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Originally Posted On: Automate Your Real Estate Title Search Process for Your Law Firm – (titleleader.com)

Suppose you’re a real estate attorney or title company assisting buyers and investors in closing property purchases. In that case, title searches are a recurring process in your work.

Real estate title searches are a crucial aspect of your business. Mistakes or oversights can lead to long-lasting problems later down the line.

So, you want to be sure you’ve uncovered any potential legal issues that may be connected to the property at this stage.

With the thoroughness required during a title search and the documentation required throughout, this real estate task often takes several weeks.

After all, there is a lot to keep track of (especially when you order searches in bulk). Your firm might quickly find that title search is a nightmare you’d rather have over and done with.

The solution? Using a tool to automate your real estate title search.

A title search refers to the process of examining public records to determine ownership of a property. This aims to assure any potential buyer they can purchase the full title without future encumbrances.

In other words, the search is looking to ensure the property is free of any other claims.

Once information is provided, the buyer can make an educated decision about their purchase. Searching titles is a delicate process, and each firm or agent may have a different way of going about it.

Whichever way it’s done, it’s essential to follow a pattern and carefully establish a workflow. This is because each title search involves many details and documents that must be recorded clearly and accurately throughout the entire process.

Before we understand the benefits that automating your real estate title search might provide, let’s take a look at the typical process involved.

Real estate lawyers search the history of a property to establish when and how ownership has passed from one owner to another.

To begin, the examiner looks for whoever owns the interest at the time of the search. The most recent deed in the chain is usually easily accessible. Still, properties with a long history have a lot more detail to examine.

This is done through a combination of tax records and the index of the land records. From the previous deed, the prior grantor can often be established, and so on. This continues until a sufficient history of the property’s ownership has been found.

Examiners must ensure the documents were executed correctly and that all parties signed. They have to make sure the signatures were acknowledged and accepted. All the documents necessary for a conveyance of the title were included in the records.

Suppose your law firm is handling many title searches at once. In that case, you might be familiar with the headache of keeping track of all the documentation. Automating this process allows you to:

• Free up more time by letting software handle all repetitive and simple tasks
• Create a reliable and consistent workflow that stays the same throughout every search
• Optimize and streamline your communications with abstractors
• Simplify bulk orders and handle more work at once
• Improve your turnaround time and offer a faster and more reliable service to your clients
• Never lose any documents or fall behind on reminders
• Keep track of all of your invoices and payments

(And that’s just to name a few.)

The process of searching for titles includes many stages with a lot of paperwork. For one, examiners need to order, track, and receive searches. This process can differ depending on the stage.

They need to communicate with abstractors and try to ensure the search proceeds smoothly. Finally, they need to manage invoices and report and share their findings with their clients.

Title Leader is the software that can help you automate your title search and make all your documentation and tasks visible in one smart dashboard. It automatically handles and tracks your searches, be it commercial or residential.

All completed searches are consolidated into PDFs with summaries, making them easy to view, download, or email your team or clients.

The software also keeps track of all of your abstractor communications, so you never misplace any crucial documents again. Centralized transmission means the process doesn’t have to halt.

Title Leader will send you email and text alerts whenever a file or communication is due. It also automatically creates invoices for each order. These are displayed continuously and updated and can be paid in just one click.

Paying on time is made easy, and you can create custom and standard reports to see how your team is doing.

Title Leader was designed for law firms that order in bulk. You can upload a CSV spreadsheet into the dashboard. There’s no limit on how many searches can be run at one time.

Anything from a few quick orders to hundreds of bulk orders can be managed from one dashboard.

Save yourself and your firm the hassle by considering an automation software like Title Leader to handle your real estate title search.

If you perform lots of searches all at once, Title Leader could save you time and money by streamlining one of your most crucial processes.

For more information on how we could help you, please feel free to reach out and contact our friendly team today. We look forward to speaking with you soon!