Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers Salary in Columbia, SC

Common tasks

• 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.
• Retrieve and examine real estate closing files for accuracy and to ensure that information included is recorded and executed according to regulations.
• Confer with realtors, lending institution personnel, buyers, sellers, contractors, surveyors, and courthouse personnel to exchange title-related information or to resolve problems.