Blogs

INDUSTRY NEWS

Court Determines State Amendments Were Preempted by FCRA

In this case involving two consumer reporting agencies, a federal court ruled that the terms of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) superseded Maine state credit reporting restrictions.

Enacted by Congress in 1970, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) was created to "ensure fair and accurate credit reporting, promote efficiency in the banking system, and protect consumer privacy." In this capacity, the FCRA regulates the creation and utilization of consumer reports by consumer reporting agencies (CRA) for specified purposes (i.e. credit transactions, insurance, licensing, employment, etc.).

To supplement the FCRA, Maine enacted the current version of the Maine Fair Credit Reporting Act in 2013, requiring "consumer reporting agencies to adopt reasonable procedures for meeting the needs of commerce for consumer credit, personnel, insurance and other information in a manner that is fair and equitable to the consumer, with regard for confidentiality, accuracy, relevancy and proper use of this information."

In this case, Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) v. Frey (Maine's Attorney General, Aaron M. Frey), the trade association (comprised of two CRAs) initiated litigation in 2019 challenging two amendments to the Maine Fair Credit Reporting Act as preempted by the FCRA. The first ("An Act Regarding Credit Ratings Related to Overdue Medical Expenses") involves restrictions regarding the timeframes permitted when including medical debt in a consumer report. The second ("An Act to Provide Relief to Survivors of Economic Abuse") involves the removal of debt references from a consumer report if specific circumstances surrounding the debt were the product of "economic abuse."

The trade association argued that this language intended to encompass all claims related to information contained in consumer reports; the defendants argued for a more narrow interpretation. Siding with the trade association, the court determined that the language within the FCRA reflected an affirmative choice by Congress to set "uniform federal standards" as to the information contained in consumer credit reports. As such, Maine's attempt to exclude additional types of information intruded upon the subject matter Congress expressly sought to preempt from state regulation. In short, the court determined that Maine amendments were preempted by the FCRA.


All Rights Reserved © 2021 Certiphi Screening, Inc.
This document and/or presentation is provided as a service to our customers. Its contents are designed solely for informational purposes, and should not be inferred or understood as legal advice or binding case law, nor shared with any third parties. Persons in need of legal assistance should seek the advice of competent legal counsel. Although care has been taken in preparation of these materials, we cannot guarantee the accuracy, currency or completeness of the information contained within it. Anyone using this information does so at his or her own risk.

Sending...
Thank you for your interest in Business Information Group. We have received your message and will contact you in one business day or less.
Something went wrong. Try again
You have exceeded the number of attempts to submit this form. As a result, your IP address has been temporarily blocked.
Something went wrong. Try again

Get In Touch

Send a Message *fields required

What are your Interests?optional

Even our RFP PROCESS is state-of-the-art.

Find out why
RFP Kit

What Our Clients Are Saying

Everyone I have contacted at Certiphi has been a complete pleasure to work with. The Certiphi customer service rivals every other customer service I come in contact with. Everyone is always so professional, yet super nice! Thanks for all you do and keep up the amazing work and impeccable service that you provide!!!

Human Resources Assistant
Large Medical Staffing Firm

Thank you so much! You have such an incredible reputation within our office; I think we would all say your customer service levels are continually at about 125%!

Human Resources Generalist
Medical and Surgical Hospital

The response time has been very quick. The turnaround times are great. I love your systems and that I can go in and look at the process as its going.

Human Resources Manager
Medical Staffing Agency

It’s such a great customer service that you provide and I’m happy to tell that to anyone.

Pastoral Care Associate
Large Children's Hospital

Working with Certiphi has been such a pleasure. Certiphi has taught me so much, not just about backgrounds but also the meaning of great business.

Human Resources Specialist
Large Medical Staffing Firm

We flew through our NCQA licensure review.  We very much appreciate Certiphi's help in earning a 100% score for the files!

Accreditation Manager
Hospital System Analytics Company

You are about to leave Certiphi.com

Ok, Continue Cancel

×
×