lawyer says i owe him money due to his mistake.
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Originally Posted By: alarmguy
I think the question is before the facts.
Bottom line is, is it on your closing statement?
Let us know. If it is not on the closing statement, maybe a corrected one needs to be produced by him before you can pay it?
If it is on the statement you paid it.
If not is there anything wrong with paying him the $250 if you know it was a charge you should have paid ?
But it would be legit to ask for some sort of corrected HUD statement.
Whether or not he can make you pay, etc, etc, why not do the right thing once you have the facts?
Whether or not you liked his performance is irrelevant, the bottom line is, is the charge legitimate or not?
If it is, pay it.
Excellent point; you may have already paid this fee.
I think the question is before the facts.
Bottom line is, is it on your closing statement?
Let us know. If it is not on the closing statement, maybe a corrected one needs to be produced by him before you can pay it?
If it is on the statement you paid it.
If not is there anything wrong with paying him the $250 if you know it was a charge you should have paid ?
But it would be legit to ask for some sort of corrected HUD statement.
Whether or not he can make you pay, etc, etc, why not do the right thing once you have the facts?
Whether or not you liked his performance is irrelevant, the bottom line is, is the charge legitimate or not?
If it is, pay it.
Excellent point; you may have already paid this fee.
On the one hand, he's probably entitled to bill you. On the other hand, you're probably entitled to suggest to him that he might do well to waive the charge based on his sloppy work.
I recently had an lawyer on my father's estate drop the ball on closing an investment account and giving the money to my mother. Meanwhile, my mother died, leaving her estate to my nephew. We had to open an estate for my mother to pass my father's investment account through. It cost ~$1000. The lawyer explained that if the account was worth less now than it was when he should have handled it, he'd pay us the difference and do the work for free. I was fairly impressed with that. Fortunately the account was worth more than it was when he should have handled it....
I recently had an lawyer on my father's estate drop the ball on closing an investment account and giving the money to my mother. Meanwhile, my mother died, leaving her estate to my nephew. We had to open an estate for my mother to pass my father's investment account through. It cost ~$1000. The lawyer explained that if the account was worth less now than it was when he should have handled it, he'd pay us the difference and do the work for free. I was fairly impressed with that. Fortunately the account was worth more than it was when he should have handled it....
Originally Posted By: NormanBuntz
If the $250 charge wasn't listed on the HUD closing statement, I would not be paying it.
I agree.
If the $250 charge wasn't listed on the HUD closing statement, I would not be paying it.
I agree.
What was your agreement? He/she pays the costs and service fees out of his fee; or you pay him/her the fee plus the costs and service fees associated with the transaction?
Seems straightforward to me; a deal is a deal - on both sides.
Personally, I have never gone after a non paying recipient of my services - I walk away from thousands of dollars every year; it's only money and it's never been worth it to me. We all have to answer for our actions someday. I'm okay with leaving it to that.
Seems straightforward to me; a deal is a deal - on both sides.
Personally, I have never gone after a non paying recipient of my services - I walk away from thousands of dollars every year; it's only money and it's never been worth it to me. We all have to answer for our actions someday. I'm okay with leaving it to that.
Originally Posted By: JustinH
3 years ago I hired a lawyer in NY to perform a property closing for a house I had sold up there.
I am a TX resident. Paid him X amount up front to close the house, signed over partial power of attorney which allowed him to do so.
It is common place, because you need a lawyer at a home sale in NY.
The transaction closed, a month later I had a check for the proceeds of the house, and I thought all was done.
Anyways today he sends me a letter in the mail saying I owe him $250 for funds he send to a title company but did not bill me for.
He provided a copy of the invoice from the title company bill to him in regards to my transaction. From the year 2014!
I have the HUD-1 statement in my office, I haven't looked at it yet.
It is possible I do owe the money, but here are my questions.
Can he come after me for $250?
Will he come after me for $250, especially out of state?
Is this unusual to be billed for an error he made, 3 years ago.
Thanks.
3 years is still OK unless your agreement with him specified a time limit for invoices. If he performed the work then you will need to pay him. A billing mistake is not a reason to avoid paying.
3 years ago I hired a lawyer in NY to perform a property closing for a house I had sold up there.
I am a TX resident. Paid him X amount up front to close the house, signed over partial power of attorney which allowed him to do so.
It is common place, because you need a lawyer at a home sale in NY.
