Can a collection attorney double your debt?

[gracekelly1974]

Can a collection attorney double your debt?

[Mr. Vincent Van Jessup]

They can in this way: they can attach fees of their own to the work involved in collecting, thus effectively doubling what paying the debt will cost you.So sort of "yes".

[truttman]

Anytime an attorney is involved, you know something's getting doubled, or tripled! That $300.00 an hour is coming from somewhere.

[westsaeed]

When you took out the credit, was there something in your agreement that stated you would have to pay attorney's fees? I had a friend that worked at a collection agency, and they only took a percentage of the original debt.

[Seryan]

Depending on the contract you signed, yes it is possible.If, in the contract, there is a clause that makes you responsible for collection fees or collection costs, then what ever the attorney bills is what will be added to your debt. Some attorneys can bill you more than a hundred dollars an hour and add whatever expenses they choose to that bill too.Also, they utilize incremental billing. That means that if they work on collecting the debt for just an increment of an hour, they can charge for the whole hour. That is how attorneys get to be so stinking rich.