Q&A: Here’s a question that a Wisconsin credit union recently asked The League’s Legal Affairs team, along with our answer. Do you have a compliance question? Contact The League’s Compliance Hotline at (800) 242-0833 or email.
Q. We have an individual borrower on a consumer loan. He resides in Wisconsin and his spouse lives in Georgia. Do we need to send the spouse a tattletale notice?
A. The short answer is no. Wisconsin’s Marital Property Act (Wis. Stats. Ch. 766) does not apply when either of the spouses is “domiciled” in another state. In other words, even when one spouse lives in Wisconsin, if the other lives in another state, the WMPA does not apply to the loan being applied for.
The tattletale notice only applies to certain “family purpose obligations,” and to be a family purpose obligation, the debt has to be incurred “during marriage.” Wis. Stats. §766.55(1). The definition of “during marriage” is technical, but part of the definition is that both spouses have to be domiciled in Wisconsin. If someone applies for credit and either the applicant or the other spouse is not domiciled here, the Marital Property Act does not apply so the credit union may proceed without the tattletale notice.
The credit union is only required to send the tattletale notice when a married applicant applies for a loan without their spouse joint on the loan and all of the following are true:
- The applicant and their spouse are both domiciled in Wisconsin (i.e., physically here and intending to make Wisconsin their home), and
- The loan is subject to the Wisconsin Consumer Act, and
- the loan is incurred in the interest of the marriage or family
For more information on Wisconsin’s Marital Property Act, see The League’s ii Release No. B005.
Reminder
Please join us for The League’s Fall 2022 Compliance Roundtable, Sept. 8 at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. This in-person event will explore a variety of topics to help Wisconsin credit union staff. The cost is $249, and you can register easily online.