Equal Credit Opportunity Act
- Equal Credit Opportunity Act
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) is a United States law (codified at usc|15|1691 et seq.), enacted in 1974, that makes it unlawful for any creditor to discriminate against any applicant, with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction, on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age (provided the applicant has the capacity to contract); to the fact that all or part of the applicant’s income derives from a public assistance program; or to the fact that the applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act. The law applies to any person who, in the ordinary course of business, regularly participates in a credit decision, including banks, retailers, bankcard companies, finance companies, and credit unions.
Failure to comply with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act's Regulation B can subject a financial institution to civil liability for actual and punitive damages in individual or class actions. Liability for punitive damages can be as much as $10,000 in individual actions and the lesser of $500,000 or 1 percent of the creditor’s net worth in class actions. [Regulation B, Equal Credit Opportunity12 CFR 202.14(b) as stated in [http://www.bos.frb.org/commdev/commaff/closingt.pd Closing the G
] , Federal Reserve System of Boston.]
References
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
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