Legal Services NYC Warns of Dangers of Debt Settlement Scams

On May 14th, Johnson Tyler, Director of the Social Security/Consumer Rights Unit at South Brooklyn Legal Services (a program of Legal Services NYC) testified before members of the New York State Assembly during a hearing on  consumer protection in the debt collection and debt management industries.

Johnson's testimony concerned the Uniform Debt Management Services Act, as proposed in Assembly bill A.7268, which is intended to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices in the debt management services  industry by expanding state oversight of the industry and implementing several new consumer protections. Johnson praised the bill itself as a step in the right direction, but cautioned that the fee schedule proposed in the legislation is too lenient to deter debt settlers from seeking easy money from desperate and unwitting consumers.

Click here to view Johnson's testimony (PDF).