The radio and television are filled with slick ads offering to pay off consumers’ credit card debt at half price in two to three years. Some of these ads even suggest that the companies are part of a federal bail-out program available only to financially strapped U.S. citizens. In reality, these companies, called debt settlers, are well documented scams that take in thousands of dollars from clients while catapulting that customer’s debt into the stratosphere. So fraudulent are these companies (which number over 2,000) that Attorneys General from 21 states, including New York, have filed 128 suits against them in the last five years. Such state policing efforts have brought attention to the problem, but done little to stop the growing industry. Indeed, a state can only ban a debt settler from operating within its borders, leaving an endless source of potential victims for the debt settler to rip off in the remaining 49 states.

Staten Island Legal Services Homeowner Defense Project Staff Attorney Joseph Sant was consulted for a Pro Publica article exploring a problem that is only too common for homeowners trying to participate in a federal program created to foster loan modifications and prevent foreclosures. Loan servicers claim that investors who own the mortgages won’t allow any modifications; however, Pro Publica's investigation reveals that in many cases, the servicers themselves are denying the modifications and then passing the buck.

A front page New York Times article examines the City's failure to comply with a July 2008 executive order requiring every New York City agency that dealt with the public to provide interpreters, translated documents and other language help to people who spoke little or no English. The order was supposed to help immigrant New Yorkers use services and navigate a daunting city bureaucracy as well as prevent the waste of time and money caused by miscommunication and misunderstanding. The Times talks to Legal Services NYC's Amy Taylor, Language Access Coordinator, about a August 2009 lawsuit filed by LS-NYC on behalf of 12 limited English proficient New Yorkers who have been injured by the City's failure. One of Amy's clients, Mercedes Cruz, discusses her own experience.

The Department of Justice announced on June 16 the launch of a New York City branch of the Federal Government Pro Bono Program, a DOJ-led effort to connect lawyers working for federal agencies with low-income Americans in need of legal help. In New York, Legal Services NYC has been selected as a partner and will work with federal lawyers on projects involving family law and domestic violence, child support, credit counseling and ID theft, wills and pro se assistance.