In so far as Connecticut is concerned they can't. Much of the information needed for a complete title search is not available on line. Probate court records are typically not available on line. In towns such as East Haven, Ct. the probate court clerks guard the information contained in the files very carefully even if you appear in person to examine the file. In so far as the Superior Court's foreclosure file information and the U S Bankruptcy Court are concerned docketing information only is available on line which will tell you the title of the documents (not the contents) and the dates of filing. You have no way of knowing which parties were properly defaulted and foreclosed until you pull the file, and read through the filings themselves.

We have no county government in Connecticut and therefore no single county hall of records to search. Instead we have more than 140 cities and towns. Each is responsible for maintaining its own records. Each has its own procedures. Some include water, sewer and tax liens in the general grantor/grantee indices, and others maintain this information in separate indices which are not on line.

The larger title insurance companies and title and escrow companies have huge libraries of backtitles for properties they have for which they have closed or insured. This information can be stored in computer data banks, and transmitted to offices in India. However, they need to update these searches each time there is a sale or refi which requires title insurance. They need to search all of the above mentioned records to do this as well as the day book in each town hall. With the exception of two cities in Connecticut the day book information is not on line either. Some cities like New London may be as much as thirty days behind in proofreading/verfying/auditing their day books and adding the information to their grantor/grantee indices.

Norwich and Stamford are the only two cities that I know of in Connecticut that have online/imaging services which they make available for subscription fees. However, these systems contain only information that is on record with these two town clerks and not the necessary court information.

As difficult as it is to complete an on line search in Connecticut, the abstractors in this area are beginning to feel the pinch of the declining market for their services resulting from outsourcing. The concern now seems to be with cheap price and fast turn around time rather than accuracy of the abstract. 

Clients seem willing to take the chance on a claim being filed at a later date. They may have decided that the number of claims filed make it cheaper to pay the claims than the aggregate expense of paying for the title searches. I am not really certain of their reasoning. However, a relatively low claims history is a function of addressing problems disclosed in prior title searches, and the claims history may change if future searches are carelessly done on line.

It is not just the abstractors that are experiencing the problem. If a service is capable of being outsource to India because of cheap labor it will be outsourced. We are seeing this occur here in Connecticut with the insurance industry and the data retrieval functions for credit card/bank records. I just spoke with someone today that had a question on her credit card bill. She called to straighten it out, and wound up speaking to some clerk located in India.

Mr. Bush seems to feel that strengthening our ties to India provides a huge market for American goods and services. I have some difficulty understanding the logic of his position since the average Indian citizen can not afford to buy them. All I can see is a huge drain of middle management jobs out of America to India. The only areas left that seem to be safe are the licensed professions and the trades.