Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
According to this Act, individual creditors must apply standards in a fair manner. This is to ensure everyone is given a chance to access credit. It does not require creditors to have the same standards nor approve all loan applications.
Equal Opprotunity.
Lenders cannot discriminate due to sex, marital status, color, race, religion, country of birth, age, reliance on income from a public assistance program, or exercise of rights covered in the Consumer Credit Protection Act. Your ability and intent to repay a loan is the only acceptable criteria.
Information Prohibited from Creditors.
A credit application cannot ask your sex, race, or country of birth. It cannot ask your marital status or age unless you are borrowing and using your principal residence as collateral. Even in this case, you are not required to answer such questions. For the federal government, this information is used to prevent discrimination, not for credit evaluation.
You cannot be asked marital status if you are applying for individual, unsecured credit (e.g. credit card). Creditors cannot ask you about child-bearing plans.
Spouses, couples, and credit.
Spouses have the right to separate their credit histories. This includes joint accounts. Married women can use their birth or married name. For couples that jointly established credit, but whose credit appears in the name of one spouse, the other has the right to rely on that credit history as well.
Credit and divorce.
You are not required to reveal income from alimony, child support, or separate maintenance unless you want the creditor to consider it.
Your age.
Crditors are allowed to ask your age, to be certain you can enter legal contracts. They may use it to consider how long you will continue working. However, age cannot be used to deny credit to those 62 or older or because the age of the applicant exceeds that for credit insurance.
Changing Circumstances.
Your credit terms may not be changed once you have been granted credit, simply because your life circumstances have changed. In other words, the length, interest, or other features of the loan cannot be changed. You may not be forced to reapply and you may not be terminated because your name has changed or marital status, or because you reach a certain age, or retire.
Notifying an Applicant.
Credit applicants must be notified by lenders of their decision within 30 days of receiving a completed application. if credit is denied, the creditor must deliver a written statement of...
- the action taken,
- reason (or a way to get the credit rejection reason),
- the applicant's rights under the ECOA,
- the name and address of the supervisory federal agency, and
- the name and address of the creditor.
If you believe you are a victim of discrimination, you have the right to file a lawsuit. The maximum penalty for discriminating against an applicant in a credit decision is $10,000.