turn Full searches in less than 3 days. Fortunately, being able to accomodate this kind of turn around has kept us busy when other people are not. One thing to keep in mind is that we don't hold leverage at this time and have to go over and above and also keep the same quality in order to keep the work flow. It wasn't long ago that searchers held the power, and could pretty much dictate the price and time.....those days will come again when the economy and market get straight. Another problem is, your contacts are not the same people you were dealing with during the boom and they feel no loyalty to you or anyone else. It's best to bite your tongue at this time and do the very best you can to kiss the clients butt until the market changes, burning bridges at this time is not the best choice. Good luck and hang in there.

I don't think we should be kissing any one's butt, we are professionals, most of our clients have never been to a county clerk's office let alone done a search, so what do they know about doing a search???

I agree with Scott, we have to hold the line and not make promises we cannot keep just to get orders, I never promise a client 24 turn time for a current owner because you never know what will come up, and 3-5 days for a full search is not unreasonable.

If  clients want to use inexperienced abstractor's who are willing to compromise their integrity I say let them. In the end they will be delivered a shoddy product.

Personally I don't have that problem with my clients, I do the best I can and do not promise things I cannot deliver and my clients appreciate that.

It use to be that people took pride in their work, to me this is just another sign of where our country is headed and its very sad indeed.

My best client sometimes tries to pin me down to promising that I can get a deed report to them that day, saying, "it is just a deed report" and I tend to hem and haw because even though that should be very fast, sometimes multiple deeds and estates can be involved.  I try to assure them that if at all possible I will deliver, but until I actually do the title search, deed report or whatever, I do not know how long it will take. 

I can't tell you how many times I've had a client order what appeared to be a "simple current owner" and it turned out to be more involved, either because of in-family conveyances, estates or some other unforeseen circumstance that required a more in-depth examination.  I would caution that communication is key here and you want to be able to convey to your client that it may take a little longer to give them the quality product that they are paying for.

OH YEAH....... I'VE HAD A CURRENT OWNER RUN 2 DAYS ALREADY

I'm with you there, any abstractor who truly takes pride in his/her work knows that quality takes time.  You make a good point, most folks who work in these title offices have never even seen a records room, so it's up to us to educate our clients as much as possible as to what is involved in a thorough title search.

As a title person, I know the demands made on all of you because believe it or not we get the same demands from the Lenders and Realtors on a daily basis (ok, not so much daily anymore but you get the idea).  When I communicate the turn around time to my client (because I have been to the records room and the various other floors & offices), as I assume most of your clients would be the title agent, yes, all I get is you have to do it faster or that is not good enough or I need that on a rush. 

To defend our turnaround time, I have, on numerous occasions, tried to explain the process in a simple manner to my client only to be told that they "don't care what it takes to get it done, it is not there problem it is yours (title agents)" and they "shouldn't have to wait because I am too busy or my searcher follows the examination guideline & rules", etc, etc, etc. 

Now, remember, I never once said I was too busy or that the examiner was too busy.  Not sure where that one came from but that is what the client heard.  There is a big problem out there with clients - Realtors, lenders, brokers, borrowers, buyers, & sellers only hearing what they want to hear and not what was actually said. 

They just don't care what we go through to do our jobs.  I have so many borrowers that come to closing and their eyes glass over as soon as they see how thick my file is.  How is that possible they say....do we have to sign all that.  I assure them, no that only 1/2 needs to be signed.  The other half is what it took for me to get here today.  Then they all laugh and proceed to talk to each other for the next 2 hours (way too long by the way) while I try to conduct a serious business transaction with a borrower that is now so distracted by all the talk about the house and neighbors they can't sign their name with out stopping once or twice to interject on the conversation around the table. 

And we wonder why so many are being foreclosed on.  People buy a house these days like they would underwear, with little research and all the trust in the world in the wrong person.  It amazes me that people spend more time researching their next new car than they do on what is needed to buy a home. 

