Technology
The Automation Behind a Certified Title Search
A certified report is only as good as the records behind it and the person who signs it. We built a platform that finds the records faster and checks them harder, so the abstractor spends their time on the part that actually needs judgment.
Why a national title search used to be slow
Property records are not one system. They are roughly 3,100 county systems, each with its own index, its own vocabulary, and its own idea of what counts as a document. The traditional answer was to staff every county with a person who knew its quirks, then accept the turnaround that came with it.
We kept the people and rebuilt everything around them. Certified abstractors still do the work and still sign the report, but the searching, extracting, and cross-checking now run at machine speed. The full stack is documented on the AFX technology platform, which serves every AFX property including this one.
You do not have to adopt any of it to buy a report. Order through the browser and a PDF arrives. The technology below is what makes that PDF arrive sooner and hold up better.
What the platform does
- AI-assisted abstraction: Language models read recorded instruments at a volume no abstractor could match, pulling vesting, legal descriptions, and encumbrances into structured fields before a person reviews them. Learn more about AI-assisted abstraction
- Error correction and classification: The rules that decide whether a document belongs to your property, and whether two records describe the same lien, are encoded rather than remembered. Anomalies route to a researcher. Learn more about Error correction and classification
- Portal management: Place an order, watch it progress, message the researcher working it, and pull any past report or invoice back out. No login sprawl and no calling to ask where something is. Learn more about Portal management
- API ordering: High-volume buyers skip the browser entirely. Submit properties programmatically with token-based authentication and a sandbox to test against before anything counts. Learn more about API ordering
- White-label reports: Resellers and agencies deliver the finished certified report under their own logo, colors, and disclaimers, with a separate template per product where that matters. Learn more about White-label reports
- Multi-format delivery: A PDF when a human reads it, Word when it gets edited, Excel when it gets sorted, and a JSON abstract when a system consumes it. Same research, four shapes. Learn more about Multi-format delivery
What happens after you place an order
Whether an order arrives from the portal or from a connected system, it moves through the same four states. Integrated buyers see each one as an event. Everyone else sees them in the portal.
Step 1
property.add
The order opens
A property arrives from the portal or the API and is matched against county coverage before anyone touches it.
Step 2
200 Order Received
We acknowledge it
A confirmation comes back immediately, so an integrated buyer can stamp the record and stop wondering.
Step 3
property.status.update
Research progresses
Status changes surface as the abstractor works the county, rather than sitting silent until delivery.
Step 4
property.document.upload
The certified report lands
The finished document arrives with its structured abstract alongside it, followed by an Order Complete confirmation.
Buyers running volume connect directly instead, and our REST API places, checks, and retrieves orders without a browser in the loop. Everyone else works from the order management portal, which carries the same order history, the same messaging, and the same archive.
Neither path changes the research. The abstractor assigned to your county does the same work and applies the same certification whichever way the property reached them.
Deliver it as your own work
Plenty of our volume comes from firms who resell research under their own name. For them a report with someone else's logo on it is a problem, so white-label report templating puts your brand on the cover, your colors through the document, and your disclaimers at the back.
Setup is a logo file and a short conversation about formatting. After that it is automatic, including separate templates where a current owner search and a full chain of title need to look different to the people receiving them.
Machines check the work, people certify it
Two things go wrong in title research. A document gets missed, or a document gets attributed to the wrong property. Our error correction and classification algorithms exist to catch both, revalidating thousands of data points per report and refusing to stay quiet when two records disagree.
Upstream of that, large language models do the reading. They turn recorded instruments into structured fields at a rate that makes national coverage practical. What they never do is sign the report. A certified abstractor reviews the findings and puts their name to them, which is the whole point of buying a certified search.
When a downstream system needs those findings as data rather than as a document, the same research is available as a structured JSON abstract alongside the PDF.
Questions about how we work
What makes a title search certified?
A certified search is performed by a qualified abstractor who attests to the result, rather than an automated lookup of a database. AFX pairs that certification with automated validation, so the person signing off is working from records that have already been cross-checked for completeness and internal consistency.
Does automation replace the abstractor?
No. Automation removes the mechanical parts of the job, reading documents, extracting fields, and flagging inconsistencies, so the abstractor spends their time on judgment rather than transcription. Every certified report is reviewed and signed by a person.
Can we order in bulk without using the portal?
Yes. Our REST API accepts properties programmatically and returns the same certified reports the portal delivers. Authentication is token based, a sandbox is available for testing, and most teams have a working integration inside a day.
Can the report carry our company branding?
Yes. Report generation is brandable, so the certified report your client receives shows your logo, colors, headers, and disclaimers instead of ours. Send a high-resolution logo and we configure the template, including separate templates per product where you need them.
What formats can we receive a certified report in?
PDF is the default. Word and Excel are available where the report gets edited or sorted, and a structured JSON abstract is available where a downstream system needs the findings as fields rather than as a document.
Something here not covered? Ask our team and we will put you with the people who built it.
Order a Certified Title Search
Nationwide coverage, certified abstractors, and a platform that gets the report to you faster. Start an order online or talk to us about connecting your systems.
Questions? Call 877-848-5337 ext. 138 or email [email protected]