Send us Fan Mail Women in the U.S. were first allowed to use their income to qualify for a mortgage after the passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) of 1974. Before this law, lenders often: Required a husband or male cosigner, even if the woman earned enough income.Discounted or ignored a woman’s salary, assuming she would stop working if she married or became pregnant.Denied single, divorced, or widowed women credit outright.The ECOA (effective October 28, 1974) made it illegal f...