On October 28, the CFPB published an interpretive rule in the Federal Register, replacing a previously withdrawn 2022 FCRA interpretive rule and clarifying that the FCRA “generally preempts State laws that touch on broad areas of credit reporting.”
The July 2022 interpretive rule had posited that the FCRA had a “narrow sweep,” allowing more state regulation of consumer reporting agencies. Thus, according to the interpretive rule, unless a state law specifically addressed a requirement or obligation in the enumerated FCRA provisions, it was not preempted.
As previously covered by InfoBytes in May, the CFPB announced its intent to withdraw many guidance documents, including the interpretive rule titled “The Fair Credit Reporting Act’s Limited Preemption of State Laws,” published in July 2022. The Bureau asserted that the previous 2022 rule was unnecessary; The Bureau’s new interpretive rule stated that the prior rule’s interpretation of the scope of preemption was flawed because it “contradicted the plain text of [the statute], ignored the legislative history of the preemption clause, and reflected a misguided policy choice that would undermine the credit reporting system and credit markets.”
[View source.]
