No Preemption for U.S. Bank

On August 1 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a consumer's California law claims against a national bank for improper repossession were not preempted by the National Bank Act and OCC regulations.  In a case argued for the consumers by fellow blogger Paul Bland, U.S. Bank's innovative proposal to be bound only by the uniform provisions of the state's Uniform Commercial Code was soundly rejected.  The Court of Appeals relied on the savings clause of the OCC preemption rule, which exempts state laws regarding the "right to collect debts," a category in which it had no trouble placing California's Rees-Levering repossession notice law. The Fourth Circuit will be hearing arguments later this year in the Epps v. JPMorgan Chase case, which raises similar issues.