Explore by Career/Legal
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.
- Median pay
- $54,980
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- +2%
- Stable
- Typical entry
- High school diploma or equivalent
Key skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Complex Problem Solving
- Time Management
- Active Learning
What they do
- 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.
- 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.
- Prepare lists of all legal instruments applying to a specific piece of land and the buildings on it.
- Read search requests to ascertain types of title evidence required and to obtain descriptions of properties and names of involved parties.
- Obtain maps or drawings delineating properties from company title plants, county surveyors, or assessors' offices.
- Confer with realtors, lending institution personnel, buyers, sellers, contractors, surveyors, and courthouse personnel to exchange title-related information or to resolve problems.
- Enter into record-keeping systems appropriate data needed to create new title records or to update existing ones.
Majors that lead here
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.