11/19/2013

Fair Credit Laws

Laguna Beach Home



A little quiz with the answers as a cheat sheet if you are wondering about your rights to fair credit. Have you been denied employment or a loan? Quote the law noted in red
Penalty amounts under the Fair Housing Act depend on a respondent’s history of noncompliance.
True
False
2. Harassment is not considered a form of discrimination under the Fair Housing Act.
True
False
3. The Fair Housing Act prohibits any person or business engaged in real estate-related transactions from discriminating because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.
False
True
4. The Fair Housing Act was actually the first law that Congress enacted to address redlining and other issues related to fair housing and nondiscriminatory mortgage lending practices.
False
True
5. When HUD receives fair housing complaints, the parties to the dispute, known as the complainant and the respondent, will have an opportunity to enter a conciliation agreement.
v
False
True
6. Disparate treatment involves treating one group of consumers differently from others, based on whether or not they are qualified for a loan.
True
False
7. The process of securitization includes collecting loans with similar credit risks, loan terms, and other comparable features into a “pool” and selling an interest in this pool to investors as mortgage-backed securities.
False
True
8. The protected classes, or those individuals or groups of individuals who will receive protection under the Fair Housing Act, are identical to those established under ECOA.
False
True
9. The Fair Housing Act provisions that prohibit discrimination based on familial status also apply to qualified senior housing.
False
True
10. Even though the Fair Housing Act does not expressly include sexual orientation or gender identity as protected classes, discrimination against LGBT individuals is arguably discrimination based on sex and in violation of the existing law.
False
True
1. A class that the Fair Housing Act expressly names as a protected class and that ECOA does not expressly name as a protected class is:
Religion
Color
Handicap
Sex
2. HUD’s new fair housing policy prohibits an assessment of eligibility for an FHA-insured loan that is based on a consideration of:
Race
National origin
Handicap
Marital status
3. HUD has a new policy that seeks to ensure the availability of HUD lending and housing programs without consideration of particular personal characteristics. All but which of the following is a personal characteristic that is protected under the new policy?
Marital status
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Political party affiliation
4. The Fair Housing Act provisions that prohibit discrimination based on familial status do not apply to:
Mortgage brokers
Qualified senior housing
HUD housing
Lenders
5. A conciliation agreement cannot be finalized without the signature of:
The CFPB Director
A judge in a federal court in the district where the discrimination allegedly occurred
An administrative law judge
HUD’s Assistant Secretary
an employer refuses to promote an employee because of information contained in a consumer report, what does the Fair Credit Reporting Act require of the employer?

That it send notice of the decision not to promote to the consumer reporting agency

Nothing is required because FCRA does not apply to decisions to promote
X
That it give the employee a copy of the report

That it provide the employee with reasons for the decision not to hire him or her
Consumer reporting agencies are not allowed to give an entity asking for a report a record of inquiries in connection with a credit or insurance transaction not initiated by a consumer. However, consumer reporting agencies are allowed, upon request, to disclose to a consumer a record of all inquiries received by the reporting agency within the one-year period prior to a consumer’s request that identified the consumer in connection with a credit or insurance transaction not initiated by the consumer (15 U.S.C. §1681g).
report provided in a credit or insurance transaction may contain the following pieces of information, except:

An identifying number used to identify the consumer

The consumer’s name

The consumer’s address
X
The consumer’s Social Security number
FCRA gives consumers the right to prevent a consumer report from being provided in connection with a credit or insurance transaction that they did not initiate (15 U.S.C. §1681b(e)). To get on the do-not-send list, a consumer has two options. First, the consumer can use the notification system that the consumer reporting agency uses (FCRA requires that all consumer reporting agencies establish a notification system, which could be as simple as a toll-free telephone number).
provisions of this subsection alter, affect, or supersede the applicability of any other provisions of federal law relating to medical confidentiality.
Which of the following accurately states the rule for sharing information about medical treatment histories?
X
Only consumer consent is required in an insurance situation, but more is required for an employment or credit transaction

The information cannot be shared even where the consumer consents

Only consumer consent is required in a credit situation, but more is required for an insurance or employment situation

Only consumer consent is required in an employment situation, but more is required for an insurance or credit transaction
  • Arrest records that are more than seven years old, unless the statute of limitations has not expired, at which point the arrest may be reported until the statute of limitations expires
  • Tax liens that are more than seven years old
  • Accounts placed for collection (or charged off) that are more than seven years old
  • Any other adverse information that is more than seven years old, other than conviction of a crime (conviction of a crime can always be reported, no matter how old);
  • The name, address, and telephone number of any medical information provider unless either:
    • That information does not convey information on the nature of the services (the name of a psychiatric center, for example, would not qualify because it conveys information that the consumer has mental health problems), or
    • The report is being provided to an insurance company for purposes related to an insurance matter not involving property and casualty insurance
(15 U.S.C. §1681c(a))

FCRA also contains a list of situations in which the rules about what can be contained in a consumer report do not apply. The rules do not apply in the following situations:
  • A credit transaction involving, or which may reasonably be expected to involve, a principal amount of at least $150,000
  • The underwriting of life insurance involving, or which may reasonably be expected to involve, a face amount of at least $150,000
  • An employment situation in which the employee is expected to receive an annual salary of at least $75,000
(15 U.S.C. §1681c(b))


Beach Patio by Caroline Gerardo
NMLS 324982