[§477E-3] Prohibited credit discrimination. (a) It shall be unlawful for any creditor to discriminate against any applicant on the basis of marital status with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction.
(b) An inquiry of marital status shall not constitute discrimination for the purposes of this chapter if such inquiry is for the purpose of ascertaining the creditor's rights and remedies applicable to the particular extension of credit, and not to discriminate in a determination of creditworthiness.
(c) A request for the signature of both parties to a marriage for the purpose of creating a valid lien, passing clear title, waiving inchoate rights to, or assigning the earnings and profits, in any transaction involving real property shall not be construed to be discrimination under this part; provided that this provision shall not be construed to permit a creditor to take marital status into account in connection with the evaluation of creditworthiness of any applicant.
(d) Consideration or application of the real property laws directly or indirectly affecting creditworthiness shall not constitute discrimination for any purpose of this chapter.
(e) Whenever either party to a marriage contracts separately for credit or a loan, the contracting party shall be solely responsible for the debt so contracted.
(f) Whenever each party to a marriage separately and voluntarily applies for, and obtains, separate credit accounts or loans with the same creditor, those accounts or loans shall not be aggregated, or otherwise combined, for purposes of determining permissible finance charges, or permissible loan ceilings. [L 1975, c 109, pt of §1]