A class action suit challenging “sewer service” and “robo-signing” practices in the consumer debt collection industry will be settled for $59 million in restitution and fees, if a proposed settlement filed Thursday is approved by a Manhattan federal court.

The defendants also will assist in vacating the default judgments they obtained from New York City Civil Court against thousands of plaintiffs making up the class.

About 355,000 New Yorkers were class members in Sykes v. Mel S. Harris and Associates, 09 cv 8486, which alleged that the now-defunct Manhattan law firm, Mel S. Harris and Associates, and Samserv Inc., its process server, engaged in “sewer service”—the intentional failure to serve a summons and complaint followed by the filing of a phony affidavit attesting to service.