A lender requires that any applicant whose spouse is not a co-borrower must have the spouse sign a separate document acknowledging that the spouse has no claim to the mortgaged property. The lender applies this requirement only to female applicants with male spouses, reasoning that husbands are more likely to claim ownership interests. Under ECOA, this policy is:

Permissible if the lender has documented evidence supporting the business justification A violation only if the male spouse actually raises an ownership claim after closing A violation of ECOA because it applies a different requirement based on the sex of the applicant Permissible because it protects the lender from competing ownership claims