Hi Kim - Haven't seen your name posted alot so I'm first saying hello.  I will tell you a couple of things that I have done in the past and what I know other abstractors have done.  With foreclosure investors they have to pay me 1/2 down with 1/2 upon receipt.  They are sometimes what I call fly-by-night people - those trying different things to invest their money in and screwing people on the way.  Larger investors or investing companies after I develop a relationship with them, I still do the same - lol - it is not as established as most people running businesses.  Like I previously posted, after a company contacts you run a search with the Comptroller of Public Accounts for that state and/or the Secretary of State to see if they are in good standing.  That is a first indication.  Many people here just do current owner searches and filings which fees are usually given with the overnight documents.  I have never asked for prepayment in these cases other than filing fees.  Then there are those of us that do large projects - the 60 year cell tower searches, large doc retrieval orders - you have no idea of what costs mean.  Checks could easily be written in amounts of $500.00 or more a day.  Most of the companies I do doc retrievals for pay every 2 weeks and that helps.  If  I get unusually large orders from several people, I have called a couple times in the past that I was stretched too thin and they have overnighted a cost deposit.  I know of one abstracting firm in Arlington that takes a credit card number and has companies sign an agreement with her that allows her to charge the past due invoices if they go past so many days - which is not a bad idea.  I do believe that we need to conduct our business a little different if we want to be taken serious as being a viable business entity.  From credit card companies, to banks, to utility companies - late payments impose late fees and/or interest on amounts due.  And credit card companies are even getting a late payment charge now on top of the interest.  When lending institutions, banks, etc. close a loan they are paid the fees from which we are paid - why it takes so long to get to us sometimes is beyond what I can explain.  When I performed closings in law offices, etc. it was imperative that I immediately deposited the funds from closing and made disbursements immediately especially those incurring per diem rates.  I would also welcome everyone else's comments on this subject.  I wanted to add this extra comment - I have been noticing a lot of "no pay" posts lately - is it getting worse in companies not paying out there?