The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) says
that lenders can't discriminate.
This federal legislation ensures that all consumers
are given an equal opportunity to obtain credit.
The law says that a creditor may not discriminate
against you because of your sex, age, marital
status, race, color, national origin, receipt
of public assistance or because you may have exercised
your rights under consumer protection laws.
Lenders cannot, by law, say or write anything,
in advertising or other documents, that would
discourage a responsible person from applying
for credit.
What creditors CANNOT do:
• Ask for the sex, race, color, religion
or national origin of an applicant. They can,
however, ask about your permanent residency or
immigration status.
• Ask about your plans for raising or having
children. The creditor can, however, ask about
the number of dependents and dependent-related
financial obligations.
• Ask whether you receive alimony, child
support or separate maintenance payments UNLESS
you will rely on that income to pay back credit.
But the lender must first explain that the income
from these sources need not be revealed unless
the applicant wishes to rely on it to establish
credit-worthiness.
• Discount or refuse to consider income
because it comes from part-time work, pension,
annuity or retirement benefits.
• Discount income because of your sex or
marital status. For example a creditor cannot
count a man's salary at 100 percent and a woman's
at 75 percent.
• A lender may not assume that a woman will
stop working to raise children.
What creditors CAN do:
• Ask about your marital status if you
are applying for a joint account or one secured
by property, or if you live in a community property
state.
• Request information about a spouse if
any of the following apply: you live in a community
property state; the spouse is a co-applicant;
the spouse will share use of the account; you
rely on your spouse's income; you rely on child
support or alimony from a former spouse.
• Ask whether you pay alimony, child support
or separate maintenance payments.
• Ask the names under which you have previously
received credit.
• Ask an applicant to list any account upon
which the applicant is liable and ask him provide
the name and address of that account.
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