Real-Life Communication
Communication skills are an essential tool for a title searcher.
It's not that title searching is a team effort -- for the most part, title
searchers work independently. But they spend a large part of their day on
the telephone, dealing with everyone from lawyers to bank clerks.
"You're
communicating on the telephone all the time," says Sydnie Crockett, a freelance
title searcher. Crockett works in the land registry office with other freelancers.
When a request for a title search comes in, whichever freelancer is available
gets the assignment.
While this arrangement is convenient, it also
gives the local legal secretaries a great deal of power: "If you have a bad
telephone manner, the lawyer's secretaries will just ask for someone else."
Besides
telephone skills, Crockett adds that it's important to strike up a good relationship
with lawyers that visit the land registry office. Usually, they have come
into town from larger cities. "You have to be able to get along with them.
Every registry system is different; for example, there's different computer
systems, and you have to be patient."
You are a freelance title searcher
working in a small town in a rural area. You return from lunch one day to
find a disturbing message on your answering machine. A couple who moved here
recently from out of town have received a notice that their garage does not
meet local building standards.
The woman who left the message -- the
secretary for the lawyer who conducted the transaction -- is upset that you
failed to discover this fact when you performed a title search on the property.
Before hanging up, she tells you that the couple is threatening to sue the
law firm.
You stare at the telephone thoughtfully as you wonder how
to proceed. This is a tricky situation. The fact is, when performing a title
search you never check to see if the buildings on a particular piece of property
comply with local building laws.
Your job is to determine that the
person selling the property is the sole legal owner, and that there are no
hidden "encumbrances" against the property, such as unpaid taxes or a bill
for improvements made to the home that hasn't been paid.
The lawyer
knows this, of course. For that matter, so does his regular secretary. You
suspect that she is either on vacation or sick leave, and the woman who called
you is filling in until she returns. Like yourself, the lawyer lives in a
rural area, and it's probably not easy to find a qualified replacement on
short notice.
This is a delicate situation. You don't want to contact
the lawyer. The woman would be embarrassed, and the lawyer would probably
be annoyed with you for not handling the situation in a professional manner.
There's
no telling how the woman would portray the situation to the lawyer's regular
secretary when she returns, and the last thing you want is to develop a reputation
for being difficult. If that happens you won't receive any more business from
this firm, and maybe others -- word spreads quickly in a small town.
You
need to tactfully explain the situation to the woman before she has a chance
to speak with the lawyer and reveal that she is not very knowledgeable in
this area. You decide to return her telephone call. What do you say?