No Fee Preemption

In Gore v. Trans Union LLC, the Fifth Court addressed whether the Fair Credit Reporting Act preempts Texas statutes about the award of attorney’s fees to a prevailing defendant in a credit-reporting dispute.

The Court rejected this argument, noting that the FCRA does not expressly preempt the attorney’s fees provision in TBCC Section 20.08(c).  The court emphasized that the FCRA’s preemption provisions “have a narrow and targeted scope,” and Sections 1681n(c) and 1681o(b) of the FCRA, which govern attorney’s fees, are not among the provisions intended to preempt state law. No conflict arises: “That TBCC Section 20.08(c) allows attorney’s fees for the prevailing party in the absence of a finding of bad faith or harassment by the opposing party does not create an impossibility for compliance or stand as an obstacle to accomplishing Congress’s purposes in enacting the FCRA.” No. 05-23-00659-CV, Oct. 9, 2024.