Velma, a 59-year-old minority woman who works as a teacher, contacts you about getting a loan to purchase a condominium. As you’re chatting, she indicates that she’s hoping to retire from teaching in three years. You take her financial and personal information and see that you should be able to get her the amount she needs to purchase the home, and now you need to discuss terms. You share some loan options with her and she insists that she’s only interested in an adjustable rate mortgage, because she wants the lower monthly payments to start and is convinced the interest rates will stay low or go down even further.

1. What should you share with Velma about an ARM loan given her situation? Are you obligated to help her apply for the loan she wants?

Case, Part 2: Suppose you decide that you will not submit an application for an ARM due to Velma’s intention to retire in three years, about the time the monthly payments on the loan could jump beyond her ability to pay on a fixed income. You don’t want to seem as though you are pushing through an inappropriate loan. Velma is very unhappy and accuses you of refusing to help her because she’s a woman and a minority.

2. It seems as though your choice is between risking accusations of discrimination or accusations of predatory lending. Now, what do you do?