The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) is a federal law that prohibits lenders from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or receipt of public assistance. * It also requires lenders to provide all applicants with equal access to credit and prohibits them from discouraging applications based on any of these characteristics. * The ECOA also requires lenders to provide certain disclosures to their customers and keep records of their actions in order to ensure compliance with the law. See Also [[Reg Z]] [[Truth in Lending Act (TILA)]]