Any agreement contained in a bill, note, trade acceptance or other evidence of indebtedness, whether negotiable or not, or in any mortgage, to pay costs, expenses or attorneys’ fees, or any of them, incurred by the holder of that evidence of indebtedness or mortgage, in any proceeding for collection of the debt, or in any foreclosure of the mortgage, or in protecting or sustaining the lien of the mortgage, is valid, but shall be construed as an agreement for fair compensation rather than as a penalty, and the court may determine the amounts to be allowed for those expenses and attorneys’ fees, even though the agreement may specify a larger sum.