A congressional committee was informed today by the National Retail Federation (NRF) that federal regulation meant to protect consumers is actually hurting women in their ability to obtain credit.
The laws, which were only put int place last year, takes away a guarantee that women will be able to be reconsidered for past credit inquiries or when the try to establish credit under their own name.
When the law was initiated by Congress, it was meant to target young people who might be lured into obtaining too much credit card debt. Unfortunately, when the Federal Reserve put the regulations into place, it encompassed all credit card holders, no matter how old they were. This placed an unnecessary restraint on certain women.
Since women who stay at home typically do not have income of their own, they are now being unfairly categorized. The regulations made it virtually impossible for them to secure credit on their own since it only allowed credit to be secured using the total household incomes, and not that of an individual.
Jurisdiction over the issue has now been assigned to the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The NRF has asked this new department to consider revising the regulation, specifically the requirement of income, so that it reflects Congress’ original intention in regards to the limitation of credit cards to those under the age of 21.
