Consumer Protection: Debt Collection - New York

• Better Business Bureau of New York
  Check out a business or charity, file a complaint online, and access publications offering guidance on a variety of consumer issues.
• New York City Department of Consumer Affairs
  NYC agency for consumer and business assistance, consumer protection, complaint filing, business license applications and informative publications.
• New York State Consumer Protection Board
  Consumer protection and education on lemon laws, credit reporting and ticket brokers, as well as information on scams involving home improvement, construction, telemarketing, mail, and senior citizens in New York State.
• Office of the NYS Attorney General
  Provides contact information and complaint forms for consumer disputes.

New York Court Structure

Court Guides

Guides to courts throughout New York from the New York State Unified Court System.

New York State Courts: An Introductory Guide

Published in Jan. 2014, 18 page introduction to the New York State court system, written by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman and Chief Administrative Judge A. Gail Prudenti.

• New York City Official Web Site

  Provides links to the mayor's office, city agencies, the city council, comptroller, and public advocate.
• Center for New York City Law

  From New York Law School. Includes administrative decisions, mayor's executive orders and directives, old local laws, and legislative annual.
• New York Laws

  Scroll to bottom of page, click ADC (NY Administrative Code).
• NYC Admin Online (NYLS)

  NYC Administrative Decisions
  From New York Law School, provides access to administrative decisions from NYC agencies.

NYPIRG: New York Public Interest Research Group

New York, regulations first appear in the weekly New York State Register and then are compiled in a subject (or Title) arrangement in the Official Compilation of the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York (NYCRR). New York regulations become relevant in Article 78 proceedings in court when the claim is the agency acted arbitrarily in promulgating or following its own regulations.

The complete NYCRR is available on Lexis and Westlaw. A free unofficial version of the NYCRR is available on the Web. 

How to find cases:

• • Full text searching on LEXIS and WESTLAW: Full text searching best used when the topic has "terms of art" 

• • Subject searching:  To find cases on a particular subject, use either the Key Number system (on Westlaw or in the print Digests) or the Lexis headnotes.  Subject searching for cases is best used when the issue can be expressed using many different terms or phrases.  The Key Number system divides up all of the possible areas of law into Topics - e.g. Insurance - and then subdivides each Topic - e.g. Civil Practice and Procedure. These subdivisions are assigned numbers, which are called Key Numbers . 
    
    You can identify your relevant Topic(s) and Key Number(s):
    • through the headnotes of a known case (on Lexis or Westlaw)
    • by scanning the Topic outline
    • using Key Number link on Westlaw or Search for a Headnote on Lexis