Cleveland Women's

Counsel

C.W.C. is an organization created, controlled, and supported by women. We exist to serve as a support system for women in Cleveland. We offer groups for women experiencing divorce, being over 40, lesbian, and wanting general consciousness-raising, referrals to lawyers, doctors, therapists, etc.; a "knowing" ear when you're feeling lonely, lost, or crazy; and just plain sound information that can help you manage your life better. This month we'd like to share some information about credit rights for women.

At the federal level the Equal Credit Opportunity Act became effective October 28th, 1975. At the state level, Amended Substitute HB 151 was passed in September, 1975 and went into effect January 14th, 1976.

Simply stated, both these acts prohibit any person who regularly extends credit (or who arranges for the extension of credit) from treating any applicant less favorably than other applicants on the basis of sex or marital status.

The regulations set forth a variety of prohibited acts, the most important of which are listed below:

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A creditor cannot discount a woman's salary or fail to consider money derived from part-time employment, alimony, or child custody payments.

A creditor cannot inquire into childbearing or birth control methods.

He/she cannot require use of your married name. You may use your married name, or your own christian name, e.g.. Mrs. June Smith, rather than Mrs. John J. Smith.

Where inquiries into marital status are permitted, the inquiry is limited to, mamed, unmarried, or separated status (unmarried includes divorced, widowed, or single).

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p.o. box 18472

clove. hts., oh. 44118 321-8585

A creditor cannot require the designation Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., etc.

He/she cannot refuse to grant a separate account for a credit-worthy applicant.

A creditor may not require the signature of a spouse or any other person on a credit instrument (e.g., car loan) if that person is credit-worthy, except where under State law, a signature is necessary to create a valid lien, pass clear title or waive inchoate rights to property..

A creditor must notify an applicant within reasonable time of the action taken on an application and if refused the reasons for the denial of credit.

The statute requires that after November. 1976, a creditor must determine for every account, new or existing, whether the account is one which an applicant's spouse is allowed to use. If both spouses are permitted to use the account, when collecting infor. mation for consumer reporting agencies, a creditor must record and report information in the name of each spouse, thus enabling both spouses to establish individual credit histories.

New Group Series

Divorce-East Side-Nov. 16 Divorce-West Side-Nov. 23

Lesbian Support-Dec. 6

Consciousness Raising-East-Dec. 7

CALL CWC AT 321-8585 MON. WED. FRI.–9:30-2:30 TUES. 7-9

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page 10/What She Wants/November. 1977

Women's Growth Cooperative

NEW GROUPS AND WORKSHOPS

Out of the Closet: A group for lesbian women

6 Thursday evenings beginning Nov. 3. This group is for lesbian women in the process of being more open with themselves, family, friends, or work situations about their lesbianism and/or trying to establish a sense of community with other lesbian and feminist women. We will work on creating our own rites of passage in making these transitions.

Values, Time, and Money

3 Tuesdays evenings, Nov. 15, 22, 29. This group will assist each woman in identifying her own values, then sort priorities for the use of her time and money, The goal is to make clearer more self-defined choices about where our resources and energies are used.

Fat Shop: for fat women

Nov. 13 at 11am-4pm. This workshop is designed for women who literally are fat, not just worried about it as most women are. We will support each other in identify ing, sharing, and dealing with messages about fatness that we've accepted and which shape our self-concepts and behavior.

Interface 1: Lesbian/Straight Dialogue

Nov. 12-13 at 10am-5pm. Let's start working through our issues with each other instead of pretending

they don't exist. We will provide a safe environment in which to explore, express and deal with our fears and misunderstandings of each other as well as our larger commonalities as women.

Holiday Blues

Dec. 17 at 10am-5pm. Do you dread the holiday season? A goal in this workshop is to trace the roots of the holiday depression syndrome and learn perspectives to help us transcend it. We will explore the ghosts of holidays past and our hopes and fears for the upcoming holidays.

Individual Counseling

for women who want help with a crisis or a transition or who want to increase their self-awareness on a oneto-one basis.

Fee Policy

We do not wish to exclude any woman from our services because of her inability to pay. Fees for our individual work, groups, and workshops are based on a sliding-fee schedule which takes into account the individual woman's financial resources.

For more information, call the Women's Growth Cooperative at 321-8582. A stall member will answer your calls on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3pm-7pm. At other times, please leave a message and we will return your call.