|
On Demand Mobile Abstracting and Public Records Research
|
Texas Directory of Independent Local Abstractors And Researchers Find the local expert you need. |
||
|
|
|
Services
|
David Bloys has held many interesting and diverse positions which have lead him to the field of abstracting. From running his own manufacturing company to chasing bail jumpers, he has always enjoyed the unconventional. These various positions have helped him hone his attention to detail and develop research skills that serve him very well as an abstractor.
Prior to entering the title business, David had already been involved in many varied aspects of business. By 1989, David had created a successful business, Horizon Manufacturing. After 17 years of managing Horizon Manufacturing, the business, which employed over 100 workers, had expanded with offices in several states. David was ready for a change and ready to fulfill his dream of retiring by 38. With the two patents he had been granted and their royalties, along with the sale of his company, David did just that.
David then taught computer courses at a local college and to the disabled through a contract with the federal government. While he taught the course, David wrote the book, “Hidden Careers, Hidden Jobs” as a guide for those seeking employment and to serve as an exposé on the unethical practices of some employment agencies. David published a thousand copies, giving one hundred to his students and selling the remaining copies on CompuServe. An Englishman, who helped laid-off workers find new employment, purchased one of the books as a resource tool for his courses, but needed more copies. Because David had sold his last copy of the book, he granted the man the rights to publish the book in the United Kingdom. “I had written the book to help my students here and was flattered that it might now be used there to help his students,” he said. “As far as I know, it may still be available there.”
His skills with research caught the eye of a student who referred him to a relative who was a private investigator in San Angelo, TX. David contracted with the agency as an instructor on how to use the private and public databases that were becoming available via dial-up access by computer. Upon completing his month-long contract, the private investigation firm asked David to open a branch office for them in Lubbock where he could assist them with database access and with the most difficult skip trace and lost person cases.
Under Texas law, he had to work under a licensed agency for three years before opening a private agency; however, the home office filed bankruptcy before the end of his three year contract. David then contracted with another agency in Bryan, Texas and worked under their license. Through recommendations from clients Gavin de Becker and Steve Rambam, David was able to open his own agency licensed under the name Davick Services. His work at the time concentrated on corporate intelligence, political investigations, insurance investigations, protective services, fraud, deep background investigations and bail enforcement (bounty hunting).
In 1998, Texas
changed its constitution and began allowing home equity loans to be attained.
Title work gradually became the major focus of David’s investigations.
Though he continued doing investigative work, he only accepted the cases
that intrigued him, or when requested to handle a case for associates.
David received some acclaim for work he did in the field of political
investigations and briefly handled these cases instead of title work.
Yet, he could not ignore the need for skilled title abstractors and soon
found himself focusing more on the title field.
David faced many
challenges upon entering the field because of the explosion of residential title
demands and the lack of qualified individuals to conduct the searches.
Many of the counties where he conducted title searches were extremely
rural and the distance between offices posed challenges to meeting clients’
demands in a timely and organized fashion.
Though he could hire more individuals to help him carry the burden, David prefers to handle his company in a different manner. In a previous position he had managed over 100 employees and rarely found freedom from employees’ issues and concerns. He has avoided this at Davick Services by only employing one – his son, Joshua. “Joshua remains the only employee I have in the business,” David said. “Someday, when it is his decision, he may hire more but I am content now with just the two of us.”
With the help of his son and improved methods of technology, David has made Davick Services a successful and reliable abstracting company providing service in 47 counties in both Texas and New Mexico.
INTERVIEW
SOURCE OF
TITLE: What are some of the
challenges you face as an abstractor?
SOURCE OF
TITLE: What have you done to
overcome the challenges associated with covering 47 rural counties?
We solved this problem this year by installing a combination of hardware and software into our vehicles that creates an on-demand on-site mobile office. Now when my clients fax an order it is received in the vehicle where it can be printed out on the onboard printer. The search is completed at the courthouse and the original order, the report and any required copies are scanned by CapShare. We upload and fax the completed product while driving to the next county. Now we don't wait to receive an order and our clients don't wait for us to return to the office to fax back their reports. It saves many hours for Davick Services and our clients. Our clients are receiving the accuracy of hands on courthouse searches by local experts at the speed of the Internet. Recently an order was completed and returned seventeen minutes after our client faxed the order.
SOURCE OF TITLE: Another pertinent issue is that of states requiring abstractors to be licensed. How do you feel about this and is licensing required by the state of Texas? DAVID: It isn't required in Texas. I think it probably should be, but only if the licensing law is carefully crafted. I think very few of the states require licensing at all. But of those that do, I haven't seen one that does much to protect the public or the abstractor.
SOURCE OF
TITLE: As an active member of
the Source of Title community, you have addressed many concerns in your forum
postings. What remains to be your
greatest concern involving personal privacy issues?
This information has always been public and should remain so. Until its release in digital form, however, its use was more restricted from stalkers, international identity thieves and foreign terrorists. Its digitized bulk transmission has resulted in death and ruined lives for thousands of Americans. The only way to stop this rape of American society is with laws preventing the bulk transfer of digitized information from the government entities.
The current laws forcing honest county clerks to release digitized information to anyone anywhere must be changed in order for honest citizens to continue to enjoy their freedom of accessing the public record. Local authorities who bulk release the public records of their constituency will find themselves powerless to protect their citizens from international abuse over the Internet. Indian outsourcing companies are openly "mining" our public records off the Internet for anonymous distribution to China, Nigeria or anyone, with their own "need" to know.
In Texas and I think many other states some public officials have recognized this threat to their own personal security. Now a law enforcement officer or elected official can have his name and address removed from the public indexes of databases maintained by the Central Appraisal Districts. Trial attorneys are also discovering these rich new fields and are beginning to file suits against the counties and other entities when obvious breaches are found - such as the publication of social security numbers, drivers’ license numbers and birthdates. These attorneys should be applauded except for the fact that the local public will pay the settlements for this breach of their own public record.
SOURCE OF
TITLE: How have your experiences
in the field of private investigation helped you to be a better abstractor? |
|
[bottom.htm] |
