Developments Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B

There have been few developments under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B over the past few years. Nevertheless, the adoption of revised Regulation B and the conversion from staff letters to official staff commentary led to revisions to the official staff commentary in 1987. In one case, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that 2 lenders operating in certain equal management community property states did not violate ECOA and Regulation B by requiring the signature of the nonapplicant spouse on the promissory note whenever a married applicant applied for an individual unsecured loan and relied on the future earnings of the nonapplicant spouse. While there were few cases under ECOA in prior years, in 1987, cases were decided under ECOA on issues that include: 1. standing to bring an ECOA complaint, 2. prohibited bases, 3. proving discrimination, 4. spousal signatures, 5. discrimination in any aspect of a credit transaction, 6. adverse action notices, and 7. damages.