On August 1, 2016, Jana Elton’s (Masters) business doubled in size as she purchased Town & Country Abstracting in Preston, Minn., and combined it with the business she already owned to create Fillmore-Houston County Abstract and Title LLC.
Elton grew up in Canton, Minn., and graduated from Mabel-Canton school and worked in Fillmore County for many years, so she is not only familiar with the area but also many of the residents of Fillmore County.
She is now in a position to provide abstract and title work to people in Fillmore County, in addition to Houston County, and is eager to help them in any way she can – including saving them money when possible.
After performing abstract work for nine years at the Fillmore County Courthouse, Elton became a business owner on October 1, 2015 when she bought Dale Scobie Abstracting Studio of Houston County from Scobie, which was located in Spring Grove, Minn.
Elton had asked Scobie five years prior if he would be interested in selling the business but he was not quite ready to retire at the time. Elton says, “I didn’t know he kept my name and number by his computer for five years,” and when he did contact her about purchasing the business in Spring Grove, she was ready to take over the reins.
“I am very grateful to him,” Elton says about Scobie, as he gave her the opportunity to become a business owner in the first place. She renamed the business JE Abstracting and Title of Spring Grove after taking ownership.
Elton then had another great prospect come along this year when she was able to acquire Town and Country Abstracting in Preston from Scott Springer. On August 1, 2016, Elton took over Town and Country Abstracting and combined it with JE Abstracting and Title to create her new business.
Sandy Solberg will stay in the office in Preston while Elton works in both the Preston office and her home office in Spring Grove.
“She’s the one that taught me how to do this,” Elton says of Solberg, explaining that when she first began doing the same type of work at the Fillmore County Courthouse she asked Solberg if she could help her learn the job. Solberg was a great support to her throughout the years and is once again, only in a different role.
Elton is very glad to have Solberg in the Preston office with her years of knowledge and expertise in the field. “She is so amazingly smart at this,” says Elton, and it gives her peace of mind to know that Solberg can take care of things at the Preston office. “I don’t know what I would do without her,” says Elton.
Fillmore-Houston County Abstract & Title LLC offers several services, including updating abstracts, creating new abstracts to replace those that have been lost, title searches and bankruptcy searches. She also plans to offer title insurance in the near future.
Fillmore-Houston County Abstract & Title LLC is “not affiliated with any attorney,” states Elton, which makes a difference to many people as they often already have their own attorney.
Elton is always happy to answer any questions residents may have, as she says, “Sometimes people just don’t know where to start or what they need to do” to begin the process they need to complete.
“If anyone has any questions, you can call,” says Elton, adding there is “no charge for calls,” so don’t hesitate to call and ask a question if you need to.
“We cannot give legal advice because we are not attorneys, but we know the process so we can refer someone to an attorney if they need to go to an attorney, we can refer them to realtors in the area, we can refer them to an appraiser if they need an appraisal done,” or any other way they can help someone out.
Elton enjoys being able to save clients money, saying, “There are ways to save money,” and adds, “I have saved people so much money” because you don’t have to go through an attorney for everything and many times when a person pays an attorney for these services, the attorney sends it to an abstract and title company. By avoiding the middle man and going directly to Elton, people can save quite a bit of money.
Elton lives in Spring Grove with her husband, Brock, and has two sons, Collin, 18, who is in the Marines, and Cole, 16. She says that both the communities of Spring Grove and Preston, along with the surrounding areas, have been very supportive of her and her business, which she is grateful for.
The office in Preston is located at 212 Main St. SW and the phone number is (507) 765-5270. The mailing address for the office in Spring Grove is P.O. Box 308 and Elton can be reached there at (507) 498-5803.
Elton can also be reached by email at fhabstract@springgrove.coop.