If youre an older consumer who has paid with cash all your life, you may find it difficult to open a credit account. Thats because you have no credit history of how you paid on credit. If your income has decreased, you may find it harder to get a loan because you have insufficient income. Or, if your spouse dies, you may find creditors trying to close joint accounts. A joint account is one for which both spouses applied and signed the credit agreement.
Under the federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), its against the law for a creditor to deny you credit or terminate existing credit simply because of your age. This brochure explains your rights and offers tips for applying for and maintaining credit.
Applying for Credit
Applying for credit used to mean asking your neighborhood banker for a loan. Now, with national credit cards and computerized applications, the day of personal evaluations may be over. Instead, computer evaluations look at, among other things, your income, payment history, credit card accounts, and any outstanding balances. Paying in cash and in full may be sound financial advice, but they wont give you a payment history that helps you...