Where creditors refuse to
make loans in certain
neighborhoods due to the
personal favorable characteristics of
the residents
Reverse Redlining
Predatory lenders would target
elderly, immigrant, and minority
populations to make risky loans
that included oppressive lending
terms
Eliminate
discriminatory
treatment of credit
applicants
Promote the availability
of credit to all
creditworthy applicants
regardless of race, color,
religion, national origin,
sex, marital status, or age
Prohibits Credit
Decisions based on
income from public
assistance
Terms Related to ECOA
Adverse Action, A refusal to
increase the amount of credit
available to an applicant who
had made an application for
an increase
Discriminate, To treat an
applicant less favorably than
other applicants
Discouragement, An oral or
written statement,
communicated to applicants
in advertising or by any
other means that
discourages an applicant
from applying for credit on a
prohibated basis
Prohibited Basis, Prohibited
bases means race, color religion,
national origin, sex, marital
status or age; the fact that all or
part of the applicant's income
derives from any public
assistance program; or the fact
that the applicant has in good
faith exercised any right under
the Consumer Credit Protection
Act or any state law upon with
an exemption has been granted
by the CFPB
Self-Testing, Any program
or study conducted by a
creditor that is designed
to evaluate the creditor's
compliance with ECOA and
Reg B
Tester, An
individual who
poses as a loan
applicant to test a
creditor's fair
lending policies and
practices
Exceptions
Inquires regarding race,
ethnicity, sex, marital status,
and age are required for
purposes of federal
programs that monitor
compliance with fair lending
laws. i.e. HMDA
Creditors may obtain
information about an
applicant's protected
characteristics in
order to determine
the applicant's
eligibity for special
purpose credit.
If the applicant does not wish to
provide this information the loan
orginator must make there best
judgement
Penalties
VIolations can result in civil penalties of $5,000 per day, where a pattern of misconduct $25,000 are permitted
Punitive damages are limited to $10,000 in individual actions and to the lesser of $500,000 or 1% of the creditors net worth