Consumers educated at CB 4 town hall meeting

   “There are a lot of consumer issues that we have to deal with,” Garodnick admitted, with consumer debt being among the most common.

   Shoppers who charge more than they can afford to pay commonly end up with debt collectors on their case. According to Garodnick, collection practices lead to frequent consumer complaints, since collectors will do everything possible to get their money.

   One of the major issues, Garodnick said, is the “extraordinary number of cases” of people being sued in the city without even being properly served. This, he said, is the result of what he called a “broken system.” When the defendants fail to show up in court because they were not notified, the court will likely automatically enter a default judgment against them.

   Garodnick warned those in attendance to beware of debt settlement companies, which often advertise on television, promising to negotiate on behalf of those in debt. The lawmaker said most of those companies have “very, very poor track records.” Fewer than 1 percent of those who use them to try to settle their financial issues get the promised service, he said.

   Another abuse of which consumers need to beware is the failure by supermarkets to individually price each item in the store and the common practice of price gouging. An item that is priced at $2.79, for instance, often ends up actually costing $4.79 at the register, Garodnick said.

   Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) called price gouging “an abuse and disservice to our community” and advised everyone to pay attention while on line. If a store does it once, “we can guarantee they’ve done it often,” she said.

   Used car dealerships, which have long been the butt of jokes for unscrupulous behavior, may actually have earned their reputations for, among other infractions, placing ads in newspapers for cars that don’t actually exist.They bait shoppers to get them into stores, then don’t have the product advertised, Garodnick explained. He also warned shoppers never to sign incomplete contracts or ones written in language that is not clearly understood. He recommended calling 311 to check dealers’ violations records.

   Garodnick also addressed the issue of street vendors who are sprouting up around the perimeters of Queens Center. He admitted there is a black market for obtaining vendor licenses and “a hodge podge of rules” that make it very difficult for the DCA or the NYPD to tackle all vending issues.

   The sale of illegal goods took the spotlight this week after legislation proposed by Councilwoman Margaret Chin (D-Manhattan) set penalties of up to a year in jail or a $1,000 fine for buying knockoffs.

   Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) said areas including Jackson Heights, Corona and Elmhurst, where, he estimated, 65 percent of the population are recent immigrants, many undocumented, face unique problems.

   Dromm said he knows of people who paid up to $7,000 each to fraudulent storefront lawyers on Roosevelt Avenue who promised to speed up the processing of their immigration papers.

   “This is a huge concern,” he said, as “there’s just no speeding up” the process. He said people need to be better educated as to what can and cannot be done regarding their immigration status.