The Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in residential real estate-related lending transactions on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability.
prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, because an applicant receives income from a public assistance program, or because an applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Consumer Credit Protection ...
All lenders are required to comply with Regulation B, which protects applicants from discrimination. Regulation B protects consumers and prohibits lenders from discriminating based on age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, or marital status.
Examples of Lending Discrimination
Providing a different customer service experience to mortgage applicants depending on their race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), familial status, national origin or disability.
For example, if a lender refuses to make a mortgage loan because of your race or ethnicity, or if a lender charges excessive fees to refinance your current mortgage loan based on your race or ethnicity, the lender is in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act.
Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) promotes the availability of credit to all creditworthy applicants without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age (provided the applicant has the capacity to contract); to the fact that all or part of the applicant's income derives from a public ...
In addition, although a lender can gather factual information about some things (your gender and marital status), under the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, it can't discriminate based on race, religion, color, age, marital status, sex or national origin.
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) prohibits discrimination in any aspect of a credit transaction.
A poor credit history or low credit score can prevent you from getting approved for a personal loan. Too much monthly debt relative to your income—your debt-to-income ratio (DTI)—can lead to a lender rejecting your loan application.
This Act (Title VII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, receipt of public assistance, or good faith exercise of any rights under the Consumer Credit Protection Act.
Imposing unfair terms or conditions on a loan (such as lower loan amount or higher interest rates) based on personal characteristics protected under the ECOA. Asking detailed personal information regarding marital status, such as whether you are widowed or divorced.
Overt discrimination involves explicit bias or prejudice from the lender, such as refusing to provide loans to people based on race, ethnicity, or other demographic factors. Overt discrimination tends to be the clearest form of lending discrimination. However, overt should not be confused with intentional.
RESPA also prohibits a lender from charging excessive amounts for the escrow account. The lender may require a borrower to pay into the escrow account no more than 1/12 of the total of all disbursements payable during the year, plus an amount necessary to pay for any shortage in the account.
RESPA generally prohibits kickbacks and offering a thing of value in exchange for the referral of business to a settlement service provider.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as amended, protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
Common Violation #3: Failure to collect information about applicants seeking credit primarily for the purchase or refinancing of a principal residence, including applicant race, ethnicity, sex, marital status and age, for monitoring purposes.
Lenders can request your bank statements or seek a POD from your bank; some lenders do both. Lenders that use both PODs and bank statements to determine mortgage eligibility do so to satisfy the requirements of some government-insured loans where the source of down payment funds must be known for mortgage approval.
Lending limit law applies to national banks and savings associations across the nation. The federal code on lending limits states that a national bank or savings association may not issue a loan to a single borrower for more than 15% of the institution's capital and surplus.
Common reasons for being refused a mortgage
Common reasons include: Misspelt or incorrect personal information. You are not registered to vote. Being on the electoral register allows a lender to confirm that the details you have provided are right.
It is illegal to:
Refuse you credit if you qualify for it. Discourage you from applying for credit. Offer you credit on terms that are less favorable, like a higher interest rate, than terms offered to someone with similar qualifications. Close your account.
Personal loans are easy to get when they offer flexible credit score and income requirements. If you have a fair credit score, which includes FICO scores from 580 to 669, you may be able to qualify for an unsecured personal loan from a traditional lender.
For general credit, you can report discrimination to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency that works to keep bad actors from harming consumers. For mortgage or rental discrimination, you can file a complaint with HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.