A lawyer bills us ~$3000 just to prepare a pay-or-quit notice. Is it normal?

Question

We live oversea, so we hire an agent for our rental in CA. Recently we ran into a tenant who did not pay rent in full. So, the agent suggested hiring a lawyer. After an initial consultation, she told us the legal fee would be limited to $700 (~2 hours) if there is no eviction. Since we are oversea and the fee sounded reasonable, we gave her the green light to find a lawyer and handle the communications. What shocks us now is the legal bill she has just sent to us --- $3000!!! The lawyer claims he spent almost 9 hours to review emails, answer phone calls and to prepare a pay-or-quit notice. Does this sound right to all of you? The worst is the agent has dropped the ball. What can we do?

Answer 1

A pay or quit notice is available at local business office stores in California for about $5.00

     Refuse to pay the bill and INFORM THE ATTORNEY OF YOUR AWARENESS OF THE AVAILABILITY OF LEGAL FORMS, YOUR RIGHT TO CHALLENGE YOUR LEGAL BILL AND YOUR WILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT CALIFORNIA STATE BAR RESOLUTION.

        File your Complaint with the State Bar regarding overcharging and wait to see what happens. The review of e-mails was administrative in nature not requiring any legal knowledge. An office  secretary could answer any telephone calls and relay your concerns and communicate the attorney's response. DO NOT BE PUSHED AROUND. CALIFORNIA IS A VERY FRIENDLY CONSUMER ORIENTED STATE AND THE STATE BAR IS UNIVERSALLY DESPISED IN ATTY-CLIENT MATTERS. The Bar serves the people more than it protects attorneys.

      If your depiction of events is accurate,

do not worry and start protecting yourself with your outrage NOW!

Answer 2

Why didn't you agent do this?   You did not need an attorney.

FULL eviction service, from start to finish runs 600 here.

It costs $195 in filing fees to evict.    

There should be no calls, no emails to prepare a pay or quit notice.   It takes seconds to do.   It does have to be posted on the door or hand delivered, but that does not take 9 hours unless you hired an attorney in SF for a case in LA.

BUt, as I said at the first line, your agents JOB is to handle this for you.   You are already paying for this.    I can see them asking for the filing fee, but as your agent they should be doing everything, including appearing in court.