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36 MORE MONEY, LESS PROBLEMS? Low-income couples face more financial- related relationship stress than those of other income tiers, according to a recent survey by LendEDU, with 51.66 percent saying finances are the singlemost stressful facet of their relationships. Only 47.46 percent of middle-income earners said finances were the most stressful factor in their relationship, and for high- income earners, the number was even less— just 42.86 percent. e survey also found that financial stress was more common with married couples than those simply in committed relationships. More than 52 percent of married people said they consider finances the most stressful facet of their relationships, while only 45 percent of unmarried, committed couples say the same. e survey also found stark differences between genders. More females (39.75 percent) believe their significant others are bad at managing money than males (29.5 percent). Additionally, females tend to be less confident in their significant others' spending habits; just 55.5 percent of women believe their significant others spends money wisely, while 70.75 percent of men believe it. "Two different statements could be made after analyzing this question," LendEDU's report stated. "It could be true that women spend money more wisely, or men spend money less wisely. Alternatively, it could be true that women are more critical of spending habits, or men are less critical of spending habits." Surprisingly, a large portion of both genders believes honesty about finance is more important than honesty about fidelity. In fact, 36 percent of men feel that way, while 28.5 percent of women do. LendEDU's Relationships and Personal Finance Survey polled 800 individuals in "significant" relationships—50 percent married and 50 percent unmarried. It was also split 50- 50 between genders, and surveyed individuals in all income tiers: low income ($0 to $49,999), middle income ($50,000 to $99,999), and high income ($100,000 to $150,000-plus). LOWER-CREDIT APPLICANTS FACE LENDING OBSTACLES e denial rate for lower-credit mortgage applicants is higher than generally accepted, according to a new report by the Urban Institute released mid-February. According to the report, the accepted method for gauging rates of denial— the observed denial rate, or ODR—is fundamentally flawed. ODR, the institute states, is calculated by dividing the number of denied applications by the total number of applications and, by doing so, "fails to consider the variation in applicants' credit. is calculation can produce misleading conclusions on credit accessibility." Based on what the Urban Institute calls the real denial rate, or RDR, which excludes high-credit-profile borrowers who will never be denied a mortgage and considers only those low- credit-profile applicants who might be denied, denial rates among lower-credit borrowers are higher than what are accepted by conventional ODR methods. While ODR and RDR have both dropped significantly since the late 1990s, the gap between the percentage of borrowers denied when looking at ODR and those denied when looking at RDR has increased. In 1998, for example, ODR put the denial rate at 24 percent. Meanwhile, the RDR was twice that at 52 percent. e overall percentages of denials dropped steadily until 2007, but the difference remained relatively consistent—RDR was typically around twice what ODR was. But after 2007, the gulf increased from twice to thrice as high. ODRs remained between 13 and 17 percent from 2007 until 2015, but RDRs remained between 30 and 39 percent. From 2011, the difference was 13 percent to 38 percent. Also, according to the report by RDR, white borrowers are least likely to be denied, compared to black, Hispanic, and Asian borrowers. In 2015, black applicants had 1.2 times the denial rate of white applicants, Hispanic applicants had 1.1 times the denial rate, and Asian applicants had 1.5 times the denial rate. e gaps have remained almost exactly consistent as denial rates have fluctuated since 2000. "In 2015, the average share of lower-credit applicants was 63 percent for black applicants, 56 percent for Hispanic applicants, 41 percent for white applicants, and 37 percent for Asian applicants," the report stated. "Recent findings show a small improvement in access to credit in the mortgage market. is success is likely because of the strides the GSEs and the FHA have made in expanding credit, as well as the increases in the market share of nonbank lenders." The total number of bankruptcy filings in January was at 54,574, according to Epiq Systems' January 2017 Bankruptcy Trends report. KNOW THIS

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