"The signing agents although feeling the impact of the sub prime problem do not seem to be in the same boat as the abstractors."

Kevin, good for attorneys and many non-attorneys who can afford to hold the line but very HARD TIMES for non-attorneys who cannot.  Refinances are down/slow and at the same time there's still much NEW non-attorneys entering the field and taking the rock-bottom offers to "get experience" and because they haven't done a cost analysis.  As two of my new "non-competitors" told to me, "I am only doing this part time nights and weekends, so I am not competition to anyone else."  Many companies have reduced offers to $45 for an overnight package for a full refinance, UP TO $70 for a full eDoc refinance (docs arrive 1-2 hours prior to appointment), and the latest from other parts of the county is "bring your laptop and wireless connection" to do everything on-line at the borrower's home. Just like the early '90s; people who need to eat, put gas in the car and make the minimum payment on the credit cards to last another month will take these: Cash in hand today is no worry about tomorrow's income taxes and the effect on others in the industry.  I am against price fixing, but as you and the abstractors know fly-by-night low fee competition hurts us all.