Title Examiners, Abstractors, & Searchers

Accurate, legal property records are essential for a wide variety of transactions, including buying and selling real estate, assessing taxes, obtaining mortgages, inheriting property, and many other financial dealings. Title examiners, abstractors, and searchers research and obtain real estate records and other documents to ensure the legitimacy and integrity of property-related transactions. Title examiners spend much of their time searching public and private records for property title related documents. They study plat books, official documents, that describe the history of properties, and their dimensions and property lines. They examine mortgages, contracts, legal descriptions, easements, maps, and other documents. They often prepare reports to describe their findings about a property title, especially any restrictions on a property’s legal use, or debts owed on the property. Exacting attention to detail and record keeping skills are essential qualities in this field. Title examiners prepare documents that have long-term impact for those involved, so they must also be aware of any legislation that pertains to their field. They may assess fees. Title examiners, abstractors, and searchers generally work for law firms, real estate agencies, and title insurance companies. While they almost always work in offices, they sometimes travel to real estate transaction closings, or to specific offices to study documents on site. Most positions require a high school diploma; on-the-job training is provided by most employers.