Final answer:
The federal act that prohibits a lender from discriminating based on various factors is the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
Step-by-step explanation:
The federal act that prohibits a lender from discriminating based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or source of income is the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. This federal law prohibits lenders from using factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, and age in making decisions regarding the extension of credit. It ended the common practice of lenders refusing to loan money to married women independently of their husbands or considering only the husband's income when extending credit to a family.