To avoid credit problems, it is imperative that all
women educate themselves about credit and money
management and establish and maintain their own
credit, separate from their husbands. This means
that single women with an established credit history
should maintain their separate credit identity if
they decide to marry. Similarly, already married
women who share their husbands' credit should build
a credit file in their own names with as few ties as
possible to their husbands' credit.
Women often have difficulty developing their own
credit histories, and have some of the special
credit-related issues commonly faced by women and
talk about how best to deal with those issues.
Opportunity Act
When building your own credit, it is important to
know about the federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act
(ECOA). Enacted in 1974, the ECOA was written to
help ensure that among other things women are not
denied access to credit simply because of their
Women Have Problems with Credit.
Women Have Problems with Credit
Without a credit identity of their own, women who
experience marital status changes are likely to have
problems with credit. Credit-related problems tend
to be the result of a number of factors including:
The role women traditionally played in the
American economy, their tendency to take their
husbands' names and their reliance on their husbands
to handle money matters, such as credit
applications, loans, etc.
The general lack of knowledge regarding
credit reporting and how credit information is
reported to credit bureaus.
A lack of understanding on the part of both
men and women regarding the importance of a woman
having a credit history completely separate from
that of her husband.
In the past, most women did not work outside the
home, and consumer credit was acquired and
maintained in the name of a woman’s husband rather
than in her name or in both of their names. Although
many women helped manage their household's finances
-and in some cases even helped pay for their
family's use of credit-most never developed their
own credit identities. These women were financial
nonentities in the eyes of creditors and the credit
reporting industry.
Today, increasing numbers of women have moved into
the workplace, and two income households are the
norm rather than the exception. Also, the federal
Equal Credit Opportunity Act, explained in detail
later, now makes it easier for women to obtain
credit.
Despite these important changes, many women, like
consumers in general, remain relatively uninformed
about credit, credit bureaus and the credit
reporting process. Women also tend not to understand
the critical importance of having credit in their
own names, and consequently, they do not.
However, in a society where many women delay
marriage to establish their careers and wives tend
to outlive their husbands, women cannot afford to
remain financially naive and vulnerable. Women need
to know how to manage their own money and credit
whether they are single, married, widowed or
divorced. If married, women specifically need to
actively participate in the management of their
family's finances and maintain or develop their own
credit identities.
