Why do I have to pay attorney fees if I made a payment arrangement instead of going to court? 8 Answers as of December 07, 2011

Payment of court charges and attorney fees are fact-sensitive. You should seek out the advice of an experienced attorney who can review the matter in detail and to assess whether you are required to pay the court charges and/or attorneys fees or not.

If a lawsuit was filed then the attorney can include those fees into a suit even if a payment arrangement was made.

Yes, they are the creditors legal fees

Yes, they still had to hire an attorney to work on the case. More than likely the fees will be less than they were if you had to go to Court.

Yes, because the bank was required to retain an attorney to recover their money and the costs are added to what you owe. Payment arrangements will generally help avoid further interest and charges.

A settlement agreement is a contract separate and apart from the original agreement. Usually the original loan documents have a provision for the payment of attorneys' fees upon default and these fees are commonly put in a settlement agreement. But in the end, the justification for the costs are unimportant; if you agree to pay a set amount for the release, that is what you have to pay regardless of whether it calculated from attorneys' fees or lunch for the collection agency that day. You could always counter-offer at a lesser amount or refuse to settle.

Like anything, those fees were negotiable when you made the payment arrangements. If an attorney was NOT involved in the collection, then those charges may be bogus.

If you made a payment arrangement, it likely must have included things like attorney's fees and court costs. Court costs are incurred when the creditor files a Complaint, and are difficult to avoid. Attorneys fees are incurred not only upon filing a court case, but beforehand in preparation, as well. You can attempt to negotiate them down, but if you've already made an agreement it may already be too late.