I know I wavered off the subject path and I am sorry for that.  Educating the clients would be great if only they would listen.  But, in the scope of the totem pole, Title Agents are the toilet and all s*** rolls down hill.  And where does it end up.....you got it....in the toilet.  So no matter what the problem is, it is always my fault for not preventing it or knowing about it ahead of time to alert the dang clients. 

Good luck to you all!!  Keep up the great morals and integrity in your work.  It always pays off in the end, especially when that client has to come crawling back because they ended up with shoddy reports or better yet the good old bait and switch. 

Clanci Moloney-Nelson

...but you don't get to use my blog to personally attack another poster.  Let's keep it civil here.

Sorry Scott, don't like having my integrity challenged because my opinion differs from yours an Jessica's

to speak for someone else, but I don't think Jessica meant it like that.  At least I didn't think so from the way I read her post.  Again, I am glad that you have taken the time to read my blog and to post your opinion, as I am always interested in different viewpoints.

Glad to hear you're doing okay.  You're right, things sure aren't like they used to be during the "refi boom".  It's not that I mind accommodating demanding clients, but I won't do so to the point of sacrificing quality. It not only does a tremendous disservice to the client, but to the unsuspecting consumer whose property is on the line.

Hi Scott,

I never said anything about sacrificing quality, we would never do that. I do however know how to manage my time efficiently and to lay work off to competent collegues in order to satisfy a client. Hard work and solid support means that you can do more than the traditional Independent. We also are willing to work more hours than the common Independent, this is a must for a full time searcher. I know someone will chime in that they chose to have a life, well so do we, we do everything we want on the weekends and enjoy it more! But during the week, we meet the requests as they are presented to us no matter the effort or time. This is the business we chose, other wise we would have taken a 9-5 at a bank!

I was just reiterating my point.  Thanks for commenting, I appreciate your readership!

I'M WITH YOU JOYCE, WEEKENDS ARE FOR PLAY AND WEEK DAYS ARE FOR WORK..ALTHOUGH I SOMETIMES SPEND WEEKENDS AT ONE RECORDERS OFFICE WITH AN AFTER HOURS PASS.

Joyce - I want to thank you for the timely manner in which you have handled my requests.  You are a truly an example of what Title companies want in an abstractor.

i tell my clients that i will have the work in within 24-48 hours unless i run into trouble, in which case i will call them with the problem. i have spent as long as a week on a search, especially commercial work. i just did a commercial piece that took me 2 days to complete. sometimes they are  easy, then occasionally a challenging piece of work will show up

I gotta say its hard for me to read the story and not feel your pain. I was a searcher in NJ for almost 6 years before i decided to switch and work for a Title Company. Doing things this way makes me more sympathetic to my searchers and the amount of time things take. I will argue constantly with my boss to defend a searchers turn around time, why?, becuase i know, i've been there and i've done it, sometimes things can be done in and hour and sometimes you can work on the same thing for a week and not get anywhere!
I applaud you Scott for standing your ground and not giving in, if there were more abstractors out there like you then maybe Title companies like mine wouldn't be having some of the problems we are!!
 

Thanks for your kind words.  Recently, one of the big VMs which is headquartered nearby sent out a trainer with a group of new hires to the local courthouse to give them a "feel" for what is involved in conducting a title search.  I think that if more companies did that, it would help their personnel to understand exactly what we're up against out in the field.

This is a great example of a client who, in the long run, doesn't respect you are what you do. People like this view your services as a commodity and think they can bully you to meet their needs. Often, when there is a rush being forced onto you, it is because the person making unreasonable time request has either dropped the ball on their end, or has over promised their client. In either case, they are making you pay for their mismanagement.

This is a client to drop - they aren't looking for a long term professional relationship, based upon trust and mutual respect, instead merely shopping for the cheapest ( or cheapest available) person to hire.

PS. Your response was great!