What questions are prohibited by ECOA?

Asked by: Mr. Brennan Prosacco DDS  |  Last update: November 11, 2025
Score: 4.6/5 (46 votes)

The ECOA protects lenders from discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, marital status and any other factor unrelated to the loan itself. Lenders are only allowed to consider factors that will affect a borrower's ability to repay the loan.

What questions should you not ask based on ECOA?

Specifically, under ECOA, it is illegal to discriminate against credit applicants on grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because a person receives public assistance. Therefore, you should avoid asking about June's marital status and age.

What are the prohibitions under ECOA?

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.

What questions cannot be asked by the loan officer?

Mortgage lenders should base their lending decisions on objective financial criteria, such as credit history, income, employment status, and debt-to-income ratio. Questions about personal characteristics, gender identity, or sexual orientation are considered invasive and unrelated to a borrower's creditworthiness.

Which of these questions would a lender be prohibited by the ECOA from asking a borrower?

However, a creditor may ask about costs related to children and dependents. Likewise, creditors also are barred from factoring certain considerations into their decisions. Your race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status or whether you receive public assistance.

What is ECOA?

28 related questions found

Which is an example of an illegal question to ask at a mortgage application?

Mortgage lenders are also legally allowed to ask about an applicant's ethnicity and marital or divorce status. One question a lender may ask is whether you are part of a lawsuit. Lenders are not allowed to ask if you are planning to start a family or ask about the status of your health.

What are some of the prohibited factors covered under ECOA Fhact?

  • race or color.
  • national origin.
  • religion.
  • sex.
  • marital status.
  • age.*
  • applicant's receipt of income from a public assistance program.
  • applicant's exercise, in good faith, of any right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act.

What can a lender not ask?

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.

Which of these can a lender not ask a potential borrower about?

Lenders are not permitted to ask any questions that would discourage an applicant. Further, government regulations prevent mortgage lenders from denying loans based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because you receive public assistance.

Which is not a question a loan originator may ask a borrower in order to comply with HMDA?

In order to comply with HMDA, a loan originator may ask a borrower about each of the following EXCEPT what? Religion may not be asked about, since it is in no way included in government monitoring under the guidelines of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA).

What is the ECOA rule?

'' Moreover, the statute makes it unlawful for ''any creditor to discriminate against any applicant with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction (1) on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status, or age (provided the applicant has the capacity to con tract); (2) because all or part ...

What is an example of a ECOA violation?

A common marital status discrimination violation involves risk-based pricing practices. When two applicants or signers are involved in a lending transaction, a lending policy cannot provide for different pricing guidelines based solely on applicants' or signers' marital status, in violation of ECOA.

Which of the following is not a prohibited basis under ECOA?

An example that is NOT a prohibited basis for the Equal Credit Opportunity Act is annual income and military status. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination in credit transactions on the basis of race and skin color, national origin, sex, age, marital status, religion, and other protected attributes.

What is prohibited by ECOA?

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and its implementing regulations, referred to as Regulation B, ensure that creditors do not discriminate against any applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age.

What is the ECOA guideline?

The purpose of ECOA is to promote 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); because all or part of the applicant's income derives from any public assistance ...

Which of the following is not true concerning ECOA?

Which of the following is not true concerning ECOA? The answer is it requires the disclosure of the APR on all advertisements which contain an interest rate.

What questions should you avoid on the ECOA?

Any questions about your race, ethnicity and gender cannot be used as a reason to approve or deny your credit application. Creditors have to provide equal information to all borrowers throughout the entire transaction.

What not to tell a lender?

10 Things Not To Say To Your Mortgage Broker | Loan Approval
  • 1) Anything untruthful.
  • 2) What's the most I can borrow?
  • 3) I forgot to pay that bill again.
  • 4) Check out my new credit cards.
  • 5) Which credit card ISN'T maxed out?
  • 6) Changing jobs annually is my specialty.

Which of the following are lenders prohibited from asking on a credit application?

It's also illegal for a lender to take certain actions based on a protected trait or characteristic as defined by the federal government, including race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age or public-assistance status. Based on a protected trait, a lender can't …

What are lenders prohibited from?

Fair lending prohibits lenders from considering your race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability when applying for residential mortgage loans. Fair lending guarantees the same lending opportunities to everyone.

Can a mortgage lender ask for medical records?

The financial exception allows a creditor to obtain and use medical information as long as the information is the "type of information routinely used in making credit edibility determination, such as information relating to debts, expenses, income, benefits, assets, collateral, or the purpose of the loan, including the ...

Which of the following is an illegal question when taking a mortgage application?

Are you single, divorced or widowed? Lenders have to be careful when talking to a potential borrower about their marital status. They can't ask you whether you're single, divorced or widowed.

What can lenders not do according to ECOA?

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 ...

What are the rules of ECOA?

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) prohibits discrimination in any aspect of a credit transaction. It applies to any extension of credit, including extensions of credit to small businesses, corporations, partnerships, and trusts.

What are two typical self-testing methods?

The most popular and accepted methods of self-testing are pre-application inquiries or mystery shops in the form of Matched Pair Testing and Monadic Testing and Post-application customer surveys. Matched pair testing and monadic testing are classic forms of self-testing.