Our voice matters, too!
                 Enforce the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)
                        Banks need to comply with this law

Hi! I’m Tina Alexander, a single mother of four. For years, I had struggled to raise my family out of the cycle of poverty. We were living in conditions so horrific that they literally made me too sick to hold a job. I really wanted to make our lives better and wanted to buy a home for us. In 2011, I learned that I could use my housing assistance to help pay a home loan. I hoped this would help me get my family out of a bad situation.
I applied for a home loan for a chance to have a secure and safe home for my children, in a place where they could grow up with opportunities to succeed in life.
Imagine how I felt when my lender told me that their policy did not allow them to accept my voucher as income on my loan application. I felt trapped.
Through some research and to my surprise, I learned that.

             "A Creditor’s Refusal to Consider an Applicant’s
              Section 8 Public Assistance Income and Other
              Public Assistance Income In Connection with a
              Mortgage Application Constitutes A Violation Of
              ECOA And Regulation B." CFPB Amicus Brief Feb 23, 2016

         http://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/amicus/briefs/alexander-ameripro-funding/

I am far from an isolated case. Over two million families are stranded in poverty, relying on Section 8. All of them are potential homeowners, but, sadly, less than 1% of these families have made the transition to home ownership. Why? Because most lenders, such as Wells Fargo, have policies against accepting vouchers as qualifying income, thus ignoring ECOA. ECOA bans discrimination in lending, including against those who receive government housing assistance. Unfortunately, families are told regularly, “don’t waste the time to fill out the loan application because the bank won’t even consider you.”
We don’t need new laws to open the door to home ownership for millions of Americans. We don't even need money. All that is needed is for lenders to follow a law that has been in force for 42 years, ECOA, a law born outof the Civil Rights movement.
So, please, stand up for over two million families in the United States and sign this petition.
We are petitioning the President of the United States, the Department of Justice, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to enforce the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
We are petitioning the U.S. Congress to take such action as is needed to protect all of their constituents.
Finally, we are petitioning Wells Fargo, as one of the largest mortgage lenders in the U.S., to comply with ECOA, immediately.