In In re Wells Fargo Forbearance Litig., No. 20-cv-06009-JD, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76443, at *17-18 (N.D. Cal. May 2, 2023), Judge Donato found that state collection laws are preempted by the FCRA if they impact on credit reporting.
Wells Fargo says that plaintiffs’ claims under state consumer protection laws are preempted by the FCRA. Dkt. No. 172 at 14. The FCRA expressly preempts state laws that impose requirements or prohibitions with respect to “any subject matter regulated under … section 1681s-2 of this title, relating to the responsibilities of persons who furnish information to consumer reporting agencies.” 15 U.S.C. § 1681t(b)(1)(F). Section 1681s-2 regulates the duty of “furnishers of information to provide accurate information” to credit reporting agencies. Id. § 1681s-2. The state law claims are preempted to the extent they regulate credit reporting, but may go forward to the extent they could be construed as unrelated to credit reporting. See Gorman v. Wolpoff & Abramson, LLP, 584 F.3d 1147, 1167 (9th Cir. 2009) (Section 1681t(b)(1)(F) “appears to preempt all state law claims based on a creditor’s responsibilities under § 1681-s2”); see also Peters v. Discover Bank, 649 F. App’x 405, 408 (9th Cir. 2016) (unpublished) (affirming summary judgment on a Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act claim because “to the extent this claim relates to credit reporting, it is preempted by the FCRA”).