Hi Diane,
I may be a bit late replying, but I thought I would just add my opinion in case you still need help.
I am a real estate agent in Florida and have worked with many sellers and buyers of short sales. So, I can tell you how fees are charged for short sales here.
It is common in this area for a representative from the title company to process/negotiate the short sale with the seller's lender, and in return for this they charge a settlement fee of $750-$2000, instead of a "typical" settlement fee to the seller for non-short sales of $250-$350, due to the extra time involved in processing a short sale. And, this fee is charged to the seller's lender, not the buyer, and if the seller's lender does not pay the full fee (which is fairly common) the title company accepts whatever the lender is willing to pay them. The title company would charge a separate settlement fee to the buyer of $250-$350 for any transaction regardless if it is a short sale or not.
I have seen some real estate agents and/or their sellers choose to hire an independent 3rd party to negotiate the short sale with the seller's lender, and in these cases, there is typically a charge to the buyer of $1000-$2000, but this (should be) is stated upfront, and there is an agreement signed by the buyer, which is typically required to be signed at the time their offer is submitted for consideration.
In Florida, the owner's title insurance policy is paid for by the seller (or seller's lender for a short sale), so for cash buyers, the only settlement/closing fees are the settlement fee of $250-$350, plus the cost of recording the deed, approximately $20. The party responsible for paying the owner's title insurance policy varies from state to state.
As someone else stated previously, please check with your real estate agent about this charge, and also check the documents you signed during the transaction to see if there was something in there where you agreed to this charge. If you did not agree to a specific charge for a short sale settlement fee, and if your agent does not believe that $1500 is a standard settlement fee in your area, then I would suggest you ask your agent to dispute this charge on your behalf.
Good luck :)