Not collecting the age could be tricky to avoid age discrimination, even for a well-intentioned bank. How would you prove that you are lending to individuals of legal age to enter into an agreement? The regulation allows a bank to treat applicant age 62 and older more favorably than those age 61 and younger, but any other age difference is illegal. Reverse mortgage programs requires the borrower to be 62 or older. How would you prove that you were not discriminating based on age?
Marital status..I think would be the same. Proponents of the law believe divorced women were being treated particularly unfairly by lenders. How would you prove that you are not discriminating....
I would think that it is best to collect both. \
Then again, would the examiners prove it????
When you get into mortgages you'll have some requirements on the monitoring data.
What does your loan policy require and what risks do you accept for safety and soundness?
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Andy Zavoina
Opinions stated are not necessarily that of my employer.
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Opinions expressed are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
The point about ask all customers the same thing is also critical to successful compliance. If you ever need to know a customer's age, you had better ask all customers the same question. Procedures and consistency are important in fair lending questions.