As an abstractor that used to work in the field in New York City, I can tell you that online information that is being made available is double edged sword.

First off, more and more title agencies ARE beginning to conduct refinance searches "in house" (a trend that led me to take a job at one of these agencies, but that is another story). In the four boroughs (not Richmond -yet), 90 % of  the information that you need for clearance on a refinance is readily available via the ACRIS system coupled with a system like AIS, which has a reliable database of judgements. The better abstractors will have no problem getting jobs as "in house" abstractors to do these searches.

The remaining 10% is why there will ALWAYS need to be abstractors in the field - which leads to the second point. Fully insured titles for purchases, foreclosure searches, and etc. will still exist for abstractors in the field. No company worth anything will do these relying solely on computer system.

The bottom line is that abstractors will always have jobs - as long as their work is quality. In this regard, abstractors in the industry should embrace the online element of searches, as it will invariably weed out people who do not know what they are doing - which based on an article I have read on this very website, seems to be a prevalent issue throughout the industry.

JC