Lawyer charges for cancelled contract

[investorak]

I had a house under contract, we ended up not going through with it because of the building report. The lawyer had to send a fax to say we didnt want to go through with it.

Had about 30-45 mins of phone calls about it all up

I felt like she ended up just wanting us to buy the property so they get more money

I got a bill for $810

Is this normal? Sounds like they are taking the piss

[Nick G]

Ask them what they did, often lawyers will start to investigate for you, mine does.

[investorak]

On invoice it says

Receipt of s@p
Notification of conditions
Correspondence with vendors lawyer
Review of report
Cancellation
All incidental attendances thereto

Also needed to get title

[Nick G]

I'd ask them for details instead of letting it fester. They may have spent 3-4 hrs on it and most professionals would charge $200 per hr.

That said I did drop an accountant once who charged me $200 for a meeting where I got a quote for their services and no advice.

[Anthonyacat]

I've found you need to be quite specific with a lawyer about when to action documents. You can request that they take no action on contracts until you request it, but this can of course reduce the help they can provide you with your due diligence.

If you don't give instruction, they'll operate on their default stage.

[Connor]

Seems fair to me. They also charged me when I asked them to look over an auction contract and do a bit of due diligence, but I knew that before hand.

[Connor]

I'd ask them for details instead of letting it fester. They may have spent 3-4 hrs on it and most professionals would charge $200 per hr.

That said I did drop an accountant once who charged me $200 for a meeting where I got a quote for their services and no advice.

Nick, when you dropped the accountant, do you renegotiate the charge?

I engaged an architect do a site plan for me, I specified what I wanted before hand, he said he can do it, signed the contract, he came for a site visit, after two weeks, gave me a plan he did for another client and tell me what I want won't work. Then still charges me $1000 for the hours worked. I'm a bit upset about that.

[rocket]

Investorak unless you have buildup a long term relationship with your lawyer any lawyer from the street will send you an invoice. They will be more than happy no not have you as a client if you crib over their first invoice .
My lawyer doesn't send me such silly invoices, on the other hand I don't engage him until very late stage ie when the agreement is unconditional.

[Keys]

my lawyer doesn't send me such silly invoices, on the other hand i don't engage him until very late stage ie when the agreement is unconditional.

? (maalmfc)

[investorak]

Investorak unless you have buildup a long term relationship with your lawyer any lawyer from the street will send you an invoice. They will be more than happy no not have you as a client if you crib over their first invoice .
My lawyer doesn't send me such silly invoices, on the other hand I don't engage him until very late stage ie when the agreement is unconditional.

I have brought 1 property and sold 2 through them, plus some other stuff worth 2g
Its not like i have just moved to them

[Learning]

I don't engage him until very late stage ie when the agreement is unconditional.

isnt that a bit late to engage a lawyer? If there are problems legally and/or other, it's too late to do anything to sort it by then.

[rocket]

You must always put clauses to fizzle out if it doesn't suit your needs

[Don't believe the Hype]

You must always put clauses to fizzle out if it doesn't suit your needs

then by definition it's not unconditional... Right?

[rocket]

I should rephrase
Only engage your lawyer once you are sure you will go unconditional

[DazRaz]

Again that seems too late. I usually engage a lawyer when the contract is signed. Some would say that is too late. Last time I asked them for recommended clauses to add to the standard contract before signing. With all the quake complications you don't want to leave yourself open to problems.