UNIT 24. What Lenders Want to Know Before Extending Credit

1. Complete the sentences, using the appropriate words from the box:

Discrimination; deny; investigate; human rights commission; reinvestigating; file; turned down; key; repaid.

1. Any store, bank, or credit card company that extends credit to consumers wants to know that the money will be ….

2. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, protects consumers against credit … based on sex, marital status, race, color, religion, national origin, old age, or source of income.

3. Complaints should be directed to the state or local consumer affairs office or ….

4. The creditor may … you personally.

5. Information about you in a credit bureau’s files can be a … factor in determining whether you get loans, credit cards, or other forms of credit in the future.

6. If a credit report indicates that you are a poor risk, the creditor will probably … credit.

7. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act says that creditors must tell consumers why they were ….

8. Every consumer has the rights to learn the nature of information in his or her credit ….

9. If the credit bureau does not cooperate in correcting your credit file, you may complain to … the information.

2. Are the statements true (+) or false (-)? Correct the false statements.

1. A person who moves or changes jobs frequently might be considered reliable.

2. Bank regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Reserve Board and the Comptroller of the Currency, handle complaints against banks and bank credit cards.

3. Many states have laws that forbid credit discrimination.

4. Financial and personal information about consumers is often stored in computers but it can not be passed among the various bureaus.

5. If a credit report indicates that you are a poor risk, the creditor will probably give you credit.

6. Another federal law protects you from inaccurate credit bureau reporting.

7. The creditor can give you the name and address of the credit bureau that supplied the report.

8. Credit bureau are required to show consumers copies of the actual file.

9. If you discover false, misleading, incomplete, irrelevant, or out–of–date information in your file, you can require the credit bureau to recheck its information and correct the errors.