PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

A customer has 10 days after being served, or 14 days after receiving a mailed notice, to ask a court to block a government request for their bank or financial records. The request to block a court subpoena must go to the court that issued it. Requests to block an administrative summons or to stop a government written request must go to the right U.S. district court. The customer must send a copy to the government office named in the notice and include a sworn statement saying they are the customer and explaining why the records are not relevant to the government’s stated investigation or why the rules were not followed. Papers must be delivered or sent by certified or registered mail to the office named in the notice. If the court finds the customer filed correctly, it will order the government to file a sworn reply, which can be submitted privately when needed. The court may hold extra hearings and must decide within 7 calendar days after the government’s response. If the court finds the person is not the customer or there is a clear reason to believe the investigation is legitimate and the records are relevant, it will deny the challenge and allow the records to be obtained. If the court finds the person is the customer and there is no such clear reason or the rules were not followed, it will block the process. A denial is not immediately appealable; the customer can appeal later either as part of an appeal from any final case brought using the records or within 30 days after being told no case will be brought. The government must promptly tell the customer if no case is planned. If 180 days pass after a denial without a case, a government supervisor must certify that no decision has been made, and the court may require further updates. These challenge steps are the only court remedy a customer has under this law, and they do not change any rights a financial institution has or let a customer use the bank’s rights.

Title 12, §3410

Banks and Banking, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Filing of motion to quash or application to enjoin; proper court; contents

Within ten days of service or within fourteen days of mailing of a subpena, summons, or formal written request, a customer may file a motion to quash an administrative summons or judicial subpena, or an application to enjoin a Government authority from obtaining financial records pursuant to a formal written request, with copies served upon the Government authority. A motion to quash a judicial subpena shall be filed in the court which issued the subpena. A motion to quash an administrative summons or an application to enjoin a Government authority from obtaining records pursuant to a formal written request shall be filed in the appropriate United States district court. Such motion or application shall contain an affidavit or sworn statement—

(1)stating that the applicant is a customer of the financial institution from which financial records pertaining to him have been sought; and

(2)stating the applicant’s reasons for believing that the financial records sought are not relevant to the legitimate law enforcement inquiry stated by the Government authority in its notice, or that there has not been substantial compliance with the provisions of this chapter.

Service shall be made under this section upon a Government authority by delivering or mailing by registered or certified mail a copy of the papers to the person, office, or department specified in the notice which the customer has received pursuant to this chapter. For the purposes of this section, “delivery” has the meaning stated in rule 5(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

(b)Filing of response; additional proceedings

If the court finds that the customer has complied with subsection (a), it shall order the Government authority to file a sworn response, which may be filed in camera if the Government includes in its response the reasons which make in camera review appropriate. If the court is unable to determine the motion or application on the basis of the parties’ initial allegations and response, the court may conduct such additional proceedings as it deems appropriate. All such proceedings shall be completed and the motion or application decided within seven calendar days of the filing of the Government’s response.

(c)Decision of court

If the court finds that the applicant is not the customer to whom the financial records sought by the Government authority pertain, or that there is a demonstrable reason to believe that the law enforcement inquiry is legitimate and a reasonable belief that the records sought are relevant to that inquiry, it shall deny the motion or application, and, in the case of an administrative summons or court order other than a search warrant, order such process enforced. If the court finds that the applicant is the customer to whom the records sought by the Government authority pertain, and that there is not a demonstrable reason to believe that the law enforcement inquiry is legitimate and a reasonable belief that the records sought are relevant to that inquiry, or that there has not been substantial compliance with the provisions of this chapter, it shall order the process quashed or shall enjoin the Government authority’s formal written request.

(d)Appeals

A court ruling denying a motion or application under this section shall not be deemed a final order and no interlocutory appeal may be taken therefrom by the customer. An appeal of a ruling denying a motion or application under this section may be taken by the customer (1) within such period of time as provided by law as part of any appeal from a final order in any legal proceeding initiated against him arising out of or based upon the financial records, or (2) within thirty days after a notification that no legal proceeding is contemplated against him. The Government authority obtaining the financial records shall promptly notify a customer when a determination has been made that no legal proceeding against him is contemplated. After one hundred and eighty days from the denial of the motion or application, if the Government authority obtaining the records has not initiated such a proceeding, a supervisory official of the Government authority shall certify to the appropriate court that no such determination has been made. The court may require that such certifications be made, at reasonable intervals thereafter, until either notification to the customer has occurred or a legal proceeding is initiated as described in clause (A).

(e)Sole judicial remedy available to customer

The challenge procedures of this chapter constitute the sole judicial remedy available to a customer to oppose disclosure of financial records pursuant to this chapter.

(f)Affect on challenges by financial institutions

Nothing in this chapter shall enlarge or restrict any rights of a financial institution to challenge requests for records made by a Government authority under existing law. Nothing in this chapter shall entitle a customer to assert the rights of a financial institution.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Rule 5(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, referred to in subsec. (a), is set out in the Appendix to Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective upon the expiration of 120 days after Nov. 10, 1978, see section 2101 of Pub. L. 95–630, set out as a note under section 375b of this title.

§3410 Customer Challenges