Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers
Search real estate records, examine titles, or summarize pertinent legal or insurance documents or details for a variety of purposes. May compile lists of mortgages, contracts, and other instruments pertaining to titles by searching public and private records for law firms, real estate agencies, or title insurance companies.
What you’d do
- Prepare and issue title commitments and title insurance policies, based on information compiled from title searches.
- Examine documentation such as mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, plat books, maps, contracts, and agreements to verify factors such as properties' legal descriptions, ownership, or restrictions.
- Examine individual titles to determine if restrictions, such as delinquent taxes, will affect titles and limit property use.
- Prepare reports describing any title encumbrances encountered during searching activities and outlining actions needed to clear titles.
- Prepare lists of all legal instruments applying to a specific piece of land and the buildings on it.
- Copy or summarize recorded documents, such as mortgages, trust deeds, and contracts, that affect property titles.
- Verify accuracy and completeness of land-related documents accepted for registration, preparing rejection notices when documents are not acceptable.
- Read search requests to ascertain types of title evidence required and to obtain descriptions of properties and names of involved parties.
Skills that matter
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Time Management
- Writing
How to get there
Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one
Also called
- Title Abstractor
- Title Examiner
- Title Officer
- Title Searcher
- Abstractor
- Advisory Title Officer
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