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askingaquestion · Mar 1, 2009, 07:58 PM

Hello,
What are the statute of limitations for asking someone for a payment that was otherwise "missed"? For example; I purchased a house back in May/June 2008 and I cleared all my payments to my lawyer straight away. I just received a letter in the mail stating that he was looking over his accounts and realized that he did not charge me for the assignment of rents which would be another $70. I am angry that after 8 months I am still receiving a bill that I regarded as paid entirely. I assume businesses can not approach clients years later for a mistake they made on their initial bill, it just doesn't seem fair. Please help, I could not find a concise piece of information pertaining to statute of limitations. Thank you kindly, Sara

Fr_Chuck · Mar 1, 2009, 08:38 PM

If you owe the money they may bill and try to collect forever,

They may not sue in court after the SOL, it varies by location, but a est time is about 3 years

If you received a paid in full statement, you may fight it, but since this is an attorney they will cost you more than 70 to fight

ballengerb1 · Mar 1, 2009, 08:52 PM

Did he tell you in advance what fees he would chrage you at closing?

this8384 · Mar 2, 2009, 09:23 AM

As it's only $70, I'd bite the bullet and pay it rather than try to argue. If they turn it over to a collection agency and start charging you interest, what good will that do you?

askingaquestion · Mar 2, 2009, 08:56 PM

Did he tell you in advance what fees he would chrage you at closing?

The secretary quizzed through them and "assignment of rents" was not on the list. :cool:

askingaquestion · Mar 2, 2009, 09:01 PM

As it's only $70, I'd bite the bullet and pay it rather than try to argue. If they turn it over to a collection agency and start charging you interest, what good will that do you?

It's not about the $70, since if I required to pay it back in May 2008, I would have paid it gladly. It's the principle. The bill was paid. I want to know if there's a time limitation, since I probably will end up paying it, I will be including a letter and a reference to the statute.

JudyKayTee · Mar 3, 2009, 06:34 AM

Originally Posted by askingaquestion

As it's only $70, I'd bite the bullet and pay it rather than try to argue. If they turn it over to a collection agency and start charging you interest, what good will that do you?

It's not about the $70, since if I required to pay it back in May 2008, I would have paid it gladly. It's the principle. The bill was paid. I want to know if there's a time limitation, since I probably will end up paying it, I will be including a letter and a reference to the statute.

I find no statute concerning unpaid bills. If the service was performed, you owe. I'm (honestly) surprised that the Attorney is pursuing this but perhaps you got a bargain basement rate and everything counts.

I also don't know what form of retainer you signed - flat fee, hourly.

excon · Mar 3, 2009, 07:07 AM

Hello asking:

If you looked over your last paycheck and saw a mistake in THEIR favor, wouldn't you get it fixed??

What if it was TWO paychecks ago, would you pursue it then? What about TEN paychecks ago?

What difference does it make HOW long ago the mistake was made? If you're owed more PAY, then you are, and I'll bet you want it.

It IS the principal of the thing, isn't it??

excon

askingaquestion · Mar 3, 2009, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by excon

Hello asking:

If you looked over your last paycheck and saw a mistake in THEIR favor, wouldn't you get it fixed???

What if it was TWO paychecks ago, would you pursue it then?? What about TEN paychecks ago?

What difference does it make HOW long ago the mistake was made? If you're owed more PAY, then you are, and I'll bet you want it.

It IS the principal of the thing, isn't it????

excon

I guess I was mistaken. I thought this site was to find answers to legitimate questions not a juvenile site to make opinions about my question. To the response "what difference does it make?": I would never go back seven months to claim a mistake was made on my paycheck and expect my employers to pay. It is my responsibility to review my paycheck in a reasonable amount of time. Nor would my employer pay me, for that matter. Also, about "the fuss over $70": even if it was $7, I'd still research it. That is what "principals" mean and I have the right to remain informed. As I mentioned earlier, I would have paid it when I was required to pay it 7 months ago. Thanks to JudyKayTee for a mature answer to my question :)

this8384 · Mar 3, 2009, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by askingaquestion

askingaquestion disagrees: Did not give me an answer, but rather an opinion to my question.

First of all, let me point you in the direction of the site rules:
https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/forum-...nes-24951.html
If you're going to use this board, I would strongly suggest learning the correct procedure for the rating system.

