NYC Joins Forces to Fight Wage Theft, Tenant Harassment and Fraud

Mayor Mamdani, Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg and consumer protection officials are coordinating investigations targeting abuses against workers, tenants and immigrants.

New York City is strengthening its NYC wage theft enforcement efforts through a new partnership aimed at workers who are not paid what they are owed, tenants facing harassment and immigrants targeted by scams. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine announced the agreement Thursday, Aug. 20.

The memorandum of understanding, or MOU, will allow the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, known as DCWP, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to share information, coordinate investigations and, when appropriate, pursue civil and criminal cases at the same time.

The goal is straightforward: make it harder for employers, landlords and scammers to take advantage of people who may have limited resources or fear reporting abuse.

“New Yorkers who do the right thing and go to work every day deserve a city that has their back,” Mamdani said while announcing the partnership.

What the new NYC enforcement partnership will do

Under the agreement, DCWP and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office can exchange information, including confidential material when permitted by law.

The agencies also plan to coordinate investigative steps rather than treating consumer complaints, workplace violations and possible criminal cases as entirely separate matters. Each agency will still retain its own legal authority and responsibility.

The partnership will focus heavily on three areas:

• Wage theft and worker exploitation, including workers who are not paid required wages or benefits.
• Tenant harassment and housing-related fraud, including schemes designed to exploit renters or push tenants from their homes.
• Fraud targeting immigrants, including deceptive immigration-service providers and people who falsely claim they can guarantee immigration results.

City officials also said the agencies plan to hold a boroughwide outreach event with labor, immigration and consumer-protection organizations to help residents understand their rights.

Why wage theft is a major part of the effort

Wage theft can include failing to pay minimum wages, withholding earned pay, denying required overtime or otherwise refusing to compensate workers according to law.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has already pursued several recent cases involving alleged workplace exploitation.

In June, prosecutors announced charges against the owner of luxury clothing company Salon 1884 LLC. Prosecutors alleged that nine workers were deprived of about $54,000 in wages for approximately 924 hours of labor between 2023 and 2026. The charges remain allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted.

According to prosecutors, some workers allegedly performed shifts lasting 12 to 17 hours, while at least two employees worked more than 100 hours during individual weeks.

DCWP has also stepped up civil enforcement.

In July, the Mamdani administration announced settlements totaling approximately $2.1 million in restitution for more than 1,600 workers, along with more than $218,000 in civil penalties and costs. The city said DCWP had secured more than $10.1 million in worker restitution since the beginning of the administration.

Those numbers show why officials argue that coordination between civil regulators and prosecutors could have a practical financial impact.

Immigrant communities are another major focus

Immigrant New Yorkers can be particularly vulnerable to scams involving legal status, work permits and supposed immigration services.

DCWP regulates businesses known as Immigration Assistance Service Providers. These companies or individuals may help people complete paperwork or provide other nonlegal services, but they cannot falsely present themselves as attorneys or promise immigration outcomes they have no authority to deliver.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has also prosecuted fraud cases involving immigrants and other vulnerable New Yorkers.

In March, Bragg’s office charged a man accused of stealing more than $50,000 from three mobile food vendors by falsely claiming that he could arrange city-issued vending permits. Prosecutors said interpreters were available for potential victims regardless of immigration status. The defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted.

That type of case illustrates one challenge behind the new agreement: victims may first report a problem to a regulatory agency without realizing the conduct could also rise to the level of a crime.

Tenant fraud and housing scams are also targeted

Housing affordability creates another opening for exploitation.

In July, Bragg announced the guilty plea of a man who admitted stealing about $25,000 from three people through an apartment rental scheme. Prosecutors said the defendant posed as a real estate broker, collected thousands of dollars in deposits and other payments and offered apartments he had no authority to rent.

Most of those prospective renters were Hispanic New Yorkers who primarily spoke Spanish, prosecutors said.

Cases like that demonstrate why city officials are grouping worker protections, housing abuses and immigrant fraud under a broader “economic justice” strategy.

People struggling with rent or low wages may have less financial room to recover from even a relatively small scam.

A shift toward coordinated enforcement

Government agencies have long exchanged referrals. What changes under the new agreement is the level of formal coordination.

DCWP has previously sent potentially criminal cases to Manhattan prosecutors. The new MOU establishes broader information sharing and allows agencies to coordinate parallel proceedings more deliberately.

Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su described the change this way:

“A wage theft complaint and a criminal case used to move on separate tracks.”

That distinction matters.

A civil enforcement agency may be able to recover money, issue penalties or require compliance. Prosecutors, meanwhile, can pursue criminal charges when evidence supports them.

Working together could potentially prevent duplicate investigations and allow evidence gathered by one agency to help another, subject to legal restrictions.

Enforcement has already been growing

DCWP statistics provide some additional context.

The city’s preliminary Fiscal Year 2026 management report showed that worker complaints rose from 408 during the comparable four-month period of FY2025 to 675 in FY2026.

During the same reporting periods:

• Investigations opened increased from 138 to 151.
• Investigations closed increased from 146 to 164.
• Workers entitled to restitution increased from 1,552 to 2,078.
• Worker restitution assessed increased from roughly $1.98 million to about $2.48 million.

Those figures predate some of the administration’s later settlements but show that the enforcement system is handling a substantial volume of complaints.

What critics and businesses may watch

Closer government coordination can raise legitimate questions about privacy, due process and how confidential information is handled.

The agreement says information sharing must remain consistent with applicable law and that both offices maintain independent authority over their investigations.

Businesses and landlords also have due-process rights, and allegations must be supported by evidence.

That distinction is particularly important when criminal prosecutions are involved. An indictment is an accusation, not a conviction.

At the same time, law-abiding employers may benefit when enforcement targets competitors that cut costs by withholding wages or ignoring worker-protection laws.

The success of the program will ultimately depend on whether stronger coordination leads to faster resolutions, more restitution for victims and fewer repeated violations.

What New Yorkers should do if they believe their rights were violated

Workers and consumers who believe they have been harmed can file a complaint with the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.

The agency handles complaints involving workplace protections, deceptive businesses and other consumer issues. City officials say residents should report suspected violations as soon as possible.

Immigrants should also remember that anyone promising guaranteed immigration results or presenting themselves as an attorney when they are not authorized to practice law should be treated cautiously.

Conclusion

New York City’s latest enforcement agreement represents more than a bureaucratic change.

It reflects an effort to connect problems that often overlap in the lives of vulnerable residents: low wages, unstable housing and fear of immigration consequences.

For the initiative to work, however, residents must know that protections exist and feel safe enough to report violations.

Workers should keep copies of pay records, schedules and communications with employers. Tenants should preserve leases, payment records and landlord correspondence. Consumers should save receipts, contracts and messages involving suspicious transactions.

Government enforcement can only reach abuses officials know about.

For New Yorkers facing wage theft, housing fraud or deceptive business practices, reporting the problem may now bring more than one city enforcement agency to the case.

Sources

• New York City Mayor’s Office, Aug. 20, 2026.
• Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Salon 1884 wage theft indictment, June 17, 2026.
• Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, mobile food vendor fraud case, March 23, 2026.
• Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, apartment rental fraud guilty plea, July 14, 2026.
• NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection enforcement and management reports.