The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has fined a New Jersey law firm and the debt collection company it worked with and ordered them to stop filing abusive debt-collection lawsuits, NJ.com reported today. The CFPB yesterday announced the actions against the law firm of Pressler & Pressler and New Century Financial Services. The bureau said that the firms were involved in more than 500,000 of debt-collection actions, many of which were unfair and deceptive and based on flimsy or non-existent evidence. According to the terms of the consent orders, Pressler & Pressler — which bills itself as the largest and oldest law firm specializing in retail debt collection in New Jersey — was ordered to pay a fine of $1 million and New Century, $1.5 million to the bureau's Civil Penalty Fund. By signing off on the consent orders, neither firm admits liability in the case.
