Bank Discrimination???

[poker]

I want your opinion....

My bank has been advertising a 2% interest rate to consolidate balances from other CC's.... so I went in to take advantage as my HBC card is 30%. The girl helping me was the supervisor, and suggested that rather than just consolidate a few CC's it would be to my advantage to get a consolidation loan, close the CC acct's and in a few years, I'm completely debt free.... Tells me most ppl never really pay CC's off, just make payments and use them again. Made sense. I asked if a car loan would be possible after that, and she crunched the numbers telling me that I could get more than the $10 G's for a car that I would ask for and be fine (She explained that they look at 40% income to debt repayment ratio, and I was well under that).

Here's where it gets dodgy.... they wonder why my wife's income is only partial to what it should be for the year if she's full time. I explain, she had cancer a few years back, and recently had some surgery and was off work for a few months.... but rest assured, she's full time, great income, and has job security. The nice girl at the bank made a note on the application explaining that. So..... It comes back declined. They would like a co-signer. WTF??? Am I right to think that they are using my wife's medical history to make their decision? Is that legal?

 

[harvey16]

I used to work as a loan officer at a bank. Trust me, medical history would have ZERO impact on your loan being approved. All the bank really cares about is your credit history and income. If you could prove that your wife is a full time employee, that would usually suffice, but you do need proof. Usually you need a signed letter from your employer stating that you are full time and were just working less hours because of this circumstance. Unfortunetely the bank can't just take your word for it. It's crazy some of the lies people try and make up to get a mortgage or loan that they simply can't afford. People will say anything to try and get approved. I realize that your likely telling the truth, but the bank needs proof.

 

[drstrangelove]

I want your opinion....

My bank has been advertising a 2% interest rate to consolidate balances from other CC's.... so I went in to take advantage as my HBC card is 30%. The girl helping me was the supervisor, and suggested that rather than just consolidate a few CC's it would be to my advantage to get a consolidation loan, close the CC acct's and in a few years, I'm completely debt free.... Tells me most ppl never really pay CC's off, just make payments and use them again. Made sense. I asked if a car loan would be possible after that, and she crunched the numbers telling me that I could get more than the $10 G's for a car that I would ask for and be fine (She explained that they look at 40% income to debt repayment ratio, and I was well under that).

Here's where it gets dodgy.... they wonder why my wife's income is only partial to what it should be for the year if she's full time. I explain, she had cancer a few years back, and recently had some surgery and was off work for a few months.... but rest assured, she's full time, great income, and has job security. The nice girl at the bank made a note on the application explaining that. So..... It comes back declined. They would like a co-signer. WTF??? Am I right to think that they are using my wife's medical history to make their decision? Is that legal?

You didn't say why the bank declined your loan, did they tell you why? Not sure where you're getting the idea that discrimination played any part in their decision.

 

[poker]

I used to work as a loan officer at a bank. Trust me, medical history would have ZERO impact on your loan being approved. All the bank really cares about is your credit history and income. If you could prove that your wife is a full time employee, that would usually suffice, but you do need proof. Usually you need a signed letter from your employer stating that you are full time and were just working less hours because of this circumstance. Unfortunetely the bank can't just take your word for it. It's crazy some of the lies people try and make up to get a mortgage or loan that they simply can't afford. People will say anything to try and get approved. I realize that your likely telling the truth, but the bank needs proof.

I get that they need proof... but they are not asking for proof, they are asking for a co-signer. The supervisor is asking why, because she sees a good loan. The wife and I have both had our pay cheques direct deposited there for years and years.... we have some history. Why I'm saying Medical history is simply because, she is no longer eligible for insurance on our Mortgage because she had cancer. Cancer can come back... The ppl in the loan office who make the approvals know this because the girl included that in her note explaining the income... seems like discrimination to me.... but I'm quite pissed at the moment....

 

[Rockslinger]

No bank discrimination in the U.S. The banks there will lend money to anybody that can say "I want money".

