 Until Judge Dear's case, there were "few penalties against collectors for dragging the wrong people into court".In April 2016, Pressler and Pressler's two principal partners, Sheldon H. Pressler and Gerard J.Felt and "New Century Financial Services, Inc., a debt buyer", were ordered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) "to stop churning out unfair and deceptive debt collection lawsuits based on flimsy or nonexistent evidence."