[Anonymous]

I did sign a document to appoint a lawyer to buy a property for € 320,000.00 for a fee of .85%.
The property was affected with the new Master Plan, we did ask the vendor for € 10,000.00 retention, he reject and I did not purchase it.
Now the lawyer is asking a 50% (€ 1.555.00) of his original fee.
I did ask the lawyer to reconsider his professional fee, but of course I had a negative reply.
Can anybody let me know if the above amount is fair? Is there anything I can do?

[Anonymous]

Did the lawyer do any work for you, if so how much / how many hours?

If the lawyer spent hours working on your case, and helped you avoid a sticky situation, then some sort of fee would be fair. How much would be fair? Probably something based on an hourly rate. But if your lawyer did nothing more than cut and paste details into boiler plate documents, and talk about fees (like many have done – see Claire’s experience with her first lawyer>), then a minimal fee might be appropriate (if anything), say a couple of hundred Euros.

Mark

[Anonymous]

Thanks Mark.
The lawyer done the usual search + corresponding with the vendor lawyer and real estate regarding the retention because the property is affected in the new Master plan.
I do not know exactly how many hours a lawyer need to sort this out…but €1.500.00 seem too high.

[Fuengi (Andrew)]

@gtivano21 wrote:

I did sign a document to appoint a lawyer to buy a property for € 320,000.00 for a fee of .85%.
The property was affected with the new Master Plan, we did ask the vendor for € 10,000.00 retention, he reject and I did not purchase it.
Now the lawyer is asking a 50% (€ 1.555.00) of his original fee.
I did ask the lawyer to reconsider his professional fee, but of course I had a negative reply.
Can anybody let me know if the above amount is fair? Is there anything I can do?

What documents did you sign? How/when did it state the lawyer would be paid for the services?

Also how far in were you in regards to completion?
Was the problem with the the Master Plan, known from the start?

If the lawyer wants to charge you, why not ask for an itemised bill?

[Fuengi (Andrew)]

@gtivano21 wrote:

Thanks Mark.
The lawyer done the usual search + corresponding with the vendor lawyer and real estate regarding the retention because the property is affected in the new Master plan.
I do not know exactly how many hours a lawyer need to sort this out…but €1.500.00 seem too high.

Hi again. the usual search involved ordering a nota simple (5€+/-), one phone call to the other lawyer plus an email asking for the copia simple/escritura and proof that there are no outstanding debts on the property. You are talking about very little work

[Anonymous]

@Fuengi wrote:

If the lawyer wants to charge you, why not ask for an itemised bill?

Fuengi, IME, you would have more chance of getting blood out of a stone than an itemised bill from most Spanish Lawyers. 😉 Even if you did get one, it would be this scenario….”pick some figures…any figures will do, just as long as they add up to (in this case) €1500!

[Chris M]

@gtivano21 wrote:

I did sign a document to appoint a lawyer to buy a property for € 320,000.00 for a fee of .85%.
The property was affected with the new Master Plan, we did ask the vendor for € 10,000.00 retention, he reject and I did not purchase it.
Now the lawyer is asking a 50% (€ 1.555.00) of his original fee.
I did ask the lawyer to reconsider his professional fee, but of course I had a negative reply.
Can anybody let me know if the above amount is fair? Is there anything I can do?

My position on this, if I had been the agent referring you to the lawyer would be that you pay no fee.

The lawyer’s here, really should be paid on assisting you in the safe and full completion of a property sale.

If Estate Agents fees are considered high, then the lawyers are incredibly high really, for the work that they do and is involved in 90% of transactions, for example, almost never, would we ever have a Spanish national use a lawyer to complete a property sale.

This lawyer should see you as a client not just on this sale, which did not complete but on the one that will complete when you proceed for the next property you move toward buying.

I would not expect a client of mine – unless considerable work and effort had been involved – to pay a lawyers fee for a sale that had not proceeded.

After all, you still want to buy one presumes, and one presumes the work involved in this negotiation was negligble by the sounds of it.

His attitude should be, no problem gtivano21 lets go find you the right property and ensure you are secure and happy with that purchase, and my fee will apply to that sale.

[Anonymous]

When, have you all ever found any one in the Spanish commercial sector of thinking about tomorrow or a building a long term relationship that could not only deal with you but your next generation. One needs commercial acumen/foresight for this kind of relationship.

[Fuengi (Andrew)]

@Claire wrote:

@Fuengi wrote:

If the lawyer wants to charge you, why not ask for an itemised bill?

Fuengi, IME, you would have more chance of getting blood out of a stone than an itemised bill from most Spanish Lawyers. 😉 Even if you did get one, it would be this scenario….”pick some figures…any figures will do, just as long as they add up to (in this case) €1500!

It can happen. But you have the right to ask for an invoice, and you have the right for it to be itemised. If the lawyer does not supply an invoice, then he or she can’t be paid.

[Fuengi (Andrew)]

@shakeel wrote:

When, have you all ever found any one in the Spanish commercial sector of thinking about tomorrow or a building a long term relationship that could not only deal with you but your next generation. One needs commercial acumen/foresight for this kind of relationship.

many, many times over in all commercial sectors that I deal with.

[Author]

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