March 5, 2013

 

Dear *********:

 

Thank you for your recent inquiry as to the origin and usage of our company name.  Provo Abstract Company is the oldest land title company in Utah County.  My grandfather began apprenticing in the trade of land title searching in 1921.  It took 3 years of study and work to be able to apply for the state licensing test.  We are currently in our fourth generation of this family business.

 

Prior to the development of the title insurance industry to cover real property (land) issues such as buying and selling, illegal claims, and tax liens and other encumbrances, the legal practice was to issue Abstracts of Title. This is legalese describing the actual pouring over of the county and judicial records by a state-licensed 'Abstracter' and the approval of the findings by an Attorney at Law.  This was done for each transaction, for example: a new mortgage, release of an old mortgage, release of tax liens, etc.  One page was made for each transaction, and by adding a plat of the legal description, the pages eventually became a small book.  Commonly called an 'Abstract', it is the genealogy of the land from territorial times to the present owner.

 

Since the advent of title insurance, the records are not as carefully searched by newer companies and many claims are made each year.  Our company searches from the patent, the beginning, while some only search 10 years back.  We do issue title insurance now as most of the real abstracters have all passed away.

 

Lenders, banks, credit unions, attorneys, and realtors know who we are and often refer clients to us for the trickiest searches and other problem solving.  Our name is our heritage.

 

I hope this answers most of your questions and when you need a title insurance policy for your property, you will want to come to us.

 

Sincerely,

​

Michele M. Dugdale