Consumer Law
We work on consumer problems. We provide information and referrals about
- Debt collection
- Credit reporting and repair
- Access to bank accounts
- Tax refund, payday, and similar loans and rent-to-own stores
- Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)
- Student loans
New Fact Sheets: See our Debt Settlement flier and our Credit Counseling flier.
Call SBLS’s hotline at (718) 237-5560 on Tuesdays from 12-2
If your problem involves a mortgage or foreclosure, contact our Foreclosure Prevention Project.
You may also call our partner NEDAP’s Financial Justice Hotline for advice and help with consumer issues. Their hotline is (212) 925-4929, and their hotline hours of operation are Tuesdays from 12 – 3, Wednesdays from 12 – 2, and Thursdays 2 – 4. You may access their self-help materials on their Resources for Consumers page.
Unit Staff
- Johnson Tyler - Unit Director
- Jessica Attie - Litigation Specialist
SBLS Sues Debt Settlement Company for Fraud
The radio and television are filled with slick ads offering to pay off your credit card debt at half price in two to three years. Some of these ads suggest the companies are part of a federal bail-out program available only to financially strapped U.S. citizens. Some pretend they are “good guy” non-profits. In reality, these companies (called “debt settlers’) are well documented scams that evade federal and state regulators — and South Brooklyn Legal Services is trying to bring some of them to court.
...continue reading "SBLS Sues Debt Settlement Company for Fraud" >
* (Consumer) 29 July 10 More Consumer spotlights >
Victory at City Council, as SBLS-Inspired "GPS" Provision for Process Servers Is Passed
Last year, the city council held a hearing on a process server
bill designed to curb “sewer service” – the term used when a process server lies about delivering papers to a consumer that alert him that he has been sued. The 2009 bill – which contained stiff penalties for process servers who engaged in sewer service – was praised by all of the consumer advocates, save one. SBLS’s Johnson Tyler called the bill “terribly weak” as it failed to address sewer service’s main cause- it is difficult to prove…
...continue reading "Victory at City Council, as SBLS-Inspired "GPS" Provision for Process Servers Is Passed" >
* (Consumer) 31 March 10 More Consumer spotlights >
