U.S. district court holds state laws partially preempted by FCRA

Courts Maine Credit Reporting Agency Consumer Protection State Attorney General Preemption

On January 9, the U.S. District Court of Maine entered judgment, determining that Maine law is only partially preempted by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The plaintiff, a trade association that represents the major credit reporting agencies, filed the suit as a facial challenge to certain provisions of Maine law, naming the Maine Attorney General and the Superintendent of the Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection as defendants.

According to the complaint, the Maine Medical Debt Reporting Act and the Maine Economic Abuse Debt Reporting Act amended the Maine Fair Credit Reporting Act, adding state-specific restrictions on information inclusion in consumer credit reports. The plaintiff argued that the federal FCRA preempts these provisions and that enforcing these amendments threatens the accuracy, integrity, and reliability of consumer report information.

The court held that while federal law does not “preempt all state laws relating to information contained in consumer reports,” the federal FCRA did preempt provisions of the Maine Medical Debt Reporting Act related to the timing of reporting on veterans’ medical debts by nationwide consumer reporting agencies.  The court noted, however, that sections §§ 1681c(a)(7) and (a)(8) of the federal FCRA do not preempt the Maine Medical Debt Reporting Act to the extent that they regulate non-veterans’ medical debt.

Regarding the Maine Economic Abuse Debt Reporting Act, the court held that the provisions related to identity-theft in the federal FCRA preempt state law requirements when identify theft is the only method of economic abuse identified by the consumer.  In such cases, the court held that “the blocking of reporting activity on identity-theft-related grounds must proceed according to federal requirements and state requirements are of no effect.” The court noted that its ruling does not “support preemption of Maine’s Economic Abuse Debt Reporting Act insofar as a consumer’s debt is alleged to be the product of economic abuse carried out by means other than or in addition to identity theft.”