Greetings!
Teach me to post too soon. Found the California reference as well.
The lender, in discouraging the woman from applying for credit because
of her marital status, is violatiing the Federal Equal Credit
Opportunity Act, as referenced in this page:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/ecoa.htm
As well as violating the Housing Financial Discrimination Act of 1977
California Fair Lending Notice as established in Section 7114 of the
California Fair Lending Regulations (Title 21, Subchapter 4, Code of
Regulations).
Text of Section 7105.2 from this link (not sure if it'll work):
http://ccr.oal.ca.gov/cgi-bin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=138536&advquery=fair%20lending&hitsperheading=on&infobase=ccr&record={53761}&softpage=Document42&x=43&y=15&zz=
"Section 35811 of the Act and 7105(a)(2) prohibit discrimination on
the basis of sex and marital status. These regulations codify, and
incorporate by reference, all federal and state laws governing such
discrimination, including, but not limited to, the Federal Equal
Credit Opportunity Act, the Federal Fair Housing Act, the National
Housing Act, the California Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Rumford Fair
Housing Act and the provisions of the California Civil Code commencing
with Section 1812.30. For purposes of example, a financial
institutions shall consider the following:
(a) Financial institutions shall consider without prejudice the
combined incomes of both husband and wife;
(b) Sex discrimination against any person seeking financial assistance
with respect to any aspect of the transaction is prohibited;
(c) Refusing to lend, requiring higher standards of creditworthiness
of, or imposing different terms on, members of one sex or individuals
of one marital status is discriminatory based upon sex or marital
status. Loan underwriting decisions must be based upon an applicant's
credit history and present and reasonably foreseeable economic
prospects, rather than on the basis of assumptions regarding
comparative differences in creditworthiness between married and
unmarried individuals, or between men and women; and
(d) A practice of discounting all or part of either spouse's income
where both spouses apply jointly may discriminate on the basis of sex.
As with other income, when spouses apply jointly, determination as to
whether or not a spouse's income qualifies for credit purposes should
depend upon a reasonable evaluation of his or her past, present, and
reasonably foreseeable economic circumstances."
If that link fails, go here:
http://ccr.oal.ca.gov/cgi-bin/om_isapi.dll?infobase=CCR&softpage=Browse_Frame_Pg42
and click on Title 21, Division 3, Chapter 4, Article 2 in the left
frame, and you'll get to the relevant code.
I hope this answers your question; if you need further information,
feel free to ask for a clarification before rating the answer.
Thanks!
Search Strategy:
california EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY ACT
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=california+EQUAL+CREDIT+OPPORTUNITY+ACT
equal lending laws
://www.google.com/search?q=equal+lending+laws
EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY ACT
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=EQUAL+CREDIT+OPPORTUNITY+ACT
california fair lending notice
://www.google.com/search?q=california+fair+lending+notice&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N
california fair lending regulations
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=california+fair+lending+regulations |
