Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) - A federal law (Title VII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act) enacted in 1974 requiring lenders to give business and consumers equal access to credit.

Equity - The amount of loan principal paid, which represents the degree of ownership.

Finance charge - The total dollar cost of credit, including interest and other defined charges; certain fees not included in the finance charge must appear separately in the disclosure statement.

Foreclosure - A legal proceeding initiated by a creditor to bar or extinguish a mortgagor's right of redeeming a mortgaged estate and take possession of collateral securing a defaulted loan.

Government credit - Extensions of credit made to governments or governmental subdivisions, agencies, or instrumentalities.

Grace period - The time between the statement date and the payment due date when no finance charge accrues, provided no previous balance exists. Once the account begins to revolve, interest accrues immediately on each additional purchase.

High balance charge - A fee assessed when the credit limit on an open-end account is exceeded.

High balance - The dollar amount of credit utilized on a credit line. Also see high credit.

Home equity - The dollar value of a property held by the property owner not including any credit amount extended.

ICA number - A four-digit number printed on a MasterCard credit card. This number identifies the issuing bank, which assigned the card to the cardholder.

Inquiry - A line of information indicating a request for a credit profile and naming the credit extending agency making the request.

Installment - An account relationship where the credit obligation and the payment amounts are established for a fixed period of time. Set payment are made at agreed intervals until the debt is fulfilled.

Interest - A charge for borrowed money, generally a percentage of the amount borrowed.

Issuer credit rating - Standard & poor's current opinion of an obligor's overall financial capacity (its creditworthiness) to pay its financial obligations. This opinion focuses on the obligor's capacity and willingness to meet its financial commitments as they come due.

It does not apply to any specific financial obligation; it does not take into account the nature of and provisions of the obligation, its standing in bankruptcy or liquidation, statutory preferences, or the legality and enforceability of the obligation.

In addition, it does not take into account the creditworthiness of the guarantors, insurers, or other forms of credit enhancement on the obligation. The issuer credit rating is not a recommendation to purchase, sell or hold a financial obligation issued by an obligor, as it does not comment on market price or suitability for a particular investor. An issuer credit rating is withdrawn upon the first occurrence of any of the following:

Judgment - An obligation (or debt) created by the decree of a court.

Lien - (1) A charge upon real or personal property for the satisfaction of some debt or duty ordinarily arising by operation of law. (2) A creditor's claim on a debtor's collateral.

Loan value - The amount financial institutions will lend on a particular item. For example, lenders will usually lend no more than the blue book value on a used car.

Merchant - A business or organization that accepts credit cards as payment products or services provided. Each merchant is assigned a unique identification known as a Merchant 10 Number.

Monthly payment - The amount of money due on a monthly basis to satisfy a loan obligation. An installment account will show a calculated amount relative to the original amount divided by the terms, a revolving account will display an estimated amount. Exception cases are zeros = not on file, 9s = maximum value.

Months status - The number of months that a specific status has been reported on an account.

Negative factor or value - When considering elderly applicants, utilizing a factor, value, or weight assigned to the class of applicants that are not classified as elderly and are most favored by a creditor on the basis of age.

Net payoff - The amount owed on a loan, excluding prepaid interest and insurance premiums.

New account - Accounts with an open or reported date on the credit report less then 24 months.

NSF charge - An additional fee some creditors charge when allowing users to obtain cash from an ATM using their credit card although their account has non-sufficient funds.