Its funny how this thread went from a positive message about focusing on issues that abstractors need to address to change the INDUSTRY, to "well, if you are going to let so-and-so join, then I am not going to get involved."  This is exactly the reason an abstractor association wasn't formed long ago.  The industry has kept us all fighting among ourselves, stumbling over each other, lowering prices to get more "volume", so we wouldn't notice the changes that have us ALL working harder to make less.

We shouldn't be so concerned with what our competition is doing, we should be getting more involved to make the industry better for all of us.  This is why the title insurance companies can keep raising the premiums and paying the abstractors less.  They don't try to keep their competitors from succeeding, they work together so they ALL do better.  They see the big picture - they don't care if their competitors are going to benefit by joining ALTA or a state land title association, they realize that if the INDUSTRY does better they will benefit too.  They are doing the smart thing... we, well... just haven't figured that out yet.

Just an observation,
Robert A. Franco
SOURCE OF TITLE