Attorney General James Reaffirms Support for Veterans and Active Servicemembers on Veterans Day

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James released the following statement in honor of Veterans Day:

“Today, our country formally honors our veterans for their service and all that they have done to protect our democracy. But every day, we are committed to supporting the brave individuals who served us and ensuring that they have the resources and supports needed. As Attorney General, I have the honor and responsibility of providing legal protection and support to more than 830,000 veterans living in New York — a duty I do not take lightly. As Americans, we can never repay our veterans for the service they rendered us, but we can and we must try every day. Today, we express our deepest gratitude to all the Americans who have served our country and to their families who have sacrificed. We will continue to do everything in our power to protect these heroes.”

As Attorney General, Letitia James has taken action to protect veterans and active servicemembers from predatory companies and scams. She sued companies that price-gouged basic food items at commissaries on military bases during the pandemic and targeted servicemembers with illegal and deceptive lending practices. She successfully shut down and prosecuted a sham housing nonprofit that stole money that was intended to secure housing for homeless veterans, and other bad actors who have pretended to be veterans to solicit business. 

She has also taken action to support veterans by suspending debt collection for some veterans who owed money to the state veterans’ homes during the pandemic and urging the federal government to forgive student loans of injured veterans, among other actions.

As Public Advocate, she pushed for the creation of the New York City Department of Veterans’ Services and also called for the creation of a fund dedicated to providing housing for veterans with disabilities. She also introduced legislation to reduce the victimization of veterans by for-profit colleges and created a task force to examine the risks presented by for-profit colleges and to protect students from these scams.