him when it is a billing inquiry? We have an attorney for our HOA who is a jerk and won't talk to the HOA members, only the President. And the President won't talk to the members because she is a you-know-what and is trying to foreclose on some nice people who already paid the President's outrageous special assessment for an upgrade we did not need. But in the process, she got nasty and hired an attorney to threaten foreclosure if these people didn't pay. They paid, but now she wants to stick them with HER legal bill which is not lawful because she didn't send advance notice before the payment default was cured. She's trying to collect after-the-fact which is not allowed by homeowner protection laws in our state.
Anyway, the lawyer didn't get paid his first fee ($250 to write a 4 sentence letter) because the HOA President is trying to mug the homeowner for it, even though legally she can't. As a bystanding homeowner, I will have to pay her legal bill but the attorney wants to keep on billing. He is charging fees to collect on his own fees which is unethical. But knowing how aggressive he is with charging fees, I am reluctant to even send him a letter of inquiry about his fees. He is now billing IN ADVANCE of actual services done and using his bills like a threat -- i.e. PAY MY BILL NOW OR YOU WILL BE BILLED MORE!
I want to question how he can bill for things he hasn't done yet. This has exploded into a big fight so I asked my own legal counsel and they said they never bill for time when they get a letter inquiring about fees.
Is that standard practice for lawyers? That is, they shouldn't bill for time just to read a letter about billing?
I'm taking this to our State Bar Fee Dispute Center for assistance. Any other helpful ideas?
Anyway, the lawyer didn't get paid his first fee ($250 to write a 4 sentence letter) because the HOA President is trying to mug the homeowner for it, even though legally she can't. As a bystanding homeowner, I will have to pay her legal bill but the attorney wants to keep on billing. He is charging fees to collect on his own fees which is unethical. But knowing how aggressive he is with charging fees, I am reluctant to even send him a letter of inquiry about his fees. He is now billing IN ADVANCE of actual services done and using his bills like a threat -- i.e. PAY MY BILL NOW OR YOU WILL BE BILLED MORE!
I want to question how he can bill for things he hasn't done yet. This has exploded into a big fight so I asked my own legal counsel and they said they never bill for time when they get a letter inquiring about fees.
Is that standard practice for lawyers? That is, they shouldn't bill for time just to read a letter about billing?
I'm taking this to our State Bar Fee Dispute Center for assistance. Any other helpful ideas?