TC> This is one thing that _bonding_ is designed to partially ameliorate. One TC> posts a bond which is greater than the amount being carried, or at least is A variation of a bond is an escrow agent.... Overload Alert: I use "escrow" here in the more mundane sense of the folks who collect your real estate taxes and homeowners' insurance from you 1/12th at a time along with your mortgage payment, for instance. If the buyer has a =nonymous= agent to recieve the payment, which is only released to the seller upon proof(s) of performance (whether in lump sum or on a schedule of staged payments tied to specific milestones in a long-term project) then the buyer has someone to go after in the event of such shenannigans. TC> There are still scams and manouvers to thwart this reputation capital TC> scheme. The agent planning to "defect" (default, split, abscond, renege, TC> etc.) can try to pile up as many pending transactions as possible, TC> anticipating that the various transactees will be unaware of each other. And the escrow method dynamically scales to meet this threat, whereas the bond is static. Of course, the escrow agent will extract his pound of flesh, just as any other form of insurance. Such is the nature of life. * A Liberal puts your money where his mouth is. --- * Monster@FAmend.Com *