Consumer Car Buying Advice Blog

In which we answer the question whether or not being married helps when it comes to applying for a bad credit auto loan.

We get questions

Here at Auto Credit Express it’s always good to get back to the basics. Today, that means discussing the relationship between your marital status and bad credit car loans. But there really is no discussion at all as it turns out that it doesn’t matter if you have a marriage certificate or not. In fact, there’s a federal law that covers this very topic

ECOA

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, or ECOA, basically states that a creditor, such as a bank or other type of lender, can judge a customer only on their ability to repay a debt and not on any other factors. One recent example of a lender failing to follow the rules culminated in a settlement between the Justice Department and Compass Bank of Alabama. According to a Justice Department release:

“The government’s complaint alleges that Compass Bank violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which makes it unlawful for any creditor to discriminate against any applicant based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status or age by unlawfully charging higher interest rates to co-applicants for automobile loans who were not married to each other than to co-applicants who were married.”

The implications for bad credit loan applicants

Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim had this to say about the court’s decision: “Under the law, marital status should have no effect on an individual’s access to credit…” This means that a lender is not allowed to ask you if you are married or not when you, as an individual, apply for a loan. It also means that if you apply for a loan as a couple, unless you live in a community property state (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas or Washington), the creditor, if permitted, can only ask if you are married, unmarried or divorced. Finally, the creditor cannot charge you a higher interest rate if you are unmarried.

As we see it

At Auto Credit Express we want you to know your rights when it comes to applying for a bad credit car loan. Our affiliate dealers are aware of the law and will work with the leading subprime lenders to get you approved for an auto loan. Your credit report will get checked by the dealer, but once you’re approved, each month you make your car payment you are rebuilding your credit score and reestablishing your financial future.

Unlike many other services, we belong to the Better Business Bureau and our web site is SSL secured, ensuring the privacy of your personal information. Since our inception, we have processed over a million online bad credit auto loan applications and closed over 1 Billion dollars in auto loans.

Visit www.autocreditexpress.com to see what we can do for you.

Tags: auto loan, Auto Loans, bad credit, car loan, car loans, compass bank, compass bank of alabama, credit, credit score, ecoa, equal credit opportunity act, subprime

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