求助

我們在東岸有一個房子出租。每月定期電子付HOA fee. 人在香港。郵件托一個朋友管理。但是沒告訴我們從去年年底HOA 漲了。所以每個月under pay 10-15塊。HOA 給我們發了certified mails for the late payments，our friends signed and accepted these lettes but didn't pass the info to us. Now our case is handled by a lawyer + collection agent. He charged 800 for legal fee. 我們可以付我們欠的費用但是不願意付800律師費覺得是敲詐。和律師negotiate 但是他遲遲不回答我們。court date 在一月8號。大家有什麽好主意。謝謝。