California Court of Appeal finds CCRAA Pre-Empted by FCRA

In Liceaga v. Debt Recovery Solutions, L.L.C. __ Cal.App.4th __ 2008 WL 5392184 (2008), the First District Court of Appeal found no private right of action under California’s Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act because FCRA pre-empts it.  The Court explained

We are not alone in our determination that the California exception is limited and does not allow a private right of action.  Three reported decisions of the United States District Court, two from the Northern District of California, reach the same conclusion.  (Lin v. Universal Card Services, Corp. (N.D.Cal. 2002) 238 F.Supp.2d 1147, 1152; Gorman v. Wolpoff & Abramson, LLP (N.D.Cal. 2005) 370 F.Supp.2d 1005, 1010-1011; Roybal v. Equifax (E.D.Cal. 2005) 405 F.Supp.2d 1177, 1184, fn. 5). 

Accordingly, the Court of Appeal held that

[t]he trial court properly concluded that Congress has preempted state court private actions against furnishers of inaccurate credit information to credit reporting agencies and that no exclusion for California actions exists.  The judgment on the pleadings is affirmed.