No. 20-2064

CONSUMER DATA INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION,

Plaintiff, Appellee,

v.

AARON M. FREY in his official capacity as ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF MAINE; WILLIAM N. LUND in his official capacity as SUPERINTENDENT OF THE MAINE BUREAU OF CONSUMER CREDIT PROTECTION,

Defendants, Appellants.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE

[Hon. George Z. Singal, U.S. District Judge]

Before

Barron and Selya, Circuit Judges, and Delgado-Hernández, District Judge.*

Christopher C. Taub for appellants. Chi Chi Wu, with whom Andrea Bopp Stark, Ariel Nelson, and Frank D'Alessandro were on brief for National Consumer Law Center, Maine Equal Justice, and Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, amici curiae. Jennifer Sarvadi, with whom Rebecca E. Kuehn, Ryan P. Dumais, and Hudson Cook LLP were on brief, for appellee. Misha Tseytlin, with whom Sean T.H. Dutton, Kevin M. LeRoy, David N. Anthony, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, and Tara

* Of the District of Puerto Rico, sitting by designation. S. Morrissey were on brief for American National Financial Services Association and United States Chamber of Commerce, amici curiae.

February 10, 2022 DELGADO-HERNÁNDEZ, District Judge. In 2019, Maine’s Legislature passed two laws that amended the Maine Fair Credit Reporting Act, Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, §§ 1306 et seq. ("Maine Act"), to regulate the reporting of overdue medical debt and debt resulting from economic abuse. After a facial preemption challenge to the laws from an industry group representing credit reporting agencies, the District Court held that both laws were preempted under Section 1681t(b)(1)(E) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq. We vacate and reverse the District Court's judgment, and remand for further proceedings addressing whether both laws may be partially preempted by Section 1681t(b)(1)(E), and whether the economic abuse debt reporting law may be separately preempted by Section 1681t(b)(5)(C).

I.

A. Background

Consumer credit reports play an important role in the lives of individuals and in the economy. As the District Court recognized, these reports influence whether, and on what terms, "a person may obtain a mortgage, a credit card, a student loan, or other financing." Consumer Data Indus. Ass'n. v. Frey, 495 F. Supp. 3d 10, 13 (D. Me. 2020). Mindful of this role, "Congress enacted the FCRA in 1970 as part of the Consumer Credit Protection

-3- Act 'to ensure fair and accurate credit reporting, promote efficiency in the banking system, and protect consumer privacy.'" Sullivan v. Greenwood Credit Union, 520 F.3d 70, 73 (1st Cir. 2008) (quoting Safeco Ins. Co. of Am. v. Burr, 551 U.S. 47, 52 (2007)). The FCRA "regulates the creation and the use of consumer report[s] by consumer reporting agenc[ies] for certain specified purposes, including credit transactions, insurance, licensing, consumer- initiated business transactions, and employment." Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 578 U.S. 330, 334-35 (2016) (alterations in original) (internal quotation marks omitted).1

Before passage of the FCRA, "there was little significant state regulation of the credit reporting industry." 2 Consumer Law Sales Practices and Credit Regulation § 534 (Sept. 2021). Since the passage of the FCRA, a number of states, including Maine, have enacted legislation patterned after the federal statute. Id. & n.3. T