Do small businesses fall within the protections of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)?
Yes. Similar to the protections provided to individual consumers, the ECOA provides protections to small businesses. The ECOA prohibits lending institutions from considering race, gender, marital status, national origin or religion when making a credit decision. Also, a lender cannot take into consideration the predominant race of the neighborhood where the borrower wishes to locate his or her business.
