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anywhoo asked in Business & FinanceCredit · 10 years ago

Under 21, credit cards, employment and the Card Act?

I see many answerers on here saying that the new laws requires anyone under the age of 21 to have a job for at least a year. Where do you find that particular information in the Card Act?

For those who hadn't read the Card Act concerning the under 21 crowd and credit cards (I'm not talking about co-signing) here is the part of the Card Act for the under 21 applicants ..

(ii) submission by the consumer of financial information, including through an application, indicating an independent means of repaying any obligation arising from the proposed extension of credit in connection with the account.

All it says is "independent means". To get a broader picture of independent means for 'all' applicants here is ..

6500 - Consumer Protection

PART 202—EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY (REGULATION B)

§ 202.6 Rules concerning evaluation of applications.

(5) Income. A creditor shall not discount or exclude from consideration the income of an applicant or the spouse of an applicant because of a prohibited basis or because the income is derived from part-time employment or is an annuity, pension, or other retirement benefit; a creditor may consider the amount and probable continuance of any income in evaluating an applicant's creditworthiness. When an applicant relies on alimony, child support, or separate maintenance payments in applying for credit, the creditor shall consider such payments as income to the extent that they are likely to be consistently made.

No where in 202.6 does it say that the applicant 'must' be employed or that there is a length of time. In fact independent means could also mean, SSDI, inheritance, an ongoing monthly stipend, etc., etc., etc.

So, where are people getting their information from the Card Act that an under 21 applicant must be employed and, more importantly, be employed for a year or longer?

Update:

Thank you for your response Huntsman. But these aren't little kids, they are old enough to fight and possibly die for our country. Unfortunately so many people of all ages are sorely lacking in even the basics of credit. So yes, I agree that they shouldn't be messing around with credit cards until they understand how credit works and how to use it wisely.

Update 2:

Thank you for your response bdancer. But all of the answers that I'm referring to, including yours, state that it's because of the new law. Not one person, that I've seen, had said that the length of the job history would be determined by the creditor. Which misleads people into thinking it's a federal law instead of a creditors opinion, which could possibly be overridden by a reconsideration. Also, by your remarks I take it that you believe that someone between the age of 18-21 who receives their money from SSDI, child support, inherited half a million dollars, etc., wouldn't qualify for a card simply because they aren't employed? In the past many creditors had even accepted student loans as income, even though student loans aren't income, and many of them continue to accept it as income after the Card Act. When you get right down to it, if the creditors want their cards in the hands of the 18-21 crowd then they will find the way to do it.

They've even found a way around the new law a

Update 3:

about the non-working spouses .. where there's a will there's a way. (this last part was chopped)

2 Answers

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  • 10 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    I'll change the wording.

    Sometimes it's kids without a job trying to get these cards

    (I was trying to keep things really simple for these little kids)

    If they haven't had a job for at least one year - they should not be messing around with a credit card - perhaps I should be more specific - and I will

    But please understand - these are little kids we are dealing with

  • 10 years ago

    The Card Act does not require employment. It just says sufficient INCOME to qualify.

    The minimum one year employment and sufficient wages is a requirement the credit card company will want. Even that may not be enough to get approved. It's a matter of stable work history to determine creditworthiness when there is no credit history. The Card Act ain't got a thing to do with it.

    Source(s): BD
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