When the client owes you money and becomes defensively critcical of your work, it is almost always a sign that they are experiencing money problems. I have been doing collections litigation for twenty years, and it is a favorite ploy of a cash poor client to find "fault" with the services rendered as an excuse for nonpayment. This is almost certainly true if they do not criticize the services within a short time after you sent them your abstract. Check to see if the mortgage or deed for which you rendered service was recorded within a relatively short period of time after you completed the search as further proof that they accepted your abstract.

If you are sure of the services you provided, demand a detailed explanation of the "problems" they perceived. You have a right to that information if they fail to pay you. Simply explain to them that they will have to prove the same facts in court if you sue them. Their case or defense generally falls apart when they can not substantiate their claim. If you go to litigation you can also subpoena their bookkeeping records to show that the genuine reason for nonpayment is a lack of cash.  I have one client for whom I have litigated or arbitrated more than 100 collection cases over the past 17 years. During that time I have lost on only 1 of their cases. During that time I have learned that the defendant's inattention to detail is fatal to his defense. Most of the time the defendants argue that there were service problems. Without detailed testimony or written proof of their allegations, their position becomes nothing more than an unsubstantiated claim.

When the defendant can not establish in detail the exact dates of the problems, exact nature of the problems, failure to notify you of the problems (especially if not until after you demand payment), lack of written documentation of the alleged problem, failure to produce an abstract performed by another abstractor in lieu of yours and that their financial status was not a cash poor position, it's judgment for the plaintiff. It then becomes simply a matter of having a sheriff/marshal garnish a bank account/wages, seize personal property for sale or your foreclosing a judgment lien on real estate in order to pay you. (In many states such as Connecticut the cost of the litigation and recovery of attorney's fees are part of the damages to which you are entitled to in a foreclosure.) Do not be afraid to go after delinquent clients.