 

[rld]

I get that they need proof... but they are not asking for proof, they are asking for a co-signer. The supervisor is asking why, because she sees a good loan. The wife and I have both had our pay cheques direct deposited there for years and years.... we have some history. Why I'm saying Medical history is simply because, she is no longer eligible for insurance on our Mortgage because she had cancer. Cancer can come back... The ppl in the loan office who make the approvals know this because the girl included that in her note explaining the income... seems like discrimination to me.... but I'm quite pissed at the moment....

Rather than speculating all over the place, why not just ask them...why was my application declined.

Banks must assess their risk when making loans. I don't think they are likely using medical information as a factor, why do you think that would be prohibited?

 

[KBear]

... my HBC card is 30%. ...

omg, 30% is like an ongoing robbery.

I've never done loans, but would expect the bank would look the credit history, and at the number of credit cards, loans, and their balance, as it would show a trend. I’ve seen perfect credit report payment histories, but the reports also showed a number of cards, loans and outstanding balances that was a concern. If you have multiple credit cards that are close to maxed out, the bank might be reluctant to help.

 

[danibbler]

I’ve seen perfect credit report payment histories, but the reports also showed a number of cards, loans and outstanding balances that was a concern. If you have multiple credit cards that are close to maxed out, the bank might be reluctant to help.

Especially when the OP says that "in a few years, I'm completely debt free". When someone is using their department store card it's usually a sign (to me at least) that they've maxed out their usual CC suspects.

 

[Cassini]

The story makes me think the bank is computing the loans based on the wife's income. If that is the case, they will want the wife to cosign.

Also, banks are spooked by credit cards. You might want to check if you have any undisclosed credit cards in your name or your wifes. Just because you aren't using the card, doesn't mean the offer of credit does not still exist. Banks don't like this, as you could get a new card tomorrow, and start racking up purchases and interest on the other cards.

 

[Thunderballs]

First, it is their money. You don't have a God given right to it and they can decline you for a number of reasons so don't be so quick to claim discrimination. You may have something in your credit history that works against you or maybe your wife does. You should look at your credit report that you can get from Equifax. https://www.econsumer.equifax.ca/index_en.html Second, as someone pointed out, you may have too high a level of consumer credit available to you. Some people think that having multiple credit cards is a good sign that you are credit worthy. But a bank looks at that as the amount of potential debt that you may take on which diminishes their likelihood of being repaid.

 

[Scooter Brown]

Two things caught my attention.
1) You are mentioning HBC. Why HBC? You don't have "normal" Visa, MC, Amex? Not a good sign.
2) Mentioning 30% interest rate on your HBC and 2% on a new CC raises very serious concern, and tells me that you deal with balance carry over, money advances etc. Vary bad sign.

I don't know all the details and don't claim that I understand your case, but, honestly, these two things alone would raise a red flag with me if I were a banker. I'm sure they checked your credit score and were not impressed, that's probably why you got declined. I don't see any other reason for their action. In a nutshell, they need someone else to guarantee for your loan because they don't trust you. If you had a good score, they would chase you! Check it yourself:
http://www.consumer.equifax.ca/home/en_ca
It will probably give you the answer where you stand. Your score doesn't depend so much on your income - it's about how reliably you return borrowed money.

(One note: as absurd as it sounds - if you've never taken a loan, never had CCs, your score would suck!)

 

[Madeline Rhodes]

I want to mention something that many people are not aware of...

Do yourself a favour and stop letting them talk you into applying for store cards/random cards when you are out and about. The free graft, or gift card are not worth it.

Every time you let them put in an application... A credit check is done. At the banks level they see how many hits you've gotten and that will make them wary of you as they think you are collecting credit and loans and have the potential to run it up.

 

[John Henry]

The story makes me think the bank is computing the loans based on the wife's income. If that is the case, they will want the wife to cosign.

Also, banks are spooked by credit cards. You might want to check if you have any undisclosed credit cards in your name or your wifes. Just because you aren't using the card, doesn't mean the offer of credit does not still exist. Banks don't like this, as you could get a new card tomorrow, and start racking up purchases and interest on the other cards.

Exactly .. you might have too credit available on your credit cards and the banks think that if you start using that credit then you would'nt be able to pay back the loan . It happened to me . I had 5 CC and had to cancel 2 of them before I got the loan . I too had cancer 11 years ago ( all gone for now ) and had no problem in getting a loan for a new car .