The Equal Credit Opportunity Act(ECOA) was designed to make sure only financial information,
like in your free credit check report, provides the sole basis for judging your credit. And if
you know the strength of your credit and what your rights are, you'll be able to see if you're
being treated fairly. So the ECOA tells you what factors are relevant to getting credit and your
free credit check report will tell you how you rate.
Although most of the ECOA applies to both sexes, women have historically been discriminated
against when applying for credit. And because of this, there are several rights written
especially for them. Your gender isn't a financial item in your free credit check report and
therefore shouldn't be treated like one. For instance, a creditor isn't permitted to ask if
you're widowed or divorced. If you're applying for a separate unsecured account, he can't ask
about your marital status or information about your spouse unless the spouse will be using the
account or providing income toward it.
Besides your sex and marital status, a creditor can't consider your race, national origin or
religion when judging your credit. Although your date of birth is shown in your free credit
check report, a creditor can't take into account your age unless you're younger than legal
consent or you're 62 or older and he rates this as a positive. Age may also be used to put some
factors in context, such as length of credit history or employment.
Creditors are required not to discriminate against the source of your income listed in your
free credit check report. Income from public aid, a part-time job, retirement benefits, child
support or alimony are all to be treated as any other income.
A creditor must let you keep an account after you change your name or marital status or if
you retire, unless he can show that you're unable or unwilling to pay the bills. And if an
account is closed or an application is rejected, you have the right to know the specific reasons
why, unless the closed account was inactive or delinquent. You also have the right to know the
reasons if the terms on your account or credit applied for are changed.
To get your free credit check report and free 30 days of credit monitoring, please go to
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