Skip to content
Call Us Today! 212-533-4646 | MON-FRI 12PM - 4PM (EST)
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE
Search for:
About Us
Publications
FAQ
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Initiatives
Advocate
Educate
Cultivate
Care
News
Newsletters
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Join UNWLA
Become a Member
Volunteer With Us
Donate to UNWLA
Members Portal
Calendar
Shop to Support Ukraine
Search for:
Print
Print Page
Download
Download Page
Download Right Page
Open
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28-29
30-31
32-33
34-35
36-37
38-39
40
As long ago as May of 1972 Congress held hearings to in vestigate credit discrimination. In 1974 The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) was enacted. This landmark legisla tion forbids lenders to discriminate on the basis of sex or marital status ’’with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction." The passage of the law, however, merely marked the start of a tug-of-war between the credit industry and consumer and feminist groups. After passing the bill, Congress chose the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to write re gulations to implement the law. Since the agency is known as the businessman’s good friend, there was fear among supporters of the law that in setting the enforcement guide lines the Fed would water down the bill. Surprisingly, the agency was far more strongly concerned about the consumer than had been anticipated. In April of 1975, the Fed proposed a set of regulations which, while they did not satisfy all feminist demands, did provide the most extensive protection of credit rights for women ever proposed by government. But the credit industry then put on the pressure and the tug-of-war began anew. Several sets of regulations later, Congress again stepped into the fray. In 1976 amendments to ECOA to broaden its co verage were under consideration. According to one veteran ob server of the Hill: "Congress was determined to give the Fed less leeway in interpreting the amendments.” In as much as the agency had yielded to pressure and had softened the impact of ECOA, Congress passed the amendments to extend further protection to the consumer. The writing and rewriting of regulations is not completed; the consumer has not as yet fully won nor totally lost. According to consumer rights experts, the best way for us to help make ECOA effective is to use it. A few tips for ensuring the law’s strong implementation: ‘Don’t hesitate to claim your rights. If you encounter dis crimination from an employee of a credit company, insist on talking to the supervisor. Move up the corporate ladder to be sure that bias is company policy and not an individual prejudice on the part of the employee. ‘Shop around. If one lender refused you a loan, the fact that another company finds you creditworthy will help you prove bias. ‘Get everything in writing. If credit is denied, demand written reason for denial. If you have discussions with loan officers about your unsuccessful application, send confirming letters reiterating the conversation. ‘Investigate remedies. In addition to reporting the incident to the appropriate regulatory agency, you may wish to sue in court as an individual. Check out the state laws, if any, against discrimination. You may find that your chances of a successful action are better under a state law than under the ECOA or vise versa; you cannot sue for monetary damages under both. ‘Make noise! Contact feminist and consumer rights or ganizations and the press. Others may well have suffered similar discrimination and you could get contacts that would lead to a class action suit. ‘For more information on this complex law, write the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Protection Bureau or the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board, both in Washington, D.C., 20551. Several important points about the law should be remem bered: ‘Creditors cannot treat members of one sex as more credit worthy than members of the other sex; nor can they consider persons who are married as better risks than persons who are single, divorced, separated or widowed. ‘Creditors may not ask you whether you are able to have children or intend to have any or whether you practice any form of family planning. The ECOA affirms women’s right to repro ductive privacy by prohibiting inquiries into childbearing in tentions. ‘The removal of old stereotypes about women as credit prospects could improve women's opportunities in other facets of economic life, including hiring and promotion. ‘The ECOA recognizes the economic contribution of homemakers. Creditors are required to record family accounts in the names of both spouses, or at least to inform applicants and customers of this possibility. "This provision will help homemaking women establish credit identities,” says Lewis Goldfarb, deputy assistant director of the Consumer Protec tion Bureau of the Federal Trade Commission. "But is won’t be effective unless women notify stores and companies where their families have charge accounts that they want to have the accounts reported in their names. ‘The ECOA outlaws practices that appear outwardly non- discriminatory but in practice have an unfair impact on wo men. Creditors could defend the common practice of dis counting income from part-time work or alimony, saying that men who receive alimony or work part-time also have their in comes discounted. But in reality the vast majority of part-time workers and alimony recipients are women, and ECOA specifi cally forbids discounting their incomes. The prohibition against policies that have an unfair impact on women is potentially very broad. "When a woman is turned down for a loan, she should think about whether the reasons she is given are likely to have an unfair impact on women,” advises Marcia Greenberger, an attorney with the Center for Law and Social Policy in Washington, "That could be enough to strike it down.” ‘Creditors must notify you within 30 days of the action they have taken upon your application. When an application form is rejected, you must be reminded of the existence of the ECOA and told the name and address of the agency in charge of en forcing the act for each type of credit. ‘As of June 1, 1977, creditors must report to credit bureaus the record of any accounts used by both members of a married couple, or for which you both are liable, in each of your names. For accounts opened before then and still active, creditors will notify you that you may choose to have the credit history of the account reported in both names. The notices of this change should be coming to you in the mail with this month’s bills. НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ, ЧЕРВЕНЬ 1977 25
Page load link
Go to Top
1 
2-3 
4-5 
6-7 
8-9 
10-11 
12-13 
14-15 
16-17 
18-19 
20-21 
22-23 
24-25 
26-27 
28-29 
30-31 
32-33 
34-35 
36-37 
38-39 
40 
