Q: Gregory Abbott Atty you answered my 1st question now... In OR, Douglas Co. Since I wasnt aware def got atty till hearing

A: I can't give you detailed advice based upon a few paragraphs posted on an online forum. In general though, if you went to trial and lost for any reason, and the other side had an attorney, they have a right to ask the Judge to award them reasonable court costs and attorney's fees. You have a right to file written objections to the requested amount but they should be focused and specific objections, NOT just "he's charging too much". You can object to the requested hourly rate or the number of hours itemized as being unnecessary or excessive. And yes, you have to start over but at least you know what the Judge thinks you did wrong so you can fix it. A copy of the Notice you were relying upon (72 hr., 30 Day For Cause, etc.) has to have been attached to the COMPLAINT, not the Summons, when you filed the case. Whether or not you can still rely upon a previously served Notice depends upon several things but if it was a 72 Hr. Notice, you may wish to consider just serving a new one that you are sure is fully legally compliant and lawfully served. You also have found out why it usually makes more sense for a landlord to simply use a local landlord-tenant attorney. Had you done so the first time around, you likely would not be facing a potential $3500 Judgment while still having to start over again and potentially facing another sizable attorney fee bill if you lose the second time. ANY error by a landlord, be it in law or in procedure, can easily end up in your case being tossed out and your owing the tenant's court costs and attorneys fees. The irony is that the more apparent it is up front that you have done everything correctly, the less likely the tenant is to actually get an attorney since most attorneys only represent tenants when they are very confident of prevailing (so they get paid by the landlord) or if they have a very rare tenant who can and does afford paying them up front.