Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Call Me Justice Niece


A while ago I signed up to be a court-appointed attorney, trustee or guardian. I figured it would be a good learning experience and would also help bring in a little money on the side. I had almost forgot about the application - friends of mine told me it operates very much on a crony system where I live and not to expect anything for a long time.

I learned yesterday that I have been appointed as a referee in a mortgage foreclosure case. Admittedly I know very little about what a referee is but I think it's similar to an arbitrator. I guess the mortgage crisis has one positive side - an excess need for attorneys.

I'm very excited to learn more about this process. Obviously I won't be able to post anything about the case but I will tell you how much it pays as soon as I know. I think I am supposed to keep track of the hours I spend on the matter and will be reimbursed at a rate of my choosing...maybe $100 an hour, sweet! Wish me luck!

4 comments:

Sallie's Niece said...

So right after posting this I figured I probably should know a little more about what is required of me as a referee and get an idea of what I'll be paid, here's what I found out:

Under New York law, courts may appoint referees to perform a range of functions on their behalf. A primary purpose for which courts use referees is to sell property that has been subject to a foreclosure judgment.

The referee computes the value of the property and then sells it at a public auction that is usually held at the courthouse. The referee's fees, which are paid from the proceeds of the sale, are generally fifty dollars to compute the value of the property and five hundred dollars to sell the property.
$550, sweet!

Shtinkykat said...

Congratulations on this appointment. You get paid and you learn a new skill. Sounds like a win-win situation to me!

Berry Girl said...

the real question is do you know how to compute the value of the property? if not you'd better leran quick :)

Sallie's Niece said...

I bet I can just ask like three different real estate agents to price it for me like they do on TLC. Hmmm guess I'll ask the clerk how people usually go about this.