A District Court judge in Maine has granted partial declaratory relief to a trade organization representing credit reporting agencies that sued the state for overstepping its authority by enacting its own version of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The Background: This case was originally filed in 2019 and has been back and forth between the District Court and the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit a number of times.
- The state legislature amended its Maine Fair Credit Reporting Act in 2019. One of the amendments prohibited the reporting of medical debt for at least 180 days after the date of first delinquency. The other amendment imposed a reinvestigation obligation on credit reporting agencies when a consumer provides documentation that a debt is a result of economic abuse.
- The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act generally preempts state laws, with two exceptions. The issue, here, is whether one of those exceptions is being triggered, which would allow Maine’s laws to stay on the books.
The Ruling: Judge Lance E. Walker of the District Court for the District of Maine ultimately ruled that the FCRA partially preempts Maine’s law with respect to economic abuse, but only on the grounds when the abuse is the result of identity theft. He ruled the FCRA does not preempt the medical debt reporting provisions or a provision regarding the reporting of medical debts owed by veterans.
