New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced criminal charges today against Long Island-based American Legal Process (“ALP”) and its CEO and President William Singler for a fraudulent business scheme in which the company allegedly failed to provide proper legal notification to thousands of New Yorkers facing debt-related lawsuits, causing them unknowingly to default and have costly judgments entered against them without the chance to respond or defend themselves.
According to the court papers filed today, ALP, as a legal process server, was hired by high-volume debt collection law firms in New York to serve legal papers, usually a summons and complaint, notifying individuals that they are being sued and must answer the complaint.
ALP, however, allegedly engaged in “sewer service,” which is basically where the process server does not make any legitimate attempt to notify the consumer of the lawsuit. As a result, thousands of judgments were allegedly obtained against unsuspecting New Yorkers, many of whom first learned they were being sued when they found their bank accounts frozen or their wages garnished.
In addition, Cuomo announced his intent to sue one of ALP’s largest customers, the collections law firm of Forster & Garbus, for violations of New York State’s consumer protection laws. According to Cuomo, Forster & Garbus used ALP to serve over 28,000 summons and complaints across the state, but failed to supervise the company and relied on legal papers from ALP that it knew or should have known were false.
“The laws of this state are supposed to ensure that each and every New Yorker has their day in court,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “If proven to be true, the schemes detailed in the cases filed today undermined the legal rights of thousands of citizens by corrupting our legal system and abusing individuals who happened to have consumer debts.”
The catalyst for this investigation by Cuomo was a report from non-profit MFY Legal Services. The report, titled Justice Disserved, detailed abuses by 7 top law firms in New York and their process servers. The report by MFY Legal Services showed that these 7 law firms filed over 180,000 cases in New York City Civil Court in 2007. The law firms mentioned in the report are:
- Mel S. Harris & Associates, LLC – 43,506 cases filed
- Cohen and Slamowitz, LLP – 41,480 cases filed
- Rubin and Rothman, LLC – 31,661 cases filed
- Forster and Garbus – 30,032 cases filed
- Wolpoff and Abramson, LLP – 19,028 cases filed
- Pressler and Pressler – 8,647 cases filed
- Eltman, Eltman and Cooper – 5,823 cases filed
Carolyn Coffey, an attorney with MFY Legal Services, a nonprofit provider of free legal services, said: “The consequences of sewer service are profound, especially on vulnerable New Yorkers. In MFY’s 2008 report, Justice Disserved, we documented many victims of improper service who had judgments unknowingly entered against them, often to devastating effect. In one case, a disabled senior citizen who was a victim of sewer service attempted to withdraw money from his ATM to purchase medicine when he discovered his bank account was frozen. In another case, a single, working mother of two children who had no idea she had ever been sued, was buying food at a supermarket checkout counter when she learned her debit card would not work.”
ALP and Singler are both charged with Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree (a class D felony), three counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (a class E felony), and Scheme to Defraud in the Second Degree (a class E felony). Singler is also charged with being a Notary Public committing Fraud in Office (a class A misdemeanor).
It is really great to see AG Cuomo going after these collection law firms and their potentially criminal tactics. However, it is important that we note that most of the credit should be given to MFY Legal Services for their efforts in exposing this sham and providing assistance to New York Authorities. Without their efforts to work for the benefit of consumers, it is likely that ALP and Forster & Garbus would still be using their “sewer service” methods to collect debts in New York.
Tags: Attorney General, Forster & Garbus, Legal Process Servers, New York, Pressler & Pressler
[...] Forster and Garbus [...]
i am very happy that the attorney general is going after these process servers and attorneys. i would like to know, who do i contact if i was one of the one’s involved in this sewer service? do i contact the attorney general’s office.
your response will be appreciated.
bev
One of these Law Offices went after my daughter for over $2,900 that she did not charge. Many put on all kinds of fees and charges to pad the debt. What gives them the right to just add to the original bill and raise it to such heights people are broke. How can they be such crooks and get away with it, because they think they can do it.?
Most of the people were not served at all, they just fill in some sort of description and make believe they served you. People beware, they are liars and will take you for all you have. They will go after your wages and you will be in big debt for a long time.
Not just servers are submitting false claims on debt, but also divorce cases also. I personally am still fighting a default against me in Texas, because a process server submitted a doucument stating I was servered, when I made a complaint to Andrew Cuomo office, they forward my doc to consumer affairs, and the process server admitted to not serving me…so now I am still fighting to have the default reversed. I can’t get no help from the people in NY, to help.