In Fleischmann v. Care Credit, 2012 WL 6082893 (C.D.Cal. 2012), Judge Pregerson found parts of California’s Song-Beverly Credit Card Act pre-empted by FCRA. Plaintiff financed her refractive surgery, and ended up with a dispute over whether she’d paid it in full or not. She alleged a host of claims, one of which was under the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act. Judge Pregerson found the Act pre-empted by FCRA to the extent it dealt with reporting credit information to a CRA.
Thus, whether Plaintiff’s Song– Beverly Act claims are preempted depends on whether the conduct governed by the Song-Beverly Act falls within the conduct proscribed under § 1681s–2 of the FCRA. Here, Plaintiff has not specified which sections of the Song– Beverly Act Defendants violated, but Defendants believe the allegation is that they violated § n1747.70(a), which prohibits a card issuer from “knowingly giv[ing] any untrue credit information to any other person concerning a cardholder.” Cal. Civ.Code § 1747.70(a). Section 1681s–2(a) of the FCRA prohibits a person from “furnish[ing] any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate.” 15 U.S.C. § 1681s–2(a)(1)(A). Song– Beverly Act Section 1747.70(a) clearly and substantially overlaps with this provision of the FCRA. Plaintiff has not noted any other applicable Song– Beverly sections, nor do any other statutory sections appear immediately to be applicable. ¶ All of Plaintiff’s claims under § 1747.70(a) are therefore preempted. If Plaintiff were to make claims under other sections of the Song– Beverly Act that did not overlap with FCRA § 1681s–2(a), those claims may not be preempted. Plaintiff has leave to amend her Song– Beverly claims, bearing in mind the issue of preemption.