File a simple lawsuit

LOCATION: New York

I'm having an ongoing issue with a Tax Relief Company based in California. I'm in New York. I did not understand the process in regards to how fees can be taken. I paid a fee to get my records from the IRS so they could see if they could assist. It was about $350. I thought that was all it would cost and signed documents and paid. An appointment was made to go over their findings.

On the day of the interview I listened to their speech and it sounded good but rep began to surprisingly quote a new fee I couldn't afford. $3,100 fee with a down payment of about $630 and subsequent payments of $180 until the full amount was paid. I explained that I couldn't afford the fees and at a later date I would reach out. I was told that because of the financial hardship I was going through they could give me a discount. I told the representative that I couldn't afford the fees and was not interested and at a later date and time I'd try to reach out. This occurred in December of 2025.

One month later January 6 of 2026 a withdrawal of about $630 was taken out of my account. Prior to that I received a notification that funds were going to be withdrawn. I contacted them and told them that I was not able to pay the fee and was not interested. I responded several times that I couldn't afford to pay. (I learned later I was responding to an unmonitored mailbox).

It's been three months of having a battle to get my money reversed because I didn't authorize the withdrawal. My bank couldn't help me because it was a bank check withdrawal with my signature on it. At the time, I was facing eviction and financial hardship, along with health issues. I reached out to the company asking them to reimburse the money and sent them a copy of the eviction notice.

I continued for weeks sending emails, text messages, voicemail messages and filing reports with the BBB, Trust Pilot, Google and anyone who would listen. Finally, the Tax relief company agreed to reimburse my funds if I signed a release to cease posting bad-faith reviews about them and not to hold them responsible. I waited for reimbursement and never received it. I kept calling and following up, but calls got unanswered by the Director of Operations who prepared the Agreement to reimburse my funds and have me sign. Fake attempts that the funds were mailed to me but the courier returned the correspondence as undeliverable. I asked for proof, but did not receive any. It has been weeks and weeks and no reimbursement.

They did not ask for me to delete the reviews, but as a good faith move on my part I deleted all my negative reviews.

Does anyone know what I can do to have this company to reimburse my funds without having to pay exorbitant amounts of legal fees? Thank you for reading.