This attorney was recommended by my realtor to handle the sale of my home in Montclair. When I phoned, the attorney quoted $1100, and I engaged him at that price.
After the closing, I noticed that he had charged $1200 as his fee, not the agreed-on $1100. I asked the realtor whether to mention this discrepancy to the attorney or to just chalk it up to experience. She said I should definitely contact the attorney and that she was sure he would correct the error.
I phoned the attorney and left a message pointing out the discrepancy. In my message, which was friendly and not confrontational, I did acknowledged the possibility that I might have misremembered the fee he had quoted, although I was pretty certain that my recollection of his $1100 quote was correct. Finally, I asked him to contact me either by phone or email.
The end result: the attorney did not have the courtesy even to respond to my phone call or to either of my follow-up emails. As this was not a large amount of money, it would not be worth further attempts to resolve the discrepancy. And one might say that this is to be expected from an attorney. But to my mind, it is plain dishonesty.
If you use this attorney for your closing, be sure to get his fee quote in writing.
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