(1) Except as provided in
the Act and this part, a creditor shall not take a prohibited basis
into account in any system of evaluating the creditworthiness of applicants.
(2) Age, receipt of public assistance.
(i) Except as permitted in this paragraph, a creditor shall not take
into account an applicant’s age (provided that the applicant has the
capacity to enter into a binding contract) or whether an applicant’s
income derives from any public assistance program.
(ii) In an empirically derived, demonstrably
and statistically sound, credit scoring system, a creditor may use
an applicant’s age as a predictive variable, provided that the age
of an elderly applicant is not assigned a negative factor or value.
(iii) In a judgmental
system of evaluating creditworthiness, a creditor may consider an
applicant’s age or whether an applicant’s income derives from any
public assistance program only for the purpose of determining a pertinent
element of creditworthiness.
(iv) In any system of evaluating creditworthiness,
a creditor may consider the age of an elderly applicant when such
age is used to favor the elderly applicant in extending credit.
6-5029
(3) Childbearing, childrearing. In evaluating
creditworthiness, a creditor shall not make assumptions or use aggregate
statistics relating to the likelihood that any category of persons
will bear or rear children or will, for that reason, receive diminished
or interrupted income in the future.
(4) Telephone
listing. A creditor shall not take into account whether there
is a telephone listing in the name of an applicant for consumer credit
but may take into account whether there is a telephone in the applicant’s
residence.
(5) Income. A creditor shall not discount or
exclude from consideration the income of an applicant or the spouse
of an applicant because of a prohibited basis or because the income
is derived from part-time employment or is an annuity, pension, or
other retirement benefit; a creditor may consider the amount and probable
continuance of any income in evaluating an applicant’s creditworthiness.
When an applicant relies on alimony, child support, or separate maintenance
payments in applying for credit, the creditor shall consider such
payments as income to the extent that they are likely to be consistently
made.
6-5030
(6) Credit history. To the extent that a creditor
considers credit history in evaluating the creditworthiness of similarly
qualified applicants for a similar type and amount of credit, in evaluating
an applicant’s creditworthiness a creditor shall consider:
(i) The
credit history, when available, of accounts designated as accounts
that the applicant and the applicant’s spouse are permitted to use
or for which both are contractually liable;
(ii) On the applicant’s request, any
information the applicant may present that tends to indicate the credit
history being considered by the creditor does not accurately reflect
the applicant’s creditworthiness; and
(iii) On the applicant’s request, the
credit history, when available, of any account reported in the name
of the applicant’s spouse or former spouse that the applicant can
demonstrate accurately reflects the applicant’s creditworthiness.
6-5031
(7) Immigration status. A creditor may consider the applicant’s
immigration status or status as a permanent resident of the United
States, and any additional information that may be necessary to ascertain
the creditor’s rights and remedies regarding repayment.
(8) Marital status. Except as otherwise permitted or required by
law, a creditor shall evaluate married and unmarried applicants by
the same standards; and in evaluating joint applicants, a creditor
shall not treat applicants differently based on the existence, absence,
or likelihood of a marital relationship between the parties.
(9) Race, color, religion, national origin, sex. Except as otherwise
permitted or required by law, a creditor shall not consider race,
color, religion, national origin, or sex (or an applicant’s or other
person’s decision not to provide the information) in any aspect of
a credit transaction.