The transaction closed, a month later I had a check for the proceeds of the house, and I thought all was done.
Anyways today he sends me a letter in the mail saying I owe him $250 for funds he send to a title company but did not bill me for.
He provided a copy of the invoice from the title company bill to him in regards to my transaction. From the year 2014!
I have the HUD-1 statement in my office, I haven't looked at it yet.
It is possible I do owe the money, but here are my questions.
Can he come after me for $250?
Will he come after me for $250, especially out of state?
Is this unusual to be billed for an error he made, 3 years ago.
Thanks.
3 years is still OK unless your agreement with him specified a time limit for invoices. If he performed the work then you will need to pay him. A billing mistake is not a reason to avoid paying.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
I've sold two homes in the Buffalo NY area and typical attorney cost is under $500 all in for a home sale. Justin, I'm not sure what you paid this guy and it's odd it came up ~3yrs later.
Originally Posted By: JTK
I've sold two homes in the Buffalo NY area and typical attorney cost is under $500 all in for a home sale. Justin, I'm not sure what you paid this guy and it's odd it came up ~3yrs later.
I believe it was 700 or 750, but I did not attend the closing he did it all.
I've sold two homes in the Buffalo NY area and typical attorney cost is under $500 all in for a home sale. Justin, I'm not sure what you paid this guy and it's odd it came up ~3yrs later.
I believe it was 700 or 750, but I did not attend the closing he did it all.
Originally Posted By: alarmguy
I think the question is before the facts.
Bottom line is, is it on your closing statement?
Let us know. If it is not on the closing statement, maybe a corrected one needs to be produced by him before you can pay it?
If it is on the statement you paid it.
If not is there anything wrong with paying him the $250 if you know it was a charge you should have paid ?
But it would be legit to ask for some sort of corrected HUD statement.
Whether or not he can make you pay, etc, etc, why not do the right thing once you have the facts?
Whether or not you liked his performance is irrelevant, the bottom line is, is the charge legitimate or not?
If it is, pay it.
I'm not sure why everyone thinks the HUD is that important. Things are paid outside of closing all the time, it either says POC or it's just left out. If you owe the money pay it. If you don't then you're a deadbeat. End of story. You already have an invoice from the attorney.
Whatever happened to character and integrity? Humans make mistakes and he's just trying to correct one.
I think the question is before the facts.
Bottom line is, is it on your closing statement?
Let us know. If it is not on the closing statement, maybe a corrected one needs to be produced by him before you can pay it?
If it is on the statement you paid it.
If not is there anything wrong with paying him the $250 if you know it was a charge you should have paid ?
But it would be legit to ask for some sort of corrected HUD statement.
Whether or not he can make you pay, etc, etc, why not do the right thing once you have the facts?
Whether or not you liked his performance is irrelevant, the bottom line is, is the charge legitimate or not?
If it is, pay it.
I'm not sure why everyone thinks the HUD is that important. Things are paid outside of closing all the time, it either says POC or it's just left out. If you owe the money pay it. If you don't then you're a deadbeat. End of story. You already have an invoice from the attorney.
Whatever happened to character and integrity? Humans make mistakes and he's just trying to correct one.
If might be worthwhile to do a google search and see if this lawyer has a history of this type of scam if other customers of him have complained online about it.
BC.
BC.
HUD is irrelevant.
Check RipOffReport.com to see if this lawyer has any complaints.
Check RipOffReport.com to see if this lawyer has any complaints.
If it took him 3 years to bill you, should you wait 3 years then think of paying him?
I used to work for a bank in Ohio but we did real estate loans in New York. Never heard of a lawyer asking for more fees after closing. Tell him to take a hike but only if you keep getting notices. The closing costs in New York are some of the highest in the country. This sure does sound shady.
http://www.nycourts.gov/admin/feedispute/index.shtml
http://www.nycourts.gov/admin/feedispute/index.shtml
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Just because a bill exists doesn't mean you have to pay it. If he gets 1/10 bills paid he's only out $5 in postage.
I'd call him up (don't start a paper trail) and say you're concerned about this bill and could he further explain why he took so long to get it to you and why he was derelict in his duty and professionalism in getting it to you on time. You won't get him, you'll get a secretary and call-back.
I'd call him up (don't start a paper trail) and say you're concerned about this bill and could he further explain why he took so long to get it to you and why he was derelict in his duty and professionalism in getting it to you on time. You won't get him, you'll get a secretary and call-back.
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