When applying for credit, be aware of discriminatory practices such as:

• Denying credit due to an applicant's age, race, religion, color, national origin, etc.
  
• Refusing a person credit because of the credit rating of the spouse (unless it's a joint account).
  
• Not considering alimony and child support as income.
  
• Refusing to consider a spouse's verifiable income when a couple applies for joint credit.
  
• Demanding financial information about a spouse, when the applicant is individually creditworthy.
  
• Termination or revision of terms for a credit transaction because of a change in the applicant's name or marital status (as long as no change has occurred in the borrower's ability or willingness to pay).
  

Should you be denied credit due to existing credit report information, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the credit-reporting agency to provide this information to you. If a lender does not approve your credit application, write to the lender within 60 days and request a written explanation. The lender must provide an answer within 30 days and name the credit bureau and other sources that provided information about you.

If your credit application was denied because of credit bureau information, you have the right to find out what is in your file. You may request a free copy of your credit report from the bureau within 60 days to determine what information caused your application to be turned down.