Fair Access to Financial Services Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4801 To provide that all persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, and accommodations of finan- cial institutions. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 19, 2020 Mr. BROWN (for himself, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To provide that all persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, and accommodations of financial institutions. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Access to Finan- 4 cial Services Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—All persons shall be entitled to the 7 full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Oct 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4801.IS S4801 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4801 IS privileges, and accommodations of any financial institu- 1 tion, as defined in section 803 of the Payment, Clearing, 2 and Settlement Supervision Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5462), 3 without discrimination on the ground of race, color, reli- 4 gion, national origin, and sex (including sexual orientation 5 and gender identity). 6 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any person has 8 engaged or there are reasonable grounds to believe 9 that any person is about to engage in any act or 10 practice prohibited by subsection (a), a civil action 11 for preventive relief, including an application for a 12 permanent or temporary injunction, restraining 13 order, or other order, may be instituted by the per- 14 son aggrieved. 15 (2) COSTS.—In any action commenced pursu- 16 ant to this section, the court, in its discretion, may 17 allow the prevailing party, other than the United 18 States, a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the 19 costs, and the United States shall be liable for costs 20 the same as a private person. 21 (3) JURISDICTION.—The district courts of the 22 United States shall have jurisdiction of proceedings 23 instituted pursuant to this section and shall exercise 24 the same without regard to whether the aggrieved 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Oct 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4801.IS S4801 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4801 IS party shall have exhausted any administrative or 1 other remedies that may be provided by law. 2 (4) EXCLUSIVE MEANS.—The remedies pro- 3 vided in this subsection shall be the exclusive means 4 of enforcing the rights based on this section, but 5 nothing in this section shall preclude any individual 6 or any State or local agency from asserting any 7 right based on any other Federal or State law not 8 inconsistent with this section, including any statute 9 or ordinance requiring nondiscrimination in goods, 10 services, facilities, privileges, and accommodations of 11 any financial institution, or from pursuing any rem- 12 edy, civil or criminal, which may be available for the 13 vindication or enforcement of such right. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Oct 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4801.IS S4801 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS