HB 585 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to access to financial institution 2
customer accounts; amending s. 280.051, F.S.; 3
providing additional grounds for qualified public 4
depositories to be suspended and disqualified; 5
amending s. 280.054, F.S.; providing additional acts 6
deemed knowing and willful violations by qualified 7
public depositors which are subject to certain 8
penalties; creating s. 655.49, F.S.; requiring 9
financial institutions that take actions to restrict 10
customers' and members' account access to file 11
termination-of-access reports with the Office of 12
Financial Regulation; providing exceptions from the 13
reporting requirements; requiring such reports to be 14
filed at such time and to contain such information as 15
required by the Financial Services Commission; 16
providing duties of t he Office of Financial 17
Regulation; providing reporting requirements for the 18
office; providing violations and penalties; 19
authorizing the office to provide the reports and 20
certain information to specified entities under 21
certain circumstances; providing that the financial 22
institutions' customers and members have a cause of 23
action under certain circumstances; authorizing such 24
customers and members to recover damages, together 25
HB 585 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
with costs and attorney fees; providing a time limit 26
for initiating causes of action; providing an 27
effective date. 28
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 30
31
Section 1. Subsection (16) is added to section 280.051, 32
Florida Statutes, to read: 33
280.051 Grounds for suspension or disqualification of a 34
qualified public depository.—A qualified public depository may 35
be suspended or disqualified or both if the Chief Financial 36
Officer determines that the qualified public depository has: 37
(16) Pursuant to a determination notice reported by the 38
Office of Financial Regulation u nder s. 655.49, acted in bad 39
faith when terminating, suspending, or taking similar action 40
restricting a customer's or member's account, or failed to 41
timely file a termination -of-access report with the office as 42
required under s. 655.49 . 43
Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 44
280.054, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 45
280.054 Administrative penalty in lieu of suspension or 46
disqualification.— 47
(1) If the Chief Financial Officer finds that one or more 48
grounds exist for the suspension or disqualification of a 49
qualified public depository, the Chief Financial Officer may, in 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
lieu of suspension or disqualification, impose an administrative 51
penalty upon the qualified public depository. 52
(b) With respect to any knowing and willful violation of a 53
lawful order or rule, the Chief Financial Officer may impose a 54
penalty upon the qualified public depository in an amount not 55
exceeding $1,000 for each violation. If restitution is due, the 56
qualified public depository shall make restitution upon the 57
order of the Chief Financial Officer and shall pay interest on 58
such amount at the legal rate. Each day a violation continues 59
constitutes a separate violation. Each of the following Failure 60
to timely file the attestation required under s. 280.025 is 61
deemed a knowing and willful violation by the qualified public 62
depository: 63
1. Failure to timely file the attestation required under 64
s. 280.025. 65
2. Bad faith termination, suspension, or similar action 66
restricting a customer's or member's account access, as 67
determined by the Office of Financial Regulation pursuant to s. 68
655.49. 69
3. Failure to timely file a termination -of-access report 70
required under s. 655.49 . 71
Section 3. Section 655.49, Florida Statutes, is created to 72
read: 73
655.49 Termination-of-access reports by financial 74
institutions; investigations by the Office of Financial 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Regulation.— 76
(1) A financial institution that terminates, suspends, or 77
takes similar action restricting a customer's or member's 78
account access must file a termination -of-access report with the 79
Office of Financial Regulation, unless the termination, 80
suspension, or similar action restricting access was due to: 81
(a) The customer or member initiating the access change; 82
(b) A lack of activity in the account; or 83
(c) The account is presumed unclaimed pursuant to chapter 84
717. 85
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The termination-of-access report shall be filed at such time and 87
must contain such information as the commission requires by 88
rule. 89
(2) The Office of Financial Regulation must: 90
(a) Within 90 days after recei pt of a termination-of-91
access report, investigate the financial institution's action 92
and determine whether the action was taken in bad faith as 93
substantiated by competent and substantial evidence that was 94
known or should have been known to the financial in stitution at 95
the time of the termination, suspension, or similar action; and 96
(b) Within 30 days after making the determination required 97
under paragraph (a), report to the Attorney General and the 98
Chief Financial Officer a determination of a bad faith 99
termination, suspension, or similar action restricting a 100
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customer's or member's account access. The report to the 101
Attorney General must describe the findings of the 102
investigation, provide a summary of the evidence, and state 103
whether an alleged violation of th e financial institutions codes 104
by the financial institution occurred. Upon sending the report 105
to the Attorney General pursuant to this paragraph, the office 106
must send a copy of the report to the customer or member by 107
certified mail, return receipt requeste d. 108
(3) A financial institution's termination, suspension, or 109
similar action restricting a customer's or member's account 110
access, or a financial institution's failure to timely file a 111
termination-of-access report as required under subsection (1), 112
constitutes a violation of the financial institutions codes and 113
subjects the financial institution to the applicable sanctions 114
and penalties provided for in the financial institutions codes. 115
(4) The office shall provide any report filed pursuant to 116
this section, or information contained therein, to any federal, 117
state, or local law enforcement or prosecutorial agency, and any 118
federal or state agency responsible for the regulation or 119
supervision of financial institutions, if the provision of such 120
report is otherwise required by law. 121
(5) If the office determines that a financial institution 122
has acted in bad faith pursuant to subsection (2), the aggrieved 123
customer or member of the financial institution has a cause of 124
action against such financial institution for dam ages and may 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
recover damages therefor in any court of competent jurisdiction, 126
together with costs and reasonable attorney fees to be assessed 127
by the court. To recover damages under this subsection, the 128
customer or member must establish that, beyond a reaso nable 129
doubt, the financial institution acted in bad faith in 130
terminating, suspending, or taking similar action restricting 131
access to the customer's or member's account. A customer's or 132
member's failure to initiate a cause of action under this 133
subsection within 12 months after the office's finding of bad 134
faith pursuant to subsection (2) shall bar recovery of any filed 135
claims thereafter. 136
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 137