We recommend that you obtain verbal confirmation of joint intent from the applicant during the telephone call in which the application is made and retain documentation of the conversation with the loan file. Regulation B does not require you to obtain written confirmation of intent to apply for joint credit; it merely suggests that an applicant’s signature “may be used” for that purpose. 

As federal savings association, your institution is examined by the OCC. During examinations, the OCC instructs its examiners to ask several questions about documenting intent to apply for credit jointly:

• “15. How does the bank determine whether married applicants intend to apply jointly or Fair Lending Comptroller’s Handbook for Compliance individually?”

• “16. For joint applications, do application files indicate an applicant’s intent to apply for joint credit at the time of application? (202.7(d)(1)- 3).”

It also may be helpful to share guidance from the former OTS. While this guidance has been rescinded, due to the Dodd-Frank Act’s elimination of the OTS, it is valuable as an eloquent explanation of the need to document joint intent: 

Signature Requirement — § 202.7(d)

Among the key sections of Regulation B as it relates to sex and marital status discrimination are the ones regarding the signatures a financial institution may require when granting a loan. The purpose of these sections is to permit people (and particularly women) who are creditworthy in their own right to obtain credit on their own by removing, to the greatest possible extent, any dependence on a spouse (including guarantors, sureties, endorsers, and other similar parties).

 For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Regulation B, Official Interpretations, 12 CFR 1002, Paragraph 7(d)(1), Comment 3 (“A person’s intent to be a joint applicant must be evidenced at the time of application. Signatures on a promissory note may not be used to show intent to apply for joint credit. On the other hand, signatures or initials on a credit application affirming applicants’ intent to apply for joint credit may be used to establish intent to apply for joint credit. (See Appendix B.) The method used to establish intent must be distinct from the means used by individuals to affirm the accuracy of information. For example, signatures on a joint financial statement affirming the veracity of information are not sufficient to establish intent to apply for joint credit.”)

• OCC Comptroller’s Handbook, Fair Lending, printed pages 125 and 143

• OTS Handbook, Fair Lending, page 11