[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3077 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3077

  To amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to ensure that customers 
    have the right to immediately close any account at any insured 
 depository institutions on demand, without cost to the consumer, that 
  consumers receive any balance in their account immediately, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 3, 2011

 Mr. Miller of North Carolina introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to ensure that customers 
    have the right to immediately close any account at any insured 
 depository institutions on demand, without cost to the consumer, that 
  consumers receive any balance in their account immediately, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Freedom and Mobility in Consumer 
Banking Act''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE ACT AMENDMENTS.

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 51. RIGHT TO CLOSE PERSONAL CHECKING AND SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.

    ``(a) In General.--An insured depository institution may not--
            ``(1) prohibit any person from closing a checking or 
        savings account, regardless of whether the balance in the 
        account is positive, zero, or negative; or
            ``(2) charge any fee to close any such account.
    ``(b) Time Limit.--An account at any insured depository institution 
shall be closed by the institution not later than 48 hours after 
receiving a request from the customer to close the account.
    ``(c) Methods of Requesting Closure of an Account.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any accountholder of an account at an 
        insured depository institution may request that the account be 
        closed in person, over the phone, or by other electronic or 
        remote means, as may be prescribed by regulation.
            ``(2) Exception for large accounts.--Notwithstanding 
        paragraph (1), any insured depository institution may require 
        an accountholder of an account which has an outstanding balance 
        of $25,000 or more on deposit at the depository institution to 
        close the account in person, to the extent the depository 
        institution has provided written notice of such requirement to 
        the account holder at any time prior to receiving a request 
        from the accountholder to close the account.
    ``(d) Repayment of Balances.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any balance in an account at an insured 
        depository institution that is closed by the institution 
        pursuant to a request by the accountholder shall repaid to the 
        accountholder in accordance with the following requirements:
                    ``(A) In person.--If the request is made in person, 
                the total amount of funds on deposit in the account 
                shall be paid to the accountholder at the time the 
                request is made at the consumer's option and without a 
                fee, by certified check provided to the consumer at the 
                time of the request, by electronic fund transfer 
                executed on that business day to an account designated 
                by the consumer, or by any other means offered by the 
                financial institution if requested by the consumer.
                    ``(B) Request made by other means.--If the request 
                is made over the phone, or by other electronic or 
                remote means, the total amount of funds on deposit in 
                the account shall promptly be remitted by the 
                institution to the accountholder at the consumer's 
                option and without a fee, by certified check issued on 
                the business day on which the request is received, by 
                electronic fund transfer executed on that business day 
                to an account designated by the consumer, or by any 
                other means offered by the financial institution if 
                requested by the consumer.
            ``(2) Time limit.--In any case, the payment by an insured 
        depository institution of the total amount of funds on deposit 
        in an account at the institution which the accountholder has 
        requested be closed shall be remitted to the accountholder 
        before the end of the 3 business day period beginning when the 
        accountholder submits such request.
    ``(e) Prohibition on Any Fees or Charges After Request To Close.--
No insured depository institution may impose any fees or charges on any 
deposit account at such institution after receiving a request in 
accordance with subsection (c) to close the account.
    ``(f) Prohibition on Reopening Account To Make Subsequent 
Payment.--No insured depository institution may reopen an account that 
the consumer has requested be closed in accordance with subsection (c) 
to apply subsequent debits, whether preauthorized or otherwise, or for 
any other reason, unless the consumer expressly requests that such 
account be reopened.
    ``(g) Notice of Subsequent Preauthorized Recurring Debits.--During 
the 30-day period beginning on the date an account at an insured 
depository institution is closed pursuant to a request by the 
accountholder, the insured depository institution shall promptly notify 
the customer if a preauthorized recurring debit is directed to the 
account.
    ``(h) Limitation on Reporting.--
            ``(1) Negative balance resulting from fees.--If, at the 
        time any account at an insured depository institution is 
        closed, the account has a negative balance resulting solely 
        from any fee assessed by the depository institution, the 
        insured depository institution may not report the fact of the 
        outstanding balance or any other adverse information with 
        respect to such account to any consumer reporting agency 
        described in section 603(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act if 
        such information could be used to adversely affect the 
        consumer's ability to open a transaction account at another 
        depository institution.
            ``(2) Treatment of negative balance resulting from 
        overdrafts.--If such information could be used to adversely 
        affect the consumer's ability to open a transaction account at 
        another depository institution, an insured depository 
        institution shall not report to any consumer reporting agency 
        (as defined in section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act) 
        that an account had a negative balance at the time of the 
        closure of the account unless all of the following conditions 
        are met:
                    ``(A) Only if the negative balance is the result of 
                funds actually paid by the depository institution to a 
                third party.
                    ``(B) Only for the amount it actually paid to the 
                third party and not for any fees associated with the 
                transaction.
                    ``(C) Only to the extent the negative balance is 
                the result of credit extended through an overdraft line 
                of credit program where the fee or charge incurred in 
                connection with the overdraft is considered a finance 
                charge under the Truth In Lending Act.
            ``(3) Notice and opportunity for repayment of overdraft.--
        If an account of an accountholder at an insured depository 
        institution has a negative balance at the time the account is 
        closed, the insured depository institution--
                    ``(A) shall promptly notify the accountholder of 
                the fact of the negative balance and the amount due; 
                and
                    ``(B) may, after the end of the 30-day period 
                beginning on the date notice is provided to an 
                accountholder under subparagraph (A)--
                            ``(i) report the fact of the outstanding 
                        balance or any other adverse information with 
                        respect to such account to any consumer 
                        reporting agency, subject to the limitations in 
                        paragraph (2); and
                            ``(ii) take any other collection activity 
                        with respect to such outstanding balance.
    ``(i) Transfer of Direct Deposit Received After Notice of Closure 
and Payment.--If--
            ``(1) during the 30-day period beginning after any balance 
        in an account at an insured depository institution that is 
        closed by the institution pursuant to a request by the 
        accountholder has been repaid to the accountholder, a 
        previously scheduled amount intended for direct deposit into 
        such account is received by such institution, and
            ``(2) before the time such amount is received, the consumer 
        provides the insured depository institution with an account 
        number and insured depository institution routing number for a 
        successor transaction or savings account at another insured 
        depository institution,
the insured depository institution which receives such amount shall 
transfer such amount, without a fee and by electronic fund transfer, to 
the insured depository institution identified by the former 
accountholder for deposit in the transaction or savings account 
identified by such former accountholder.
    ``(j) Regulations.--The Federal banking agencies shall jointly 
prescribe regulations to carry out the purposes of this section.''.
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