News & Press

MFY 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 Seattle, Washington at 10 a.m. (PST) on October 24, 2012. Ms. Coffey, a nationally recognized expert on debt collection abuse, will share MFY’s experience in …

Class 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 report the worker’s debt to the IRS if payment was not made immediately. The complaint alleges that APIM used deceptive practices and also …

MFY Reveals Food Failure in Adult Homes

In an article in the September-October 2012 Clearinghouse Review, MFY Attorney Jota Borgmann shows how poor quality food and lack of food choices exacerbate health problems for adult home residents, and details some emerging solutions to ongoing food problems in institutionalized settings.

MFY Helps Job Seekers Cheated by Placement Company

On October 4, 2012 dozens of New Yorkers came to MFY after a job placement agency took between $200-$400 from each job seeker, then disappeared, leaving documents with personal information strewn about their office. MFY advised the job seekers of their rights and how to protect themselves from identity theft, and then facilitated an official …

MFY Calls for Stronger Homeowner Protections

MFY joined New Yorkers for Responsible Lending in calling upon the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to adopt stronger rules governing mortgage servicers to better protect homeowners facing foreclosure.

MFY Submits Recommendations to Improve the Proposed Regulation Limiting the Percentage of Residents with Serious Mental Illness in Adult Homes

MFY Legal Services, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, and the Urban Justice Center submitted joint testimony making recommendations that would improve the New York State Department of Health’s proposed regulations limiting the percentage of residents with serious mental illness in adult homes with a certified capacity of 80 or more beds to less …

Lawsuit 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 ring engaged in persistent robo-signing and conspired to defraud New Yorkers of millions of dollars in violation of federal racketerring and …

NYCHA Tenants Sue to Get Safe Wheelchair Ramp

Three tenants represented by MFY Legal Services, Inc. filed suit today against the New York City Housing Authority for failing to correct an access ramp that is too dangerous for people using wheelchairs, rendering the entrance inaccessible to them. The suit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief as well as compensatory and punitive damages under the …

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 has played a leading role in winning greater protections for New Yorkers against improper debt collection practices and led the effort to tighten regulations on …

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