OPINION AND ORDER

KENNETH A. MARRA, District Judge.

This cause is before the Court upon Plaintiff's Verified Motion for an Award of Costs and Attorney's Fees (DE 11). On October 26, 2011, the Court entered final judgment in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendant. DE 9. This matter is now fully briefed and ripe for review. The Court has carefully considered the motions and is otherwise fully advised in the premises.

Plaintiff seek costs pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692. Subsection K(3) of that Act provides that "in the case of any successful action to enforce the foregoing liability, the costs of the action, together with a reasonable attorney's fee as determined by the court."

Plaintiff's counsel submitted records, attached to his declaration, showing the attorney's fees incurred in this matter. (DE 13-1.) The starting point in determining fees to be awarded is to multiply the number of hours reasonable expended on the case by a reasonable rate, to arrive at what is termed the "lodestar" amount. Norman v. Housing Auth. of Montgomery, 836 F.2d 1292, 1299 (11th Cir.1988). A reasonable hourly rate is the prevailing market rate in the relevant legal community for similar services of lawyers with comparable skill, experience and reputation. Id. The Declaration of Donald A. Yarbrough indicates his current applicable rate is $350.00 per hour.

Plaintiff's counsel has 12 years of legal experience. DE 12 at p. 6. In addition to the foregoing, the Court has also considered its own knowledge and experience concerning reasonable and proper attorneys' fees, and has formed an independent judgment on the reasonableness of the rates awarded herein based upon that knowledge and experience. Norman, 836 F.2d at 1303; Loranger v. Stierheim, 10 F.3d 776, 781 (11th Cir. 1994). In arriving at its determination, the Court has also considered fee awards in similar cases, the attorneys' customary fees, the time involved in the case, the novelty and difficulty of the type of case, whether the fee was fixed or contingent and the attorneys' level of skill and experience. Norman, 836 F.2d at 1299; Mallory v. Harkness, 923 F.Supp. 1546, 1555 n.5 (S.D. Fla.1996), aff'd, 109 F.3d 771 (11th Cir.1997).

Considering the Court's knowledge of the rates charged by attorneys in the Southern District of Florida and the other matters set forth above, the Court finds that the hourly rates charged here are reasonable.

Through his Motion, Plaintiff seeks compensation for a total of 5.22 hours of time, at a rate of $350 an hour, incurred in prosecuting the instant case. Plaintiff also seeks $390 in costs ($350 filing fee and $40 service fee) associated with prosecuting the matter. In its Response, Defendant only challenges 2 of the billed hours which relate solely to the preparation of the motion presently under review. Defendant asserts, and Plaintiff does not refute, that on the same day Plaintiff accepted Defendant's Offer of Judgment, defense counsel sent an e-mail to plaintiff's counsel "to determine if the fees/costs portion of the Offer of Judgment your client accepted can be resolved without further litigation." DE 14-1.

The Court has carefully reviewed the briefs and finds that Plaintiff is only entitled to one hour of attorney's fees with regard to preparation of the motion for attorney's fees. The Court finds that 1 hour, as opposed to the 2 sought by Plaintiff, is a reasonable assessment of how long plaintiff's counsel would have spent in preparing a response to defense counsel's initial correspondence with regard to fees. Plaintiff is therefore only entitled to a total of 4.22 billable hours, amounting to $1,477 in attorney's fees.

Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows:

DONE AND ORDERED.