| Okay, so now they've gone too far. Pregnant women | | | | for possible discrimination. Are you pregnant and in the |
| are now denied home loans for mortgages because | | | | market to purchase a new home? Here are a few |
| of their pregnant status. Yet another rung to add onto | | | | things that you should know: |
| the ladder of maternal distress. The Pregnancy | | | | 1.The bank may ask you to purchase a home whose |
| Discrimination Act (PDA) was an amendment added in | | | | mortgage can be paid from one salary even in a |
| 1978 to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Yet, despite its | | | | dual-salaried household. |
| 32-year history, very little has changed. | | | | 2.The bank will recheck your financial situation right |
| In light of the mortgage collapse debacle, the rules of | | | | before the loan closes. This includes calling your |
| lending have tightened. Strict scrutiny is the order of | | | | employer to verify your employment. |
| the day but the lenders have taken things too far. Dr. | | | | 3.Your income has to be guaranteed to continue for at |
| Elizabeth Budde, an oncologist in Washington State | | | | least three years. |
| was pregnant with her first child and received an email | | | | 4.According to the Department of Housing and Urban |
| that her mortgage had been approved. However, the | | | | Development (HUD), your mortgage cannot be denied |
| email prompted an automatic response announcing | | | | because of pregnancy or short-term disability. |
| that she was on maternity leave and her lenders | | | | 5.A letter from your doctor (with a return date to |
| subsequently rescinded her mortgage. Banks demand | | | | work) and your employer (stating the return date and |
| "guaranteed" income and do not give credence to | | | | salary) should be enough to qualify your loan. |
| short-term disability. Dr. Budde finally obtained her | | | | 6.A lender cannot ask whether you are pregnant, but |
| mortgage because she had enough sick and annual | | | | can ask if your employment or income situation will |
| leave time that continued to pay her a full salary. | | | | change. |
| The federal government has vowed to protect the | | | | If you have been denied a mortgage because your |
| rights of pregnant women and is investigating lenders | | | | pregnancy, contact HUD immediately. |