Nevada Amends Anti-Discrimination Prohibitions for Credit Applicants

Effective October 1, 2019, Nevada Senate Bill 311 (SB 311) will amend state anti-discrimination law by adding new prohibited bases and expanding the existing protections for marital status to allow an applicant for credit who has no credit history and was married to request that a creditor deem the applicant’s credit history to be identical to that of the applicant’s spouse during their marriage.

Currently, under the Nevada Equal Credit Opportunity Law, it is unlawful for any creditor to discriminate against any credit applicant on the basis of the applicant’s sex or marital status with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction.  SB 311 expands these protections to also include race, color, creed, religion, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression.  It also adds a new definition of “marital status” that includes “all states of being married or unmarried,” including being single, separated, divorced, or widowed.  The amendments further provide that if a credit applicant (i) has no credit history, (ii) was or is married, (iii) requests that the creditor deem the applicant’s credit history to be identical to the applicant’s spouse’s credit history established during the marriage, and (iv) provides, upon request, evidence of the marriage’s existence and the dates of the marriage and its end (if applicable), the creditor “must deem the credit history of the applicant to be identical to the credit history of the applicant’s spouse which was established during the marriage.”

Note that the provisions of SB 311 regarding reliance on a spouse’s credit history address certain issues that are also covered by federal laws like ECOA and FCRA.  A creditor should carefully consider the interplay between these state and federal requirements before utilizing the credit history of an applicant’s spouse for purposes of SB 311.  Along these lines, we note that the Nevada Mortgage Lenders Association, the Nevada Bankers Association, and the Credit Union League have submitted a joint letter to Nevada Banking Commissioner Rickisha Hightower discussing potential conflicts between Nevada and federal law.