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NYC Consumer Law
Hotline  Legal Clinic Resource Material Systemic Advocacy Annual Reports
NEDAP's Consumer Law Project employs multiple strategies to combat high-cost, discriminatory financial practices in New York City. Through the project, NEDAP:
- Operates a financial justice hotline and community legal clinic, providing free legal advice to thousands of low income New Yorkers each year, on a wide array of consumer finance issues.
- Produces self-help and know-your-rights material - in English and Spanish - that individuals use to defend themselves against abusive lending and debt collection practices, and to gain access to fair and affordable financial services.
- Advocates for systemic reform, using information gathered through client work, to stem the tide of abusive credit in low income neighborhoods and communities of color.
- Builds the capacity of legal services and community-based organizations to address consumer financial justice issues, through training, coalition work and legal support.
Case Example: Maria works as a home health aide, earning less than $20,000 per year. She supports her daughter and her disabled mother.
Maria called the NYC Financial Justice Hotline when her bank account was frozen by a debt collector who obtained a default judgment against her. Maria was not served with notice of the lawsuit, which involved a cell phone account that she had cancelled five years earlier.
Following NEDAP's advice, Maria was able to vacate the default judgment and appeared in the case several times. It turned out that the plaintiff had no evidence that Maria owed anything on the debt, and the case was dismissed. |
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NYC Financial Justice Hotline
NEDAP's NYC Financial Justice Hotline assists low income New York City residents facing discriminatory banking and credit practices. The Hotline advises callers about their rights in the areas of debt collection, credit reports, identity theft, payday and tax refund loans, and other financial justice matters.
Hotline staff emphasize self-help solutions wherever possible, providing callers with information about their legal rights and options, and tools to resolve their problems successfully. The Hotline provides services in English and Spanish, and has served thousands of callers since 2005.
In 2006, NEDAP launched a Consumer Law Clinic to provide one-on-one legal consultation to low income New Yorkers, particularly women, on a range of consumer finance issues. A major priority of the Clinic is to help low income New Yorkers facing debt collection lawsuits defend themselves successfully in court. Clinic staff also help clients correct mistakes in their credit reports, resolve identity theft problems, and write effective dispute letters to debt collectors and financial institutions.
NEDAP partners with community groups to hold Consumer Law Clinics in neighborhoods throughout New York City. Staffed by NEDAP attorneys and paralegals, the clinics provide free legal services to organizations' members and clients. Click here to find out how your organization can host a clinic.
Resource Materials
NEDAP has prepared a series of resource materials addressing consumer rights and how to resolve common problems. The materials are available on our website in English and Spanish, and by mail upon request.
NEDAP also produces informative, consumer-focused episodes of On the Money, our monthly cable television show. Past episodes include "The Truth About Credit Reports" and "Straight Talk about Debt Collection: Your Rights Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act."
Systemic Advocacy
Information gathered from the hotline and legal clinic informs NEDAP's advocacy and coalition work, as we press for policy changes that will benefit our clients and their communities long-term. For example, NEDAP worked for two years to eliminate a loophole in state law that allowed debt collectors to freeze bank accounts containing exempt income, such as Social Security, public assistance and child support. In 2008, our efforts paid off with passage of the landmark Exempt Income Protection Act, which protects bank accounts and prevents debt collectors from seizing New Yorkers' subsistence income.
Annual Reports
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