Robert,

You are correct.

However I have also noticed that there are always "signs" so to speak. You have a client that has been a great client over the years, invoices paid promptly, etc.. then you notice a check isn't coming every month like it use to, now its every 6 weeks, then it becomes 2 months, and so on and so forth.

I have learned the hard way, to watch for those "signs" and now I immediately take action when the payment schedule changes, and usually that action is communication, if that doesn't work I quit taking their work. I have to pay my abstractor's whether I get paid or not, its not my abstractor's problem.

I figure its better to cut my losses right away and its been very succesful to handle it this way. A loss of a few hundred dollars is better than thousands of dollars.