Legal · Holland code CEI
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.
Also called: Title Abstractor, Title Examiner, Title Officer, Title Searcher, Abstractor, Advisory Title Officer, Commercial Examiner, Commercial Title Examiner.
O*NET 23-2093.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $58,650
- Middle half earn $47,420 to $74,810. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 55% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- 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 and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
- Active Listening3.8 / 5
- Speaking3.6 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.6 / 5
- Writing3.3 / 5
- Monitoring3.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service3.8 / 5
- Administrative3.8 / 5
- English Language3.8 / 5
- Computers and Electronics3.3 / 5
- Administration and Management3.1 / 5
- Production and Processing3.1 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic24
- Investigative27
- Artistic2
- Social22
- Enterprising41
- Conventional96
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- bankruptcy trustee · DE Insolvenzverwalter/Insolvenzverwalterin · FR mandataire judiciaire
- mergers and acquisitions analyst · DE Mergers-and-Acquisitions-Analyst/Mergers-and-Acquisitions-Analystin · FR conseiller en fusions-acquisitions/conseillère en fusions-acquisitions
- notary · DE Notar/Notarin · FR notaire
- foreclosure specialist · DE Sachbearbeiter für den Bereich Zwangsvollstreckung/Sachbearbeiterin für den Bereich Zwangsvollstreckung · FR spécialiste des ventes sur saisie immobilière
- personal property appraiser · DE Sachwertspezialist/Sachwertspezialistin · FR estimateur de biens mobiliers/estimatrice de biens mobiliers
- property appraiser · DE Immobilienschätzer/Immobilienschätzerin · FR estimateur de biens immobiliers/estimatrice de biens immobiliers
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Chartered and certified accountants (2421)233,600 employed
- Estimators, valuers and assessors (3541)57,000 employed
- Legal associate professionals (3520)57,300 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €50,992 |
| Austria | €46,986 |
| Germany | €44,473 |
| Netherlands | €42,448 |
| Ireland | €41,613 |
| Sweden | €41,155 |
| Italy | €34,882 |
| France | €34,816 |
| Spain | €29,757 |
| Portugal | €18,080 |
| Poland | €12,108 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.28. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (23-2093).
Related careers
Is it a fit for you?
Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.
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