Regulation B (Reg B)

What Is Regulation B (Reg B)?

Regulation B is intended to prevent applicants from being discriminated against in any aspect of a credit transaction. Reg B outlines the rules that lenders must adhere to when obtaining and processing credit information. The regulation prohibits lenders from discriminating based on age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, or marital status.

Understanding Regulation B (Reg B)

All lenders are required to comply with Regulation B when extending credit to borrowers. Reg B implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), which is regulated and enforced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Congress enacted the ECOA to ensure that financial institutions and firms dealing with credit make it equally available to all creditworthy customers. That means any feature that is not related to consumer credit cannot be used when making loan approval decisions.

Creditors that fail to comply with Reg B will be held liable for punitive damages up to $10,000 in individual actions. For class actions, the creditor could face a penalty of $500,000 or 1% of the creditor’s net worth, whichever is lower.

Regulation B covers the actions of a creditor before, during, and after a credit transaction. The CFPB lists credit transactions and aspects of credit transactions to include consumer credit, business credit, mortgage, and open-end credit. This list also includes refinancing, credit applications, information requirements, standards of creditworthiness, investigation procedures, and revocation or termination of credit.

When it comes to credit transactions, a creditor cannot discriminate:

Regulation B also mandates that lenders provide oral or written notice of rejection to failed applicants within 30 days of receiving their completed applications. The notice must explain why the applicant was rejected or give instructions for how the applicant can request this information. The spouses of rejected married applicants also have the right to this information. The information provided to applicants about the rejection helps them take constructive steps to build their credit. More importantly, it gives applicants the chance to correct the creditor's mistakes in evaluating the applicant's creditworthiness.

Special Considerations

Under Regulation B, a lender may not request information about an applicant’s sex, national origin, color, or other information not related to creditworthiness. However, there are certain times when such information can be collected from the applicant. For example, an applicant who puts down his home as collateral will have additional information collected for monitoring compliance.

Furthermore, an applicant's age can be requested if it appears that they cannot legally sign a contract. Creditors can ask about the number of children, their ages, and the borrower's financial obligations relating to the children. Marital status is also required if the applicant resides in a community property state.

A creditor may only request information from a loan applicant’s spouse if:

Benefits of Regulation B (Reg B)

The most important benefit of Regulation B is that it helps to prevent discrimination against women and minorities. Regulation B's prohibition of advertising that would discourage potential applicants from applying for loans is a crucial part of redlining cases. Redlining is an unethical and frequently illegal practice that denies loans or services to people living in majority-minority communities. Redlining has often been used to discriminate against Black Americans.

Reg B also helps anyone who is denied credit by requiring lenders to give them an explanation. Errors in credit reports are fairly common, and many people only find out about them after being denied credit. Without Regulation B's explanation requirement, many potential borrowers with errors in their credit reports would become discouraged and give up. Once people know the reason for the denial, there is a strong incentive to correct the credit reports and reapply.