All consumers are given an equal chance to receive credit under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). This does not guarantee you will receive a credit card just because you applied for one; factors such as your income, expenses, credit history and any debts you might have will be considered.
Applying for Credit
When you are applying for credit, a creditor may not ask you for certain information such as sex, age, marital status, race, and national origin. A creditor may not base a decision to grant you credit on such information. There are certain exceptions where age may be a factor in determining your credit eligibility. A credit card issuer may not assume that a woman will stop working to have or raise children.
You have the right to know whether your application is accepted or rejected within 30 days of filing a complete application. If your application is rejected, you have the right to know specific reasons for the rejection. Acceptable reasons are specific and may include that your income is low or that you haven’t been employed for a long enough period of time. Vague, indefinite reasons are unacceptable and illegal. The creditor must tell you the specific reasons for your rejection or give you a notice of your right to learn the reasons if you ask within 60 days.
A creditor may not treat income obtained from certain sources differently than “regular” income. Some of these sources include:
Public assistance
Part-time employment
Pension or annuity
Retirement benefits programs
Alimony or child support (you may be asked to prove that you have received this income consistently)
Special Credit Information for Women
You have the right to have credit in your birth name (Jane Smith), your first and your spouse’s last name (Jane Doe) or your first name and a combined last name (Jane Smith-Doe). Women often lose their credit histories when they marry and change names, and some creditors report shared accounts in the husband’s name only. It’s important to make sure all your relevant credit history is in a file under your own name in case of marriage, separation, divorce, or widowhood. |
