Good News and Bad News
Good News: Spoke with the reporter who's investigating county registries and asked when his article might appear since it wasn't in the paper this past weekend. Turns out there's more than first thought that needs a closer look and also a few developments since we first spoke with him. Well that sounds worth waiting for.
Bad News: An abstractor calls me every so often from his home office and asks if I'll check judgments for him while I'm out. Translated, this means he's searching title online and has become what I call a Barcostractor; someone too lazy to get out of his Barcolounger and search title properly.
When time is tight, I ask friends who are headed to areas where I need work if they'll check judgments for me and they've never refused, God bless 'em. Same here, I'm happy to do the same for them because we all know each other, respect each other's work, and know how an unexpected glitch in title can throw you anywhere from 3 hours to 3 days behind with no warning whatsoever.
My new policy is to check judgments for these folks only and not the ones who call from the comfort of their homes asking if I'll check for something in my work area while they sit a hundred miles away and solicit those orders. My orders. Orders that would be mine if they didn't undercut fees, speed search online from home, and if I didn't help them by getting their work out faster.
Think about it; these folks are no different than the title plants we all complain about. They work outside their service area by searching online and getting schmucks like me to improve their turn times if I will just do them a "quick favor if you're near a judgment computer?"
An attorney in Kannapolis, NC, once commented that he wouldn't even use a paralegal to do the preliminary search for him. Nothing against paralegals, but in his words, "I don't have a product. All I have to offer is my reputation. If a mistake takes that away, I'm out of business."
We should all be so careful with our professional reputations.
Search properly. And search inside the courthouse. It's where all records - and conscientious abstractors - belong.
Bad News: An abstractor calls me every so often from his home office and asks if I'll check judgments for him while I'm out. Translated, this means he's searching title online and has become what I call a Barcostractor; someone too lazy to get out of his Barcolounger and search title properly.
When time is tight, I ask friends who are headed to areas where I need work if they'll check judgments for me and they've never refused, God bless 'em. Same here, I'm happy to do the same for them because we all know each other, respect each other's work, and know how an unexpected glitch in title can throw you anywhere from 3 hours to 3 days behind with no warning whatsoever.
My new policy is to check judgments for these folks only and not the ones who call from the comfort of their homes asking if I'll check for something in my work area while they sit a hundred miles away and solicit those orders. My orders. Orders that would be mine if they didn't undercut fees, speed search online from home, and if I didn't help them by getting their work out faster.
Think about it; these folks are no different than the title plants we all complain about. They work outside their service area by searching online and getting schmucks like me to improve their turn times if I will just do them a "quick favor if you're near a judgment computer?"
An attorney in Kannapolis, NC, once commented that he wouldn't even use a paralegal to do the preliminary search for him. Nothing against paralegals, but in his words, "I don't have a product. All I have to offer is my reputation. If a mistake takes that away, I'm out of business."
We should all be so careful with our professional reputations.
Search properly. And search inside the courthouse. It's where all records - and conscientious abstractors - belong.
posted by Happy at 12:33 AM
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