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Sykes v. Mel Harris & Assocs

Full Name: Sykes v. Mel Harris & Assocs. 780 F.3d 70 (2d Cir. 2015)

In the largest settlement of its kind, the Firm obtained $60 million for a class of New Yorkers who were subjected to fraudulent debt collection practices. The settlement led to the unprecedented vacating of approximately 195,000 court judgments and resulted in the forgiveness of over $1 billion in alleged debt. Plaintiffs’ lawsuit alleged that Defendants used fraudulent practices to file debt collection lawsuits, obtain default judgments, and then collect on those judgments.

Press Coverage

Judge Denny Chin found that the settlement is a “remarkable resolution” to “hard-fought litigation” that will bring “extraordinarily meaningful benefits to tens of thousands of individuals.” He concludes that the settlement will have an “immediate and enormously positive impact on the lives of many.”

“The settlement, which advocates say is unprecedented in its scale, curtails the activity of companies along the whole debt-collection chain, including the debt-buying companies, the law firm hired to collect the debt and the process-serving firm that is supposed to notify debtors.”

The New York Times

Documents

2009 - 2015 Consumer Rights Class action Fraudulent debt collection

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