How a Superior Abstract Company Keeps Real Estate Honest
On the second floor of the Badger Building on Tower Avenue is the office of Douglas County Abstract & Title, LLC
The staff there works hard to ensure that real estate deals do not have any unexpected surprises so that sales can close on time. The company conference room walls are decorated with historic maps of Douglas County.
Organized on a counter, old abstracts and documents are set out as conversation pieces or curiosities. For example, there is a homestead document signed by Grover Cleveland on Feb. 13, 1889. Another document, a land patent showing transfer of ownership, is dated 1887. Though there is much history in what a property abstractor does, the work remains essential to modern-day sales and ownership.
John Rawlings and his wife, Barb, are the owners of the title company. Inside his modest office, manila folders and white banker’s boxes crowd bookshelveswith old courthouse records holding secrets of property pasts. Rawlings and his team work on something most homeowners don’t think about – until they have to. Abstracting may sound like an outdated practice, but this local business is anything but irrelevant.
“We just finished the research for the Department of Transportation on the new Blatnik Bridge,” Rawlings said, referring to one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the region. “They needed to know exactly who owns what – businesses, homes – everything that might be impacted.”
That included compiling documentation on more than 100 properties, some requiring relocation or easement acquisition through eminent domain. “The project’s already started on the Minnesota side,” he said. “But in Wisconsin, they’re still designing as they go.”
That kind of high-stakes title work is par for the course for Rawlings and Sandy Kilman. Kilman handles real estate closings and mortgage coordination. Their mission? Clear title at closing – no surprises, no snags.
“If something’s off, we have to fix it,” Kilman explained. “We’ve seen everything from incomplete probates to unsatisfied mortgages from 40 years ago. Sometimes we’re chasing down signatures from people who haven’t owned the property in decades.”
The business, which the Rawling now own, has deep local roots. “I didn’t know much about the company’s history before I bought it,” he admitted, “so I brought in the previous owner, Tom Anderson.”
Anderson offered the backstory: “This company is really a combination of old abstract companies that used to operate in town,” he said while sitting in the conference room with the artifacts. (His favorite artifacts are the historic framed railroad maps on the walls.) “We have records that go all the way back to the 1800s. Evelyn Olson ran one of them in the 1940s, and eventually, those merged into what’s now Douglas County Abstract.”
Long before title insurance became the norm, attorneys relied on certified abstracts – carefully compiled histories of each property – to assess ownership. “An abstract is just a certified history book of the title,” Rawlings said. “It condenses all the essential legal info so attorneys can issue a title opinion.”
While title insurance is more common now, abstracting still plays a critical role – especially in complex sales, rural areas, or multi-parcel transfers. Rawlings recalled working on a 53,000-acre land sale involving Plum Creek Timberlands. “It was three counties’ worth of property. We had one weekend to finish a huge chunk of it,” he said. “We stayed in the courthouse and worked nonstop until Tuesday. You just get it done.”
Some of the quirks they’ve encountered include long-lost easements, covenants restricting dog ownership or outdated, now illegal racial restrictions.
“We can’t even mention those anymore,” Anderson noted. “They’re discriminatory and unenforceable, but they still show up in old deeds.”
Even scams have found a way into the world of title.
“Anyone can forge a deed and file it at the courthouse,” Rawlings warned. “It’s fraud, but it can mess up someone’s credit and block them from selling or refinancing for years.”
Fortunately, modern county systems now offer free alerts if something is recorded in your name, if you sign up.
What keeps these professionals going through all the late nights and legal puzzles?
“I had an interest in history, in law and in engineering,” Rawlings said. “And all three come together in title work. You’re interpreting old legal descriptions, solving problems and learning incredible local history along the way.”
Kilman agrees. “It’s wild the things you find,” she said, laughing. “One document called a woman a ‘spinster.’ I never heard that word before. It just means she wasn’t married – but, wow, things were different.”
Mike Blaylock, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Realty in Superior, said that in about 90 percent of the closings where he is the listing agent, Douglas County Title is used.
“They were the first title company I worked with when I began my real estate career,” Blaylock said. “I found pretty quickly that they treated me the best and were the most professional of the first five I used.”
The closings typically take place in the same conference room mentioned above.
What does Blaylock like about Douglas County Title?
“The physical appearance of the closing space – it’s always clean and tidy, not chaotic or hectic when you walk in,” he said. “Communication is always very prompt and professional. They definitely stay on top of things and are extremely proactive in the process.”
Blaylock noted that with some title companies, he does not receive a closing statement until the day of closing.
“I’ve never had to ask for them with Douglas County Title,” he said. “I’m typically getting them a week before the closing, even earlier sometimes.”
What Could Go Wrong at Closing?
Mike Blaylock said nearly anything can go wrong at a closing, and he’s seen his share.
“We’ve had sellers refuse to hand over the keys or allow access to the property until a certain point because something was going on,” he said. “But what I’ve found with Douglas County Title – specifically working with Sandy Kilman – is that she takes all of that off my shoulders.”
Blaylock said Kilman worked directly with the seller in one case to ensure the buyer received access to the property as legally entitled once the closing was finalized.
“That’s just one example,” he said. “We’ve had issues come up with lenders or with liens on the property. There are all kinds of things that can happen.”
Another common issue: buyers or sellers who get cold feet.
“That’s where Sandy is really helpful,” Blaylock said. “She’s calm, very thorough and proactive. We typically don’t have many surprises when we go to a closing.”
If someone gets nervous at the table?
“She doesn’t pressure them,” he said. “If someone doesn’t want to sign, they don’t have to. But she walks them through everything, answers their questions, and helps them feel reassured.”
The Rawlings also own and supervise staff at Assured Title LLC in Siren, Northwest Land Title Inc. in Milltown, and Banana Abstract in Spooner. The family of businesses serves 13 counties in northwest Wisconsin.
Whether it’s moving bridges, resolving 100-year-old probates, or making sure a buyer won’t be blindsided at the closing table, Douglas County Abstract and its family of businesses are in the business of keeping property deals grounded in fact.
Naomi Yager is a Duluth-based freelance writer.
