How much do lawyers charge for an eviction case?

I have recently managed to get the tenants of a property I own in Malaga successfully evicted following persistant non-payment of rent totalling 20 months. For this I employed the services of a lawyer who did all that was necessary to get the eviction through the courts successfully. This I am extremely happy with, although I have some concerns with the associated charges and their validity. I admit that at the outset no fixed charge was agreed but correspondance was entered into about fees via email where i was quoted a charge of 500 - 800 euros plus 10% of the amount of overdue rental recovered. This seemed quite reasonable and we continued. Throughout the following 18 months I handed over a total of 900 euros to cover various expenses and incidental fees. This is fine. However, once the eviction had taken place and I recieved the final bill I was somewhat dismayed to see it totalled 6400 euros. This is somewhat higher than anything I was expecting and a long way off the initial quote. No money has been recovered from the tenant but 10% of the outstanding amount would still only amount to 1500 euros which is a lot less than this bill reflects. Upon querying this figure and the reasons for it being so different from the initial email I have been stongly advised to pay it quickly or I will be taken to court myself. Any information and advice you could provide to help me with this difficult situation will be greatly appreciated.

http://belegal.com/articles/showArti...anish-propertyDear Sir,

There's freedom to negotiate the legal fees with the lawyer you appoint subject to a minimum set our by the local Bar Association to avoid "dumping" of legal fees.

Normally lawyers, to remain competitive, charge less than the standard fees (Baremo Orientador) set out by the Law Society. Although it may be too late in your case, I advise you to sign a Letter of Engagement with your lawyer always in which there will be a clear breakdown of the legal fees charged for their services prior to retaining them. If you disagree, you just don't sign it. This will avoid unpleasent future misunderstandings.

Our law firm charges €1,300 plus VAT (currently at 18%) plus a further €700 in court agent's fees. All in all, approximately €2,200 for a standard eviction procedure. This is more or less in line with what our colleagues charge.

You have more details in our corporate website:

Tenant Eviction for a Spanish Property

How to Evict a Tenant who is not Paying the Rent - 17th December 2007

Yours faithfully,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt