Getting a Credit Card for Stay at Home Parent Gets Easier

According to a story posted on The Huffington Post, the federal agency responsible for regulating credit cards has recently improved access to credit for stay at home parents. Prior to 2009, credit card issuers often considered the income and assets of a working parent when deciding whether to issue a credit card to a stay at home parent, who might have limited income or no income. Then Congress passed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act), which was intended to limit the proliferation of credit card marketing to college students who were borrowing more than they could pay. The CARD Act authorized the Federal Reserve Board to issue regulations that had unintended consequences. By removing consideration of household income from credit card applications, the CARD Act regulations placed credit cards out of the reach of unemployed stay at home parents. Those regulations have been reversed by the newly-formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Now credit card issuers may consider third-party income if the applicant is over 21 years old and has a reasonable expectation of access to the income.