AAT@vtmsl.bitnet (Asif Taiyabi) (10/24/90)
Since there was a posting some time back whether Non U.S citizens
could be denied credit legally, I am posting the information I
received on one of the Universal Card brochures --
And I quote:
"The Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits creditors
from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of
race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status,
age (provided that the applicant has the capacity to enter into
a contract ); because all or part of the applicant's income
derives from any public assistance program; or because the
applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the
Consumer Credit Protection Act. The Federal agency that
administers compliance with this law concerning Universal Bank
is the Regional Director, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
Marquis One Tower, 245 Peachtree Center Avenue N.E. Suite 1200
Atlanta, Georgia 30303"
Sorry No E-mail address provided :-)
at/..vu0425@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (vu0425) (10/25/90)
In article <13969@accuvax.nwu.edu> AAT@vtmsl.bitnet (Asif Taiyabi) writes: >Since there was a posting some time back whether Non U.S citizens >could be denied credit legally, I am posting the information I >received on one of the Universal Card brochures -- As far as I recall, a federal judge ruled that non-US citizens could be denied credit legally, and that the Equal Credit Laws did not apply to them. But then again, I'm a permanent resident, and I've never had a problem getting any credit. I've got a whole slew of high interest credit cards, an auto loan (as of yesterday morning!). However, look at it from the point of view of the creditor. I could, if I wanted, skip the country tomorrow, stick my car on a ship, take it back to my country of origin; take all my credit cards to their limit. What're my creditors going to do? Try to have me extradited for owing them between 3000-10000 dollars each? Sounds rational, but it's pretty impossible. In the meantime I could be zooming around in the streets of Bombay in my shiny new Ford Taurus, spending all the hundreds of thousands of rupees that I ripped of these "foreign" credit card companies. Therefore, until there exist better international agreements on such matters, I have no problems with the fact that Equal Credit laws do not apply to non-citizens.
max@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (Max Southall) (10/26/90)
Well ... I know that it is downright difficult if not de facto impossible for non-resident aliens to obtain credit in this country. What with the effect of the 1986 Immigration Reform Act (!) it is not likely that there can be an appeal made on the basis of non-discrimin- ation. In reality, non-U.S. citizens are not entitled to the same legal guarantees as resident aliens or citizens.