Understanding Your Rights to Fair Lending Skip to content
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Federal law protects every homebuyer looking for a mortgage loan against discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, age, receipt of public assistance funds, familial status (having children under the age of 18), handicap, or exercising your rights under other consumer credit protection laws. Lenders may not take any of these factors into account in their dealings with you.
For instance, lenders may not discourage you because of your race or national origin from applying for a mortgage loan. Whatever your color, they must offer you the same credit terms as other applicants with similar loan requests. They may not treat your application differently because of your sex or marital status or familial status. In short, they are barred from taking into account any of the factors listed here in their dealings with applicants or with potential applicants. They should:
Private fair housing groups
Human rights agencies
Attorneys
Federal or state enforcement agencies | ||
Federal Laws Against Discrimination in Home Financing |
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing sales or loans on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, familial status (having children under the age of 18), or handicap.
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination in any aspect of a credit transaction on the basis of race, religion, age, color, national origin, receipt of public assistance funds, sex, marital status, or the exercise of any right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act. |
Directory of Federal Agencies | ||||
The Department of Housing & Urban Developement (HUD) has primary responsibility for implementing the Fair Housing Act. | ||||
Office of Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity Dept. of Housing and Urban Developement Washington, DC 20410-2000 1-800-669-9777 http://www.hud.gov/complaints/housediscrim.cfm |
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Other federal agencies monitor compliance by particular types of lenders. | ||||
National Banks Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Customer Assistance Group 1301 McKinney St. Suite 3450 Houston, TX 77010 (800) 613-6743 www.occ.treas.gov |
State Member Banks of the Federal Reserve System Federal Reserve Consumer Help PO Box 1200 Minneapolis, MN 55480 888-851-1920 (Phone) 877-888-2520 (Fax) Email: ConsumerHelp@FederalReserve.gov www.FederalReserveConsumerHelp.gov | |||
Nonmember Federally Insured State Banks Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Consumer Response Center 2345 Grand Boulevard Suite 100 Kansas City, MO 64108 (877) ASK-FDIC (877-275-3342) www.fdic.gov |
Savings and Loan Associations Office of Thrift Supervision Consumer Programs 1700 G Street, NW, 6th Floor Washington, DC 20552 (800) 842-6929 www.ots.treas.gov | |||
Federal Credit Unions National Credit Union Administration Office of Public and Congressional Affairs 1775 Duke St. Alexandria, VA 22314 (800) 755-1030 (703) 518-6409 (Fax) www.ncua.gov |
Other Lenders Federal Trade Commission Consumer Response Center - 240 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580 (877) FTC-HELP (877-382-4357) www.ftc.gov | |||
Department of Justice Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 (202) 514-3301 www.usdoj.gov |