Free consumer law help, Chicago
A few short lines, no account numbers. A staff lawyer reads every intake and writes back with what we can do, even when the answer is someone else.
Free letter kit
Ask for the letter our lawyers start from, and we’ll email it with notes on filling it in. Plenty of problems end with one good letter.
Choose the free letter on the intake form above, or ask for it from the contact page. Which letter you get depends on what it's about: a debt collector, a credit bureau or a carmaker.
Last year, by the paper
We count our year in letters, answers and files, because that’s the work.
1,284
credit disputes draftedWith the proof attached
311
answers filed to collection suitsBefore the court’s deadline
96
repair histories assembledFor cars that kept going back
4,700
robocall logs readCall by call, number by number
Counted from our own case files. These measure work done, not outcomes; each matter turns on its own facts.
What we handle
We take cases against businesses, not against neighbors or family. Pick the one closest to yours.
Same fault, third or fourth repair visit, and the maker still won’t take it back.
Lemon cars
A letter about a debt you don’t recognize, a lawsuit from a debt buyer, or calls that won’t stop.
Collectors and robocalls
A paid loan marked late, an account that isn’t yours, or someone else’s name in your file.
Credit report errors
Extras slipped into the loan, a contract that changed after you signed, or damage nobody mentioned.
Dealer and loan tricksWhat it costs you
We’re a nonprofit. Who pays our fee depends on your household and on the law your case falls under, and we tell you which before we start.
For households at or under twice the federal poverty guidelines. Most people who write to us qualify.
Several consumer laws make a company that broke them pay the consumer’s lawyer. When yours does, our fee comes from the company.
Costs are explained below
For households over the line whose case has no fee-shifting law. The fee is set from your income before we start.
Court costs, such as filing and service fees, are separate from our fee. We ask the court to waive them when you qualify, and we tell you before anything is filed. In fee-shifting cases the company pays our fees only if we win or settle.
From people we’ve helped
“The collector had sued me for a card I closed years ago. Yetunde filed the answer two days before the deadline and the case went away.”
“I sent the dispute letter from the kit myself. When the bureau ignored it, Ratna took it from there.”
“Danuta built a file of every repair order. The maker bought the car back and I didn’t pay her a cent.”
Shared with permission. Every case is different, and these don’t predict the result in yours.
Before you write
If your household earns up to twice the federal poverty guidelines, our help is free. If it earns more, your case may still cost you nothing when the law makes the company pay; otherwise we quote a set sliding-scale fee.
Not yet, but the deadline to answer is short, and missing it usually means the company wins by default. Send an intake today and mark it as a lawsuit, or call us.
Whatever the company sent you: letters, the contract, repair orders, the credit report, screenshots of calls. Don’t send them through the intake; we’ll ask for copies once a lawyer is on it.
We help people who live or work in Cook County. If you’re outside it, send an intake anyway and we’ll point you to a clinic or lawyer near you.
Our lawyers take cases against businesses: carmakers, dealers, lenders, collectors and credit bureaus. For landlord, family or criminal matters we refer you to a clinic that does that work.