New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that her office has secured an agreement to close the predatory law firm Tenants Counsel Network (TCN) for taking advantage of New York City tenants facing eviction. An Office of the Attorney General (OAG) investigation found that TCN targeted tenants facing eviction and used deceptive marketing tactics to trap them into binding legal agreements that required a monthly subscription fee. After trapping tenants in these agreements, TCN failed to provide adequate legal counsel, including failing to show up to eviction court proceedings. As a result of OAG’s intervention, TCN and its Founding Partner Aryeh Weber must dissolve their firm, refund $172,257 to former clients, and pay $35,000 in penalties to New York. The OAG will oversee the refund process to ensure all clients are contacted and refunds are distributed.
“When tenants seek legal counsel, they should be able to trust that their lawyers are going to help them,” said Attorney General James. “Housing is a stabilizing force for New York families, and this law firm preyed on New Yorkers who stood to lose it. Today, my office is putting hard-earned money back in New Yorkers’ pockets and making sure that this law firm cannot harm any tenant again.”
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TCN began advertising as a for-profit law firm in December 2023. The OAG opened an investigation into TCN in May 2024 after receiving complaints from tenants, advocates, and the legal community. TCN’s website claimed the firm was a “specialty practice” with “a comprehensive and nuanced command of New York City’s housing laws,” and claimed “thousands of dollars of overcharges recovered” for tenants. In reality, TCN, at its inception, did not employ any attorneys with expertise in landlord-tenant law. TCN’s website also featured fictional testimonials from fake customers to further the deception.
To find clients, TCN improperly obtained a list of tenants facing eviction in New York City and sent 35,569 solicitation letters to those tenants offering legal services from “experienced attorneys.” Over 1,100 of these letters were signed by an attorney who does not exist. In some cases, the letter from TCN arrived before the court papers and was the first notice the tenant received about their possible eviction. TCN further attempted to solicit clients by calling tenants facing eviction numerous times a day. The so-called client managers who made the calls and spoke to tenants falsely claimed TCN could offer subsidized legal services, leading some clients to potentially believe that TCN was a non-profit legal services provider, which it was not. Client managers denied tenants the ability to speak to an attorney before signing their agreement and misrepresented the number of attorneys TCN had on staff.
Tenants who were successfully persuaded to retain TCN as their legal counsel faced numerous issues with their representation, including a lack of communication in advance of court dates and, in numerous cases, failure to show up for court dates. In one instance, a tenant whose TCN attorney did not show up to court was not able to reach anyone when she called TCN and never even received a call back, despite being a paying client. The OAG’s investigation revealed dozens of instances in which TCN attorneys missed court appearances. In many cases, tenants entered into agreements with TCN and never once had a meaningful conversation with an attorney.
Under the settlement, TCN will immediately close and stop representing current clients by July 31, 2026. TCN will provide at least a 60-day written notice to all existing clients with active court cases that they will be closing. TCN will also be required to pay $172,257 in full or partial refunds to former identified clients, with some clients receiving more than $3,000. The firm will also pay $25,000 in penalties to New York state. Aryeh Weber, TCN’s President, will also be required to close his law office, pay $10,000 in penalties to New York state, and resign from practicing law in New York.
This is the latest action taken by Attorney General James to protect New York tenants. In March 2026, Attorney General James announced new protections for 25 low-income families who were forced out of their affordable housing units in Rochester. In February 2026, Attorney General James sued the owners and managers of an apartment complex in Orange County for leaving residents to endure horrific conditions. In October 2025, Attorney General James stopped a Montgomery County property owner and his companies from illegally discriminating against low-income New Yorkers. In April 2025, Attorney General James secured a settlement with property owners in the Capital Region for illegally denying housing to low-income renters who were using housing assistance. In August 2024, Attorney General James made Shamco Management Corp. pay $400,000 to low-income tenants in New York City for illegally denying housing opportunities.
This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Justin R. La Mort and former Assistant Attorney General Sherief Gaber under the supervision of Housing Protection Unit Chief Brent Meltzer. Investigative support was provided by Investigative Specialists Crystal John and Andres Rodriguez, under the supervision of Supervising Investigator Crystal Combs, Regional Supervisor Cynthia Kane, and Assistant Chief Investigator Michael Leahy. The Housing Protection Unit is part of the Division for Social Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.
