A settlement closed the Tenant Counsel Network, a law firm that targeted NYC tenants facing eviction. The firm unlawfully scraped tenant contact information from housing court and then used mailers and calls to pressure tenants into representation agreements. Those agreements required monthly subscription fees before tenants learned whether they qualified for free legal services from the city. The settlement found that the firm’s marketing success exceeded its court representation success, and that attorneys were largely untrained in housing matters or failed to appear. The firm agreed to stop representing tenants by the end of July and to provide refunds totaling $172,257. Its president was required to close his office, pay penalties, and refrain from practicing law in New York.
"The settlement closed down a predatory law firm with a business model based around siphoning off NYC tenants on the brink of eviction and potentially depriving them of free legal services. The law business, named the Tenant Counsel Network (TCM), unlawfully scraped the contacts of tenants facing eviction from NYC housing court and pestered them with mailers and calls, trapping them in legal representation agreements that required a monthly subscription fee before they found out about whether they were eligible for free legal services from the city."
"Its attorneys were largely untrained in housing matters or failed to show up at all, according to the settlement. TCN's success in the unlawful marketing to tenants facing eviction was greater than the success it achieved in representing tenants in court, reads the settlement. Under the settlement, TCN has agreed to shut down immediately and stop representing tenants by the end of July, with advance notice to all existing clients."
"It will be required to pay $172,257 in full or partial refunds to former identified clients, with some getting more than $3,000. Its President Aryeh Weber will also be required to close his law office, pay $10,000 in penalties, and refrain from practicing law in New York. When tenants seek legal counsel, they should be able to trust that their lawyers are going to help them, said James."
"According to the AG's office, the firm's founders cribbed the business idea from Tony Diab, a disbarred attorney who later admitted in court to running a Ponzi scheme. TCN's first move as a company was to invest in marketing without any of the legal structures in place to back it up."
Read at www.amny.com
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