Secondly, YOU are the one who brought up it being the principle of the matter. Don't start ragging on other people just because you're too cheap to cough up $70 for services provided to you.

excon · Mar 3, 2009, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by askingaquestion

I guess I was mistaken. I thought this site was to find answers to legitimate questions not a juvenile site to make opinions about my question.

Hello again, asking:

If you wouldn't have brought up principles, I wouldn't have either.

I understand that according to your principles, debts expire after a certain period. Besides that, according to your principles, if the guy who is owed the money doesn't catch the mistake, too bad for him.

I don't share those principles.

excon

ScottGem · Mar 3, 2009, 09:27 AM

Comments on this post
askingaquestion disagrees: Did not give me an answer, but rather an opinion to my question.

First, may I call your attention to the guidelines for using the comments feature found here:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/feedba...ure-24951.html

By your own definition, the responses you are giving negative comments to are opinions. Therefore, giving a negative comment is inappropraite.

You seem to not understand how sites like this work. You cannot dictate the type of response you get. As long as the response does not violate the rules of this site, anyone can respond how they see fit.

The opinion that you are making a fuss over a small amount is valid. You may disagree with it as is your right, but you need to be civil in doing so.

Finally, to answer your legal question, there are no laws that address this specifically. The term Statue of Limitations refers to one's ability to use the legal system to redress a wrong. You had a contract with your attorney to pay certain fees. If your attorney can prove that a) this fee was part of your contractual obligation and b) that it wasn't paid then he's entitlted to payment. The REAL principle here is that you agreed to may. The fact that you didn't pay due to their mistake is immaterial. The SOL would then deal with his ability to collect debts under the contract. Such laws are on the state level and range between 2 and 6 years depending on the type of contract.

Have you contacted the attorney? I'm sure that his sending you a bill was a matter of course. But if you present to him that you feel it was his mistake and he should eat it, he may not pursue it any further. But if he does, then you may find yourself paying more than the $70 in interest and legal fees.

this8384 · Mar 3, 2009, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by ScottGem

..then you may find yourself paying more than the $70 in interest and legal fees.

Oh no, Scott. I said the same and it was an "opinion."

LisaB4657 · Mar 3, 2009, 10:05 AM

Based on the type of document that was referenced, and the particular amount, I am 99% sure that the $70 was not a legal fee. It was a recording fee. It was the cost of recording the assignment in the county clerk's office.

If your closing was completed then your attorney personally paid this fee and they are asking you for reimbursement.

Did you happen to note how many documents you signed at the closing? If you had an assignment of rents in your closing package then you most likely closed on a financing of commercial property. In this type of financing there are many, many documents, some of which require recording and some of which require recording at the county AND state levels. It is very easy for the recording fee for one document to be missed at the time the closing figures are prepared.

Back to your original question. If you signed a retainer or other type of agreement with the attorney then most likely there is a 2 year statute of limitations, depending on whether the agreement included language that you would reimburse for all fees (which it most likely did). If you didn't sign any agreement with the attorney then you should be able to get away with not reimbursing the attorney for their out-of-pocket costs in your behalf.

And yes, I'm a legal expert. And everyone who has given you answers here are legal experts as well.

JudyKayTee · Mar 3, 2009, 10:09 AM

{quote from removed post deleted-<>}

This is another case of "if you're so smart, why can't you find the answer to your own problem?"

I do realize you don't want advice or opinions. You want a factual, legal, binding opinion for which you have no intention of paying - very similar to how you got here in the first place.

ScottGem · Mar 3, 2009, 11:32 AM

First, I've cleaned up a lot of this thread. While the OP was out of line, we need to keep thread on point.

To AskingaQuestion:

I don't know if you did not read my response before your last post but I suggest you read it again. You do NOT dictate how we choose to respond. If you don't like someone's opinion then ignore it or disagree with it according to the rules of this site. End of story.

Myself and Lisa have given you the legal answer to your question. You have a contract and a contract generally can be legally enforced for for at least two years. If a mistake was found in billing under the contract, then the other party has two years to pursue legal action to collect. There are no laws that say a part under a contract cannot correct a mistake at any time.

If you persist in attacking people here just because you did not like their answer, further action will be taken.