Carolyn E. Coffey to Receive NYCLA Public Service Award
Carolyn E. Coffey, supervising attorney of MFY’s Consumer Rights Project, will receive the New York County Lawyers’ Association’s Public Service Award at a ceremony on September 12, 2012. Ms. Coffey...
View ArticleLawsuit against Debt Collection Ring Moves Forward as Class Action
Judge Denny Chin granted class action status in a case brought on behalf of more than 100,000 New Yorkers harmed by a massive consumer debt collection scheme. The suit charges that a debt collection...
View ArticleClass Action Lawsuit Challenges Debt Collector’s Phony IRS Threat
MFY Legal Services and the Law Offices of Ahmad Keshavarz are representing a Queens city worker in a class action lawsuit against APIM LLC, an unlicensed debt collector that falsely threatened to...
View ArticleMFY to Speak at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Hearing
MFY Supervising Attorney Carolyn Coffey will join Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFBP) Director Richard Cordray and others in speaking at a field hearing on debt collection to be held in...
View ArticleMFY Testimony: Economic Abuse Results in Lifetime Poverty for Domestic...
MFY Supervising Attorney Barbara Graves-Poller testified before the NYS Assembly Committees on Codes and Judiciary on how economic abuse ensnares victims of domestic violence in inescapable debt,...
View ArticleMFY and Pro Bono Net Launch New Consumer Web Site
Tuesday, December 11, 2012–MFY’s Consumer Rights Project, in conjunction with Pro Bono Net, launched The NYC Consumer Debt Defense Project website today at www.probono.net/ny/consumer/. The website...
View ArticleAttorneys Should Embrace Debt Collector Rules
In a letter to the New York Law Journal published on January 8, 2013, MFY staff attorney Ariana Lindermayer responds to a recent article that heralded a federal court decision (Berman v. New York City)...
View ArticleCLARO Interviews MFY on Consumer Debt
As the Supervising Attorney for MFY’s Consumer Rights Project, Carolyn Coffee discusses how companies abuse the judicial system to collect consumer debt in a video filmed by the Civil Legal Advice and...
View ArticleExamining the Value of For-Profit Colleges
MFY attorney Evan Denerstein presented testimony to the New York City Council Committee on Higher Education about the problems faced by students in for-profit colleges and training programs, from the...
View Article6th Circuit Appeals Decision Is a Victory for Consumers
In a decision filed February 26, 2013, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an inadequate settlement and vacated a judgment certifying a nationwide class in a case involving claims that...
View ArticleMFY and Pro Bono Net Create Online Resources to Prevent Debt Collection Abuse
MFY Legal Services and Pro Bono Net joined forces to provide New Yorkers sued for consumer debt with online pro se forms and other resources to effectively respond to a lawsuit, along with court forms...
View ArticleMFY Asks State to Help Consumers Correct Faulty Credit Reports
In testimony to the NYS Assembly, MFY shows how credit report errors lead to denials of employment, housing and loans to low-income consumers and recommends steps to better protect consumers.
View ArticleRobo Signing in Debt Collection Cases Exposed
Fox News reports on cases challenging abusive debt collection practices, including MFY’s objections to a Midland Funding settlement and class action lawsuit, Sykes v. Mel S. Harris.
View ArticleMFY Files Amicus Brief to Protect Consumers from Abusive Debt Collection...
MFY, on behalf of 19 consumer organizations, filed an amicus motion in the 2nd Circuit, urging the Court to reverse a District Court decision that invalidated a city law requiring debt collection law...
View ArticleCFPB to Rein In Abusive Debt Collectors
The New York Times’ article on federal efforts to crack down on abusive debt collection practices by banks and retailers features comments by an MFY client who was the victim of such practices and by...
View ArticleMFY Comments on Proposed State Debt Collection Rules
In October 2013, MFY submitted comments regarding debt collection rules proposed by the NYS Department of Financial Services. Overall, MFY supports the implementation of rules and believes they will...
View ArticleHarassed, Terrorized and Swindled, A Queens Man Sues Used Car Dealer
MFY Legal Services is representing a Queens man who filed suit on October 4 in federal court, charging the New York Motor Group tricked and coerced him into signing documents he was not permitted to...
View ArticleMFY Files Amicus in Support of NYS Crackdown on Payday Lending
MFY, along with New Economy Project and DC37 filed an amicus curiae brief supporting the state’s efforts to protect New Yorkers from payday lenders whose practices violate the state’s usury laws and...
View ArticleMFY Warns Proposed Court Forms May Harm Debt Litigants
MFY submitted comments strongly opposing the Office of Court Administration’s (OCA) proposal to create statewide forms for debt collectors to use when seeking default judgments in consumer credit...
View ArticleMFY Urges Strong Federal Rules to Protect Consumers
In comments today to proposed rules on debt collection, MFY urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to adopt strong rules and robust enforcement mechanisms to protect consumers from abusive debt...
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