What is the name of your state?NY 
When I signed the contract to sell the house, (which was being sold because of divorce - so he knew there was another owner), he also gave me a document which listed the seller's (that's me) costs. His fee was noted as $950 - $1200 (if no problems), which was further explained as $175 per hour for approx. 5-7 hours. He told me that it would probably be $950 because he was giving me a $300 courtesy discount due to the fact that I was a referral from the brokerage firm that he has a business relationship with, and the real estate broker who handled the sale is my brother.
Please bear with me - I'll try to keep this short - but there's alot of different factors which I won't go into too much detail about in this forum - this is just about his fee.
At the time of closing, there was an outstanding water bill of around $1300 (which I don't agree with - the meter needs to be replaced) on the house, which he told me I could take care of at closing.
So at closing, there was $2000 of my proceeds put into escrow for the bill, plus another $55 credited to the buyer for the fee he would have to pay in order to get a special meter reading. The buyer and I and the lawyers signed an agreement that the buyer would order the reading within 5 days, and forward the results to my lawyer, who would then pay the bill from the escrow account. I would then apply for reimbursement of the money I overpaid. The buyer never did this - but more on that later.
The lawyer fee turned out to be $1300 - and that's including the $300 discount - so it was $1600! It also had a note that said there would be a $150 per hour fee if there was any post closing issues. He knew going into the closing that there would be post closing work - because of the escrow account. There was no specific breakdown of his time - it just said it was more than 10 hrs., and included a general paragraph that said among other things the time was spent in correspondece with all parties concerning the sked of the closing. I wonder who he spoke to? It wasn't me. The buyer was MIA most of the time, which I found out from my brother who made most of the phone calls. The bill also include a $100 UPS fee for 5 documents. What 5 documents - and they cost $20 each? My brother personally brought the contract to my ex to sign to make sure nothing went wrong, so that's not it.
During the sale process - I very rarely spoke to my lawyer and when I did he never knew anything. The papers I signed with the contract said it was sked to close around 30 days from date loan, and then in parentheses it said (30-60) which was giving the buyer 2 months.
At the end of the 2nd month, my lawyer assured me that we would close "soon". So that's when I found an apartment - and then had to carry rent on an empty apartment plus mortgage for 2 months because it took 4 months to close.
Even all that aside - because I paid the $1300 and didn't make a fuss because of the biz tie with my bro - (who had always referred clients to this firm - but was never really involved much after that until I was the client. He was not happy with the service I got and won't refer again)
Here we are 4 months afer closing - and according to the documents provided by my lawyer - if the terms regarding the escrow acct. are not complied with - the funds will be released afer 60 days. That's 2 months - and it's 4 again. The bill is not paid - and it keeps going up. I've been able to get the account put in the buyer's name - and both my brother and I have attempted to contact him - but he never calls back.
Anyway - sorry this is so long - but my bottom line is - do I have to pay my lawyer $150 per hour for the post closing stuff? That was not indicated on the papers I signed - just on the breakdown of his bill.
He still has my $ by the way, and there's been several phone calls re this - buyer is not even replying to his lawyer sometimes.
Thanks if you took the time to read this - any thoughts would be appreciated!
When I signed the contract to sell the house, (which was being sold because of divorce - so he knew there was another owner), he also gave me a document which listed the seller's (that's me) costs. His fee was noted as $950 - $1200 (if no problems), which was further explained as $175 per hour for approx. 5-7 hours. He told me that it would probably be $950 because he was giving me a $300 courtesy discount due to the fact that I was a referral from the brokerage firm that he has a business relationship with, and the real estate broker who handled the sale is my brother.
Please bear with me - I'll try to keep this short - but there's alot of different factors which I won't go into too much detail about in this forum - this is just about his fee.
At the time of closing, there was an outstanding water bill of around $1300 (which I don't agree with - the meter needs to be replaced) on the house, which he told me I could take care of at closing.
So at closing, there was $2000 of my proceeds put into escrow for the bill, plus another $55 credited to the buyer for the fee he would have to pay in order to get a special meter reading. The buyer and I and the lawyers signed an agreement that the buyer would order the reading within 5 days, and forward the results to my lawyer, who would then pay the bill from the escrow account. I would then apply for reimbursement of the money I overpaid. The buyer never did this - but more on that later.
The lawyer fee turned out to be $1300 - and that's including the $300 discount - so it was $1600! It also had a note that said there would be a $150 per hour fee if there was any post closing issues. He knew going into the closing that there would be post closing work - because of the escrow account. There was no specific breakdown of his time - it just said it was more than 10 hrs., and included a general paragraph that said among other things the time was spent in correspondece with all parties concerning the sked of the closing. I wonder who he spoke to? It wasn't me. The buyer was MIA most of the time, which I found out from my brother who made most of the phone calls. The bill also include a $100 UPS fee for 5 documents. What 5 documents - and they cost $20 each? My brother personally brought the contract to my ex to sign to make sure nothing went wrong, so that's not it.
During the sale process - I very rarely spoke to my lawyer and when I did he never knew anything. The papers I signed with the contract said it was sked to close around 30 days from date loan, and then in parentheses it said (30-60) which was giving the buyer 2 months.
At the end of the 2nd month, my lawyer assured me that we would close "soon". So that's when I found an apartment - and then had to carry rent on an empty apartment plus mortgage for 2 months because it took 4 months to close.
Even all that aside - because I paid the $1300 and didn't make a fuss because of the biz tie with my bro - (who had always referred clients to this firm - but was never really involved much after that until I was the client. He was not happy with the service I got and won't refer again)
Here we are 4 months afer closing - and according to the documents provided by my lawyer - if the terms regarding the escrow acct. are not complied with - the funds will be released afer 60 days. That's 2 months - and it's 4 again. The bill is not paid - and it keeps going up. I've been able to get the account put in the buyer's name - and both my brother and I have attempted to contact him - but he never calls back.
Anyway - sorry this is so long - but my bottom line is - do I have to pay my lawyer $150 per hour for the post closing stuff? That was not indicated on the papers I signed - just on the breakdown of his bill.
He still has my $ by the way, and there's been several phone calls re this - buyer is not even replying to his lawyer sometimes.
Thanks if you took the time to read this - any thoughts would be appreciated!