Should I pay lawyer for services rendered on a dead deal?

Absolutely - look:

YOU decided to consider the first place.
YOU hired the attorney to act on your behalf.
YOU decided to cancel the deal at a later date.

The attorney still expended time and energy reviewing the offering plan and amendments, and doing whatever was necessary up and until the point when you informed him/her that you decided not to proceed any further. He/she should bill you only for the time he/she spent, and you should pay accordingly. Whether you do or don't use him/her in the future, or whether you buy/don't buy a place in the future has nothing to do with anything else.

I'm surprised that you would think anything else was moral, ethical, or correct.

Thanks pseudonym! That's what I figured. It was my broker who had advised me not to pay on a dead deal.

Now get back on your high horse and ride off into oblivion :)

Of course you pay him; you said it yourself, "services rendered". How would your real estate
broker, or yourself for that matter, like not being paid for work you'd done.

Hi - I apologize for the high minded tone. Please forgive me!

But WOW - that's just TERRIBLE that your broker would even suggest such a thing! Although I'm sure you're happy enough with your broker, I have to say that his/her suggestion is just incredibly unprofessional, from my POV.

Actually, I'm totally gobsmacked at the broker's behaviour....

Greetings again pseudonym,

Apology accepted! Please accept mine for the "high horse" comment. I was a bit miffed with your tone, but I thoroughly agree with what you stated beforehand. Again, my apology.

To clarify, I am not happy with my broker. It's as if she hasn't done a stitch of work (I am the one doing all of the research into the neighborhoods and finding places to purchases). I have come to the conclusion that using a broker is a waste of time.

Salutations

p.s. drdrd, I don't know what it's like not getting paid. I'm a trust fund baby.

the lawyer can sue you for payment of services on a quantum meruit basis. Assuming it was minor work or he/she never did anything maybe he/she'll let it go. Did they send you a bill? If so, I'd suggest negotiating the price down but if you don't pay you risk a suit. Not sure how much we're talking about here.

Hi totallyanonymous-

Thanks for your input. However, I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding. I have every intention of paying the lawyer. I would hate to get sued by a lawyer.

It was minor work... just looking over the contract and negotiating a minor issue.

Real estate brokers and lawyers... ugh!

if he's repping you for the manhattan deal, loop up the brooklyn review into the manhattan review or else just tell him to either waive the bk work or you won't use him for the manhattan deal. of course he'll find a way to increase his fee on the manhattan deal to compensate himself. but you have to use a lawyer to buy real estate. thats life in the big city, trust funder or no.

Do I think the lawyer deserves to get paid absolutely but I think he shouldn't bill you if the deal doesn't go through.. If he bills I'd pay of course but would change lawyers. I am more interested in long term partnerships with whoever I do business with. Your time is just as valuable as his and a true partnership should not be just one sided.

I think we all agree that the attorney is entitled to get paid for their work. Usually in a case like this the fee is minimal especially if you are using the same attorney for the 2nd deal. How much is he charging? The broker should not have told you not to pay and I would question his integrity for this as he/she should know better and be more respectful of the work people do (most of which is not seen by the customer) in a real estate transaction.

Thanks spunky and plevy for your input. FYI, my lawyer is billing me $500 (all for reading the offering plan/contract). Am I being ripped off or does that sound fair?

I'm with spunky. I had a deal that was pretty far along (title search done, contracts went out to my attny, my attny was fighting on my behalf to keep things in contract which mysteriously dissapeared.)Anyway, she spent alot of time on my case and we ended up bailing on it (at her suggestion). When I asked her for a bill she declined as we had done business before and she hoped that when I found another place I would call her again.A real professional!

I would have the lawyer do the closing for the new apt and pay him extra. So if it was $500, I would pay $700 total. You don't want to cheat the lawyer but also most of the lawyer's duties happen at closing, which never happened during the first apt. So split the difference and make it a win win for everyone.

> It was my broker who had advised me not to pay on a dead deal.

Since when have brokers been the word on honesty?