NY State Senate Bill 2021-S134

Senate Bill S134

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Relates to establishing limitations on bank accounts after such accounts have been closed

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 02, 2022	referred to banks delivered to assembly passed senate
Jan 20, 2022	advanced to third reading
Jan 19, 2022	2nd report cal.
Jan 18, 2022	1st report cal.211
Jan 05, 2022	referred to banks returned to senate died in assembly
Apr 20, 2021	referred to banks delivered to assembly passed senate
Feb 02, 2021	advanced to third reading
Feb 01, 2021	2nd report cal.
Jan 26, 2021	1st report cal.185
Jan 06, 2021	referred to banks

Votes

- Mar 2, 2022 - Floor Vote
  S134
  
  50
  
  Aye
  
  13
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Floor Vote: Mar 2, 2022
      
      aye (50)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Bailey
      
      Biaggi
      
      Breslin
      
      Brisport
      
      Brooks
      
      Brouk
      
      Cleare
      
      Comrie
      
      Cooney
      
      Felder
      
      Gallivan
      
      Gaughran
      
      Gianaris
      
      Gounardes
      
      Harckham
      
      Helming
      
      Hinchey
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Jackson
      
      Kaminsky
      
      Kaplan
      
      Kavanagh
      
      Kennedy
      
      Krueger
      
      Lanza
      
      Liu
      
      Mannion
      
      Mattera
      
      May
      
      Mayer
      
      Myrie
      
      Ortt
      
      Parker
      
      Persaud
      
      Ramos
      
      Reichlin-Melnick
      
      Ritchie
      
      Rivera
      
      Ryan
      
      Salazar
      
      Sanders Jr.
      
      Savino
      
      Sepúlveda
      
      Serino
      
      Serrano
      
      Skoufis
      
      Stavisky
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Thomas
      
      nay (13)
      
      Akshar
      
      Borrello
      
      Boyle
      
      Griffo
      
      Jordan
      
      Martucci
      
      O'Mara
      
      Oberacker
      
      Palumbo
      
      Rath III
      
      Stec
      
      Tedisco
      
      Weik
  Jan 18, 2022 - Banks Committee Vote
  S134
  
  8
  
  Aye
  
  2
  
  Nay
  
  1
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Banks Committee Vote: Jan 18, 2022
      
      aye (8)
      
      Breslin
      
      Brisport
      
      Kennedy
      
      May
      
      Parker
      
      Sanders Jr.
      
      Savino
      
      Thomas
      
      nay (2)
      
      Stec
      
      Tedisco
      
      aye wr (1)
      
      Borrello

co-Sponsors

2021-S134 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A240
Current Committee:: Assembly Banks
Law Section:: Banking Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §9-i, Bank L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S134, A240

2021-S134 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to establishing limitations on bank accounts after such accounts have been closed including opening or re-opening such account, requesting a deposit or withdrawal or assessing certain fees.

2021-S134 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S134

SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the banking law, in relation to establishing limitations
on bank accounts after such account has been closed

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this legislation is to protect banking customers from
surprise fees and to streamline the process of closing a bank account.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 adds a new subdivision 2 to Section 9-i of the banking law to
prohibit banks from doing any of the following after the date on which a
customer is notified that such customer's account shall be closed: (1)
honoring requests for deposits or withdrawals, (2) keeping open or re-o-
pening the account, or (3) charging fees with respect to such account.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

For many years consumers have complained about how difficult it can be
to close a bank account. These frustrations often stem from a bank's
decision to keep open or re-open a customer's account after notification
that the account shall be closed. Banks have been known to then charge
customers fees for, among other reasons, low account balances and over-
draft penalties when third parties request payments from that account.
These tactics by banks to extract fees from customers through obfusca-
tion and exploitation of customer-unfriendly fine print have been
detailed for years in the news (see, for example, "Wells Fargo Closed
Their Accounts, but the Fees Continued to Mount," New York Times, August
16, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/16/business/ wells-fargo-over-
draft-fees.html?action=click&module= Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage).

Regulation and transparency in banking is of the utmost importance for
consumers in today's world where banks seek more ways to charge their
customers fees, apparently even after those customers have ceased to be
customers. This bill targets one of the many issues requiring reform and
is part of the larger battle to even the playing field between financial
institutions and their customers.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019-20: died on 3rd reading FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:  None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a law.

2021-S134 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    134
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 6, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  MAYER, JACKSON, SALAZAR -- read twice and ordered
   printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Banks
 
 AN ACT to amend the banking law, in relation to establishing limitations
   on bank accounts after such account has been closed

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Section 9-i of the banking law, as added by chapter 646 of
 the laws of 1985, is amended to read as follows:
   § 9-i. Close-out fees prohibited in certain cases; POST-CLOSING  LIMI-
 TATIONS.   1. No banking institution, as that term is defined in section
 nine-f of this [chapter] ARTICLE, shall charge its customers a  fee  for
 the withdrawal of all funds from any account resulting in the closing of
 such  account  provided  that such account was opened for a period of at
 least one hundred eighty consecutive days prior to its closing.
   2. NO BANKING INSTITUTION, AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN  SECTION  NINE-F
 OF  THIS  ARTICLE, AFTER THE DATE ON WHICH THE CUSTOMER IS INFORMED THAT
 AN ACCOUNT SHALL BE CLOSED SHALL:
   (A) HONOR ANY REQUEST FOR A DEPOSIT OR WITHDRAWAL WITH RESPECT TO SUCH
 ACCOUNT;
   (B) KEEP OPEN OR RE-OPEN SUCH ACCOUNT; OR
   (C) CHARGE ANY CUSTOMER OR FORMER CUSTOMER ANY FEE WITH RESPECT TO ANY
 SUCH ACCOUNT, PROVIDED THAT THE FOREGOING SHALL NOT PREVENT THE  BANKING
 INSTITUTION  FROM RECOVERING FROM SUCH CUSTOMER ANY AMOUNTS NECESSARY TO
 SATISFY A NEGATIVE BALANCE THAT EXISTED AT  THE  TIME  THE  ACCOUNT  WAS
 CLOSED.
   §  2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
 law.
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02664-01-1

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Senate Bill S134

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Sponsored By

Shelley B. Mayer