AFSA Submits Amicus Brief in Credit Reporting Case
The American Financial Services Association (AFSA) submitted an amicus brief on March 4 before the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) v. Frey. The case was brought by CDIA against Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and Superintendent of the Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection William Lund and challenges two bills, the Medical Bill Act and the Economic Abuse Act passed by the Maine legislature in 2019.
The Medical Bill Act “expressly precludes a consumer reporting agency from ‘report[ing] debt from medical expenses on a consumer’s consumer report’ if the delinquency is less than 180 days old when the debt is reported.” The Economic Abuse Act “impermissibly precludes consumer reporting agencies from disclosing certain adverse information in consumer reports, a subject matter covered and expressly preempted by the [Fair Credit Reporting Act] FCRA.”
AFSA argues that the Maine statutes are not only preempted by the FCRA but that they are fundamentally at odds with the goals of the federal legislation intended to protect consumers. “That, in turn, would harm the national economy, especially given the risk of other states following Maine’s lead an imposing their own state-specific rules in this area,” the brief states.
March 5th, 2021
