Topic: Disaster Preparedness
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Our internal policy on the use of face coverings provides that staff may opt to wear a non-surgical mask when having face-to-face communications with customers, provided they supply their own mask. Could there be any liability issues if our bank provides masks for employees rather than requiring them provide their own?
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Regardless of liability issues, we believe that banks are required to provide face coverings to all employees who are unable to maintain six feet of social distancing. The modified stay-at-home Executive Order entered on April 30, 2020, provides that effective May 1, 2020: “Any individual who is over age two and able to medically tolerate…
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Are voluntary vehicle repossessions prohibited under the Illinois Governor’s Executive Order 2020-16? Also, are we allowed to sell vehicles that already have been repossessed?
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Please note that as of August 23, 2020, the portion of Executive Order 2020-16 referenced in our answer below has been rescinded by Executive Order 2020-48 (“Executive Order 2020-16 is re-issued in its entirety and extended through August 22, 2020, whereafter Section 1 shall be rescinded”). We do not believe that voluntary surrenders of vehicles…
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Regarding the next stay-at-home order referenced in the Governor’s April 23 press release, will banks be grouped with public indoor spaces such as stores? Do you know when the “new requirements” will be released, or have they already been released?
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Yes, we believe that banks are “public indoor spaces” in which individuals are required to wear face coverings. Additionally, we believe the “new requirements” referenced in the Governor’s April 23, 2020, press release regarding the modified stay-at-home Executive Order include requirements referenced in the modified Executive Order and the new Guidance issued by the Illinois…
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Our lobbies are closed, and we are only operating our drive through windows. We are able to maintain six feet of social distancing at our teller stations; however, the tellers are not consistently six feet apart when they pull tubes from the drive through. Are the tellers required to wear masks due to the inability to remain six feet apart at all times?
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Yes, we believe your tellers are required to wear face coverings or masks if they are unable to maintain six feet of social distancing. The modified stay-at-home Executive Order entered on April 30, 2020, provides that effective May 1, 2020, “[a]ny individual who is over age two and able to medically tolerate a face-covering (a…
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We are seeing joint economic impact payments (sent via ACH) being rejected because one spouse died after December 31, 2019. The check is for $2,400, and the surviving spouse still has an account at our bank and has not yet updated the ownership. Should we post this ACH payment?
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We recommend following your existing policy for ACH tax refund payments made to deceased accountholders (as explained below, the economic stimulus payments are treated as tax refunds). For a joint account for which one accountholder died in 2020, we do not believe that the economic stimulus payment should be returned. The economic impact payments authorized…
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Has the government issued guidance on stimulus checks payable to deceased customers? Is a deceased recipient’s spouse required to return the funds?
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Yes, the IRS has issued guidance confirming that deceased individuals are not eligible for economic impact payments (EIPs) and explaining how to return EIPs. According to the guidance, an EIP made to someone who died before receiving it should be returned to the IRS. In the case of a joint EIP made to a deceased…
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Are we allowed to ask customers COVID-19-related health questions? For example: Have you experienced any respiratory symptoms? Have you worked in a facility with others who have tested positive for COVID-19? Have you been in contact with anyone displaying COVID-19 symptoms? Have you traveled to any of the following locations in the last thirty days — China, Iran, South Korea, Italy, Japan? If we are permitted to ask these questions, can we restrict lobby entrance based on the answers, or is that practice prohibited under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?
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Keeping in mind that neither the industry nor our regulators (nor your customers) have ever experienced the current environment, we believe that asking COVID-19 screening questions to all customers who arrive at your open facilities could pose reputational risks to your bank, particularly because the Illinois governor’s Executive Order has designated financial institutions to be essential businesses during…
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The new Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) requires employers to post a Department of Labor notice regarding employee rights related to the COVID-19 pandemic with our other labor law posters. Where can we find this notice?
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The FFCRA Employee Rights poster is available on the Department of Labor’s website, as are related frequently asked questions (FAQs). Links to the poster and FAQs are included in the resources below. According to the FAQs, employers may satisfy the FFCRA’s requirement to “post and keep posted” the notice “in conspicuous places on the premises…
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We are considering a COVID-19 loan modification program for existing clients that would allow for skipped payments, no credit reporting for past due amounts, extended pay periods, etc. Will we still be required to obtain flood determinations due to the modifications? We are aware of the interagency guidance stating that such modifications will not automatically be categorized as troubled debt restructurings.
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Whether such a modification would require you to a obtain a flood determination depends on the nature of the modification and whether you are able reuse a previous flood determination. This is the case regardless of whether the modification is categorized as a troubled debt restructuring. However, under recent FDIC guidance, you may be able…
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With respect to Illinois law, please offer any insights into granting borrowers’ requests to skip monthly payments on adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) with thirty-year terms or monthly interest payments on home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). For the ARMs, the skipped payments would be added to the end of the scheduled loan payments, and for the HELOCs, the skipped interest-only payments would be spread over a few months to avoid the borrower being hit with one large interest payment.
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Illinois law does not expressly address mutually agreed-upon skipped payments — whether offered by the bank as a “skip-a-payment” program or when requested by the borrower. However, such arrangements are permissible in Illinois. It is important that your “skip-a-payment” agreement does not have the effect of canceling the original loan and substituting it for a…