Preston O'Briant Nelson

Preston Nelson

On 12.11.2017 about 10:36 am this gentleman reached out to me via email with questions about a property he claimed he was purchasing. He was informed that I would need to perform a Title Search to either give him a simple consult or to represent him on his purchase. So that I could know what property to review he was asked to send a copy of his contract. At 11:15 am he sent me a copy of the contract expressing specific concerns about access to the property and asked if I could meet with him on 12.14.2017 (Time being of the essence in real estate). At 2:02 pm I responded that a cursory review had been started, giving him my initial thoughts, and that my Title Search would be finished the next day. He was also provided with a fee estimate for closing services and consults. No response was given or expected from him at that time. On 12.12.2017 at 2:19pm he was sent a Formal Engagement Letter for Closing Services, which included the Title Search in question, along with my opinion regarding access to the property. This Engagement Letter set out again my fees and that unless I received an immediate objection that I would bill for the Title Search even if he did not close on the property. This was to give him the opportunity to back out without cost, and in this case would have caused me to give him to free legal work as I had rushed to answer his concerns in an effort to save him surveying and other inspection costs. And he was given a written opinion about access to the property over an easement on another property. No response was given and none was expected at that time. (It was also my understanding that an actual consult on 12.14.2017 was not needed based on my findings.) I later learned from the property's listing agent that this gentleman had backed out of the deal on 12.11.2017. He had never communicated this fact to me. Therefore, during some down time on the morning of 12.26.2017 I sent him an invoice for services rendered. As it was still a vacation period and I was not actively in the office or responding to emails an out of office auto responder was active. He replied about 2:31 pm on 12.26.2017 saying: "We never met with you and only asked what your prices were. We never agreed to your fees as they were higher than other companies which offered to do free title searches. Additionally, you never sent us any title reports, etc. There is no basis to charge us for services/prices we never agreed to nor received." To which he was sent my out of office auto response message, informing him that I would be out of the office until the 29th and only occasionally checking messages. I responded to this email the next day 12.27.2017about 12:13 pm, explaining why I thought I was entitled to charge him and offering to participate in the NC Bar Fee Dispute Resolution program, if he so desired. By this time, though, he had already submitted a complaint on Avvo.com and with the BBB. This gentleman knowingly and actively engaged my services, potentially using them to make a purchase decision, and never objected to either my initial fee estimate or my Formal Engagement Letter. Based on some additional emails he does not appear to object to the fact that he knew how much I would charge or that I had provided him some form of legal service. His objection currently appears to be that he never met me in person and so should not be charged for an online consultation to which he did not give informed consent, ignoring the fact that he was charged for a Title Search he had ordered, and received, and not charged for a Consult.