Hello Kevin: Thanks for your input on this matter, do I understand then that Connecticut requires licensing or some kind of procedure that certifies the abstractors doing the searches or is it just a standard that the searches are held up to for proper completion? This procedure seems to elevate the licensed examiner to a higher plane  and would then also allow them to price their product at a reasonable level also-I was wondering in my original post if that has been the case in Kansas with the newly enforced( so to speak) laws there that make a licensed abstractor a highly sought after person from the settlement and title insurance point of view.I also understand that the title insurance companies will continue to undermine and do what ever they think they can get away with any unlicensed title work as long as they don't get caught, or until they find another way to swindle money out of the consumer in other more elaborate means. I read the "news" and they seem to be the biggest source of levied fines by all of the legal sector, it just never ends and doesn't seem to deter them from doing exactly  the same thing in a different locality- the abstractors are hardly ever involved in any of these actions since we don't have the large escrow accounts at our disposal like they do, we hardly have a "large" bank account of any kind any more.
Robert has pointed out a very big aspect that I also mentioned, about the liability of the abstractor also- and the validity of the entire search derived from and relied on by an unlicensed abstractor and the resulting settlement- The E&O carrier will no doubt deny any liability that might arise from such a search if it was prepared  by an unlicensed abstractor, and the settlement and title insurance companies would also be on the hook for any of the errors that might arise.
I will be very interested in any of the responses from the licensed abstractors that might respond and how they feel about the whole string of events surrounding the licensing process- thanks again for this information.
Steve Meinecke
IA/Titlefax
Woodbridge, VA