Markham v. Colonial Mortgage Serv. Co.

While engaged but not yet married, the Markhams (plaintiffs) jointly applied to Colonial (defendant) for a mortgage; Colonial refused to aggregate their individual incomes for creditworthiness purposes, even though it would have done so had they already been married, and rejected the application as insufficient based on their separate incomes. The Markhams sued under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which bars creditors from discriminating based on sex or marital status; the district court granted Colonial summary judgment, reasoning its decision was reasonable.