Consumer Handbook to credit protection

A creditor may consider whether income is steady and reliable, ble, so be prepared to show that you can count on uninterrupted income--particularly if the source is alimony payments or part-time wages. Your Own Accounts. Many married women used to be turned down down when they asked for credit in their own name. Or, a husband had t cosign an account--agree to pay if the wife didn't--even when a woman's own income could easily repay the loan. Single women couldn't get loans because they were thought to be somehow less reliable than other applicants. You now have a fight to your own credit, based on your own credit records and earnings. Your own credit means a separate account or loan in your own name--not a joint account with your husband or a duplicate card on his account. Here are the rules:

-- Creditors may not refuse to open an account just because of your gender or marital status. . -- You can choose to use your first name and maiden name (Mary Smith); your first name and husband's last name (Mary y Jones); or a combined last name (Mary Smith-Jones). -- If you're creditworthy, a creditor may not ask your husband to cosign your account, with certain exceptions when n property rights are involved. -- Creditors may not ask for information about your husband or ex-husband when you apply for your own credit based on your own income--unless that income is alimony, child support, , or separate maintenance payments from your spouse or former spouse. This last rule, of course, does not apply if your husband is d is going to use your account or be responsible for paying your debts on the account, or if you live in a community property state. (Community property states are: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.) Change in Marital Status. Married women have sometimes faced aced severe hardships when cut off from credit after their husbands died. Single women have had accounts closed when they married, and married women have had accounts closed after a divorce. The law says that creditors may not make you reapply for credit just because you marry or become widowed or divorced. Nor may they close your account o change the terms of your account on these grounds. There must be some sign that your creditworthiness has changed. For example, creditors may ask you to reapply if you relied on your ex-husband's income to get credit in the first place.