I thought you all might be interested to here the following response I received (one of many like it) from a member of the Mortgage Field Services Yahoo group. They were discussing the fact that many of them have had to take these companies to court (to get paid, etc.). I asked them about one specifically...its name begins with an "s" and ends with a "d." I asked them if I should forget about the idea of applying for vendorship with this company.
One response: "I do very little of this type of work any longer. I had so many problems
getting paid. I now do skip tracing mostly and have had much better luck in getting paid. I wouldn't do any work for a national foreclosure services company unless they paid upfront. The only national company that I have worked for with a satisfactory payment history with me
is Field Services, Inc. I would do work for them, but that is about it."
There are many stories (with the group's archives) to back up such criticisms.
Just thought you might be interested to know these type of things before you use such services.

I have just accepted a listing from a company that begins with an s and ends with a d. Actually not a listing yet - as we have to do CFK, etc. Were they saying that they never pay, or that they were slow to pay - or only court proceedings were effective?

Patty,
They were saying the did not pay, were slow to pay, and required court proceedings. Some, for example, would be denied pay because according to the "after" pics, the place did not look clean enough in their opinion. One guy was denied a ton of pay for a huge electric bill and flood because of mismanagement and miscommunications within the "s" & "d" company. So, my point is...these people tend to treat their contractors very poorly. I have heard modestly positive things about Cyprexx, however. And the highest praise has been for Field Services, Inc.