Women in the U.S. were first allowed to use their income to qualify for a mortgage after the passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) of 1974.
Before this law, lenders often:
- Required a husband or male cosigner, even if the woman earned enough income.
- Discounted or ignored a woman’s salary, assuming she would stop working if she married or became pregnant.
- Denied single, divorced, or widowed women credit outright.
The ECOA (effective October 28, 1974) made it illegal for creditors to discriminate on the basis of sex or marital status. That was the turning point when women could finally use their income on its own to qualify for mortgages and other forms of credit.
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