547.06 UNLAWFUL DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES: CREDIT TRANSACTIONS.

   (a)    It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice:

      (1)    For any creditor to:

         A.    Discriminate against any applicant for credit in the granting, withholding, extending or renewing of credit, or in the fixing of the rates, terms or conditions of any form of credit on the basis of race, natural hair types and natural hair styles commonly associated with race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, sex, national origin, handicap or ancestry, or place of birth except that this section shall not apply with respect to age in any real estate transaction between a financial institution, a dealer in intangibles or an insurance company, as these terms are defined in Ohio R.C. 5725.01 and its customers;

         B.    Use or make any inquiry as to the race, natural hair types and natural hair styles commonly associated with race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, sex, national origin, handicap, ancestry, or place of birth for the purpose of limiting or specifying those persons to whom credit will be granted, except that an inquiry of marital status does not constitute discrimination for the purposes of this section if the inquiry is made for the purpose of ascertaining the creditor's rights and remedies applicable to the particular extension of credit and except that creditors are excepted from this section with respect to any inquiry, elicitation of information, record or form of application required of such creditor by instrumentality or agency of the United States or required of such creditor by any agency of instrumentality to enforce the "Civil Rights Act of 1968", 82 STAT 34, 42 U.S.C.A. Section 36.08(c);

         C.    Refuse to consider the sources of income of an applicant for credit or disregard or ignore the income of an applicant in whole or in part, on the basis of race, natural hair types and natural hair styles commonly associated with race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, handicap, sex, national origin, or place of birth;

         D.    Refuse to grant credit to an individual, in any name that individual customarily uses, if it has been determined in the normal course of business, that the creditor will grant credit to the individual;

         E.    Impose any special requirements or conditions including, but not limited to, a requirement for co-obligers or reapplication, upon any applicant or class of applicants on the basis of race, natural hair types and natural hair styles commonly associated with race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, sex, national origin, handicap, ancestry, or place of birth in circumstances where similar requirements or conditions are not imposed on other applicants similarly situated, unless the special requirements or conditions imposed on other applicants similarly situated, unless the special requirements or conditions imposed with respect to age are the result of a real estate transaction exempted under Section 547.06(a)(1)A., or are the result of programs that grant preferences to certain age groups administered by instrumentalities or agencies of the United State, a state or political subdivision of a state;

         F.    Fail or refuse to provide an applicant for credit a written statement of the specific reasons for rejection of the application if requested in writing by the applicant within sixty days of the rejection. The creditor shall provide the written statement of the specific reason for rejection within thirty days after receipt of such request. For purposes of this section a statement that the applicant was rejected solely on the basis of information received from a credit reporting agency or because the applicant failed to meet the standards required by the creditor's credit scoring system, uniformly applied, shall constitute a specific reason for rejection;

         G.    Fail or refuse to print on or firmly attach to each application for credit in a type size no smaller than that used throughout most of the application form, the following notice: "The Ohio laws against discrimination require that all creditors make credit equally available to all credit worthy customers, and that credit reporting agencies maintain separate credit histories on each individual upon request. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission administers compliance with this law." This notice is not required to be included in applications that have a multi-state distribution if the notice is mailed to the applicant with the notice of acceptance or rejection of the application;

         H.    Fail or refuse on the basis of race, natural hair types and natural hair styles commonly associated with race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, sex, national origin, handicap, ancestry, or place of birth to maintain upon the request of the individual, a separate account for each individual to whom credit is extended;

         I.    Fail or refuse on the basis of race, natural hair types and natural hair styles commonly associated with race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, sex, national origin, handicap, ancestry, or place of birth to maintain records on any account established after the effective date of passage of this section, and to furnish information on the accounts to credit reporting agencies in a manner that clearly designates the contractual liability for repayment as indicated on the application for the account, and if more than one individual is contractually liable for repayment to maintain records and furnish information in the name of each individual. This section does not apply to individuals who are contractually liable only if the primary party defaults on the account.

      (2)   For any credit reporting agency to:

         A.    Fail or refuse on the basis of race, natural hair types and natural hair styles commonly associated with race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, sex, national origin, handicap, ancestry, or place of birth to clearly note, maintain, upon the request of the individual, a separate file on each individual about whom information is assembled or evaluated;

         B.    Fail or refuse on the basis of race, natural hair types and natural hair styles commonly associated with race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, sex, national origin, handicap, ancestry, or place of birth to maintain and report any information furnished it under subsection(a)(1) I, hereof.

   (b)    This section does not prohibit a creditor from requesting the signature of both spouses to create a valid lien, pass clear title or waive inchoate rights to property.

   (c)    Nothing contained in this section shall bar a creditor from reviewing an application for credit on the basis of established criteria used in the normal course of business for the determination of the credit worthiness of the individual applicant for credit, including the credit history of the applicant.

      (Ord. 21-86. Passed 3-17-21.)