Regulation B

Regulation B is a regulation intended to prevent applicants from being discriminated against in any aspect of a credit transaction. Regulation B outlines the rules that lenders must adhere to when obtaining and processing credit information. Lenders are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, or marital status.

All lenders are required to comply with Regulation B when extending credit to borrowers. Regulation B implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), which is regulated and enforced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB). The ECOA was enacted to ensure that financial institutions and firms that deal with credit extension make credit equally available to all creditworthy customers. This means that any feature that does not have to do with consumer credit cannot be used to evaluate whether a client is approved for a loan.

Regulation B covers the actions of a creditor before, during, and after a credit transaction. The CFPB lists credit transactions and aspects of credit transactions to include consumer credit, business credit, mortgage, open-end credit, refinancing, credit applications, information requirements, standards of creditworthiness, investigation procedures, and revocation or termination of credit.

When it comes to credit transactions, a creditor cannot discriminate:

• On the basis of the applicant’s race, marital status, nationality, gender, age, or religion
• Against an applicant whose income is derived from a public assistance program
• Against an applicant who, in good faith, exercised his or her rights under the Consumer Credit Protection Act

Regulation B also mandates that lenders provide oral or written notice of rejection to failed applicants within 30 days of receiving their completed application. The notice must explain why the applicant was rejected—or give instructions for how the applicant can request this information. The spouses of married applicants who are rejected also have the right to this information.The information provided to applicants about why they were rejected helps them to take constructive steps to build their credit to an acceptable level or to correct erroneous information that was used by the creditor in evaluating the applicant’s creditworthiness.

Under Regulation B, while a lender may not request information about an applicant’s sex, national origin, color, etc., there are certain times when such information may be collected from the applicant. For example, an applicant who puts down his home as collateral will have additional information collected for monitoring compliance.

Also, an applicant’s age may be requested if it appears that they do not have the capacity to legally sign a contract. The number of children, their ages, and the borrower’s financial obligations relating to the children is information that may be collected by creditors. Marital status is also required if the applicant resides in a community property state.

A creditor may only request information from a loan applicant’s spouse if:

• The spouse will be permitted to use the account
• The spouse will be contractually liable on the account
• The applicant is relying on the spouse's income as a basis for repayment of the credit requested
• The applicant resides in a community property state or is relying on property located in such a state as a basis for repayment of the credit requested
• The applicant is relying on alimony, child support, or separate maintenance payments from a spouse or former spouse as a basis for repayment of the credit requested