that is very good advice to follow!  thanks for sharing it.  as much as i act like it, i dont know everything (lol).  i'm sure following your example will help.  to me, that is what this board is all about-- the free and open sharing of information!  i fully expect that some people will vent, get emotional, be stressed out, not chose their words carefully, etc.-- after all, this is our livelihood we are talking about.  if there is a company that i havent had a problem with, i may come on here and state that i havent had any problems, but i wont come on here and cast doubt about others claims.  most of my clients are big boys and can fight their own battles if someone commits libel.  i also know that if it is happening to another abstractor today, it can (and probably will) happen to me tomorrow.  i know that coming on here and sticking up for them will not make them any more loyal to me.  i have seen that happen too many times and anyone that thinks otherwise is only kidding themselves.  i have been on the other end and it is frustrating when "fellow abstractors" throw you under the bus.  i cant understand how someone can think that a discussion forum is not the "proper place" to discuss payment issues.

thank you for your concern about my mother.  i dont like bringing it up, but did to show the importance of timely payments and the consequences it can have on us.  that sometimes these issues have HUGE ramifications.  that it isnt just a past due invoice-- it can alter a persons life.  to shed some light on the situation, since i was the one who brought it up.  it wasnt physical suffering for my mom, it was financial, mental and emotional.  my mom is an elderly woman living on a fixed income.  an unscrouplulous telemarketer tricked her into giving out her bank account information.  she thought she was ordering one item, but in reality they signed her up for a series.  you see, my mom grew up in an era where there was no such thing as "fine print" for most people.  what once would have landed people in jail is now "good business practices".  the mafia is alive and well, they just moved into the board rooms and had their lawyers make it all nice and legal.  by the time it all got to my attention so i could take care of it, her bank account was severely overdrawn, her bank didnt care and was charging her outrageous, daily fees-- which they would take our of her check when it was direct deposited.  but then, the kind folks that they are, once her money was all gone, they would also give her advances-- for another fee, of course.  they wouldnt give her overdraft protection, where there was only one fee, no-- they have to devise a system in which they can charge multiple fees and that an elderly person on a fixed income can not dig out of, short of starving themselves.  but its all legal.  my mom is on a military pension that she earned for being in the military during the korean war.  anyway, my mom kept it quiet and was too proud to ask for help (as opposed to today's generation that will brag about how much welfare and free stuff they can get).  she became more withdrawn and depressed.  she started using what little money she had left to play the lottery, hoping maybe she could win and get back above water.  it didnt take very long for her to get into the hole.  when i found out i had to make a choice.  she was racking up fees daily.  she was very withdrawn and depressed.  so i used my money to get her bailed out.  it would have been no problem whatsoever if i didnt have past due invoices.  i helped her out knowing that something was going to have to give unless those past due invoices would come in.  they didnt.  i would still make the same choice today if i had to do it all over again.  so i had to decide whether to pay my mortgage on time or my credit cards.  of course my credit cards all had balances because i had to use them for gas, fees, supplies etc. because of -- you guessed it-- past due invoices!!  rather than get huge fees and mafia-style interest rates from my credit cards, i paid them and hoped those past due invoices would come in before my mortgage grace period was up.  they didnt.  so i was able to keep my credit cards all current, but my biggest loan showed as a late payment and will until like 2012.  couple that with the fact that i am self-employed and now i cant get refinanced and i have an adjustable rate that goes up next year and you can see what a ripple effect past due invoices can cause.  a year ago, i had good credit, a little money in the bank and would have been able to refinance and save a lot of money.  now, my credit is still fair, but not great (and right now you arent getting credit unless you have great credit).  i have virtually no savings and i may have to give up this job that i love (or at least used to) just to get a paycheck stub so i can stay in my house.  it doesnt matter whether i actually make less money as long as i have a paycheck stub.  should i blame my mother-- or the people that wouldnt pay me on time for the work that i did for them?  if my mother didnt need help, i would have still had the past due payment issues.  however, if the clients had paid me on time i would have had no problems.  if it wasnt my mother, it could have been an expensive car repair or a medical bill or any other problem.  the fact is i had clients that violated any acceptable business relationship.  besides, isnt one of the reasons we work so that we can provide for our families?

i am not asking anyone to cry me a river.  i'm a big boy and i will survive.  i dont expect anyone to bail me out.  i'm sure there are others out there that are worse off than me.  the only thing i want is for people to understand where people are coming from when they post payment issues here.  people post here to warn others, to look for a way to get paid what is owed them, they look for a little support and understanding.  they post here to try to make things better-- for all of us.  they post here to try to turn the tide that has been going against us all for far too long.  the more we allow this to happen to others and remain silent, the more we set ourselves up to fall.  this isnt just about the title industry either, people!  look at what is going on in the world.  here is a word for everyone to think about-- citizenship!  no matter what your political affilliation is, think about this for a minute-- if we citizens arent willing to stick up for our fellow citizens when they are in the right, what chance do any of us have?