Do we over emphasize the wrong elements? aka myopia

[oscar_actuary]

Not to square