Newest Discrimination: PREGNANCY and Your Mortgage App

I closed on a house today where the buyer was asked by BANK OF AMERICA about their future child plans! Not if the wife was pregnant now, but FUTURE plans.

This is a young couple moving from their first to second home. At the last minute, the underwriter (of course) requested several more forms and more information. Okay, normal.

But one question they asked the husband was "Do you plan on having more children?"

WHOA.

Lani Rosales wrote about this recently on AgentGenius about this topic and her point was she was SHOCKED by the question. She didn't understand why more realtors were not outraged when this was pointed out in a Realtor Magazine article. It generated very little interest.

Well this buyer was insulted and not pleased. They have one gorgeous little girl now. They qualify for the new home on the husband's income alone. It is nobody's business if the wife is pregnant (she's not) or if they ever plan on having more children.

Why aren't more agents upset by this?

I am a full time worker and a mother of 2. I worked throughout 2 pregnancies. I understand if I had quit work our income would have dropped and perhaps we would have not been able to afford our house. I get that.

But in this case, the wife is a full time mother and her income would not "drop" if she got pregnant. How in the world does it matter?

Isn't this violating Fair Housing somehow? Discrimination?

In the past month other bloggers have posted about this being a lie (another mortgage blogger posted that lenders only ask this in case to see if the buyer will quit later, after getting pregnant). This is NOT THE CASE here and this is not hypothetical or third hand info.

This happened TODAY to a buyer client of mine and the lender was Bank of America.

 

Flickr photo courtesy CarbonNYC

 

 

 

 

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Erica Ramus is Broker/Owner of Realty Executives in Pottsville, PA. If you're looking for a PROFESSIONAL to represent you in all of your Schuylkill County real estate needs, call Realty Executives at 570-622-6006. Serving all of Schuylkill County ... Pottsville, Orwigsburg, Schuylkill Haven, Auburn, Pine Grove, Frackville, Minersville, Ashland, Shenandoah, Port Carbon, Palo Alto, St. Clair, Barnesville real estate. Click on the link above to search Pottsville PA homes for sale or any Schuylkill County homes for sale. We have all properties listed for sale in the Schuylkill MLS on our website -- free search! No registration is required!

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