Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • NC Bankruptcy Cases
    • Eastern District
    • Middle District
    • Western District
  • NC Courts
    • 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
    • NC Court of Appeals
    • NC Business Court
    • NC Supreme Court Cases
  • Federal Cases
  • Law Reviews & Studies
    • Book Reviews
  • NC Legislative History
  • Student Loan Debt
User account menu
  • Log in

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Blogs

4th Cir.: NCO v. Montgomery Park- Explicit Demand for Attorney Fees Required

Profile picture for user Ed Boltz
By Ed Boltz, 8 May, 2025

Summary:

In NCO Financial Systems, Inc. v. Montgomery Park, LLC,  the Fourth Circuit revisited — for the fifth time — a protracted commercial lease dispute over roughly 100,000 square feet of office space in Baltimore. After NCO vacated the property prematurely in 2011, Montgomery Park prevailed in its suit for breach of the lease, ultimately obtaining a judgment exceeding $9.8 million for unpaid rent. The district court subsequently awarded Montgomery Park an additional $3.76 million in attorneys’ fees, expert witness fees, and default interest under the lease’s fee-shifting provision.

On appeal, NCO raised three main issues:

  • That Montgomery Park never made a proper "demand" for costs and fees as required by the lease, and therefore was not entitled to interest;
  • That the fee award should have excluded costs incurred defending against NCO’s initial claims rather than pursuing its own remedies;
  • That expert witness fees were not recoverable under Maryland law.

The Fourth Circuit partially agreed. While it held that Montgomery Park’s August 24, 2022, fee motion constituted a valid "demand," the court ruled that default interest could only accrue from that date—not retroactively to when the fees were incurred. Thus, it vacated and remanded for recalculation of the interest award. On the remaining issues, however, the court affirmed: It held that the fees incurred defending against NCO’s claims and pursuing its own remedies were inextricably linked under the “common core of facts” doctrine, and that the lease's broad reference to “fees” encompassed expert witness costs.

Commentary:

The lesson is that “notice” and “demand” are not mere formalities—they are gatekeeping mechanisms that define when a party’s enforcement rights arise. In commercial settings, courts may allow a fair degree of flexibility, especially among sophisticated parties. But in consumer contexts, precision is paramount. Lenders and servicers ignore these preconditions,  which often include  not only statutory requirements,  such as under NCGS 45-91,  but also contractual preconditions like Notices of Default and explicit acceleration of the  note, at their peril, as courts should not allow attorneys’ fees  where those obligations are  strictly followed.

With proper attribution,  please share this post.

To read a copy of the transcript, please see:

Blog comments

Attachment
Document
nco_v._montgomery_park.pdf (143.45 KB)
Category
4th Circuit Court of Appeals

About Us

Mountain View The purpose of the NC Bankruptcy Expert blog is to provide legal professionals with a consolidated resource for updates and case summaries about issues and decisions affecting bankruptcy, foreclosures, mortgages, and debt collection.

 
Lawyer Edward Boltz | Top Attorney Chapter 7

NC Bankruptcy Expert FREE Consultation

We Offer A Free Bankruptcy Consultation which has helped over 70,000 North Carolina families. We serve the entire state of North Carolina.

Proud Member of:












Categories

  • 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Book Reviews
  • District Courts
  • Eastern District
  • Ed Boltz: Bankruptcy Attorney
  • Federal Cases
  • Forms
  • Home
  • Law Reviews & Studies
  • Middle District
  • Mortgage Modification Mediation Documents
  • NC Business Court
  • NC Court of Appeals
  • NC Courts
  • NC Supreme Court Cases
  • News
  • North Carolina Bankruptcy Cases
  • North Carolina District Court Cases
  • North Carolina Exemptions Legislative History
  • Student Loan Debt
  • Student Loan Options and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
  • Western District
RSS feed
v. 1.2.2, © 2013-2025 ncbankruptcyexpert.com, all rights reserved. Follow @edboltz