HB 728 / SB 1091

SB 1091 enacts the “Tennessee Fair Access to Financial Services Act” which requires a financial institution to do the following in order to provide fair access to financial services:

1. Make each financial service available to each person on a non-discriminatory basis.
2. Approve or deny a person solely based on an impartial risk-based financial standard established in advance by the institution.
3. Not deny a person a financial service that the financial institution offers, except as provided in (2) above when the effect of the denial is to prevent, limit, or otherwise disadvantage the person from entering or competing in a market or business segment; or in such a way that benefits another person or business activity in which the financial institution has a financial interest.
4. Not deny, in coordination with others, except as provided in (2) above, a person a financial service that the financial institution offers.

This bill provides that a financial institution that violates this bill is subject to a fine of $10,000. Additionally, this bill makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a financial institution to commit five or more violations within a 12-month period from the date of the first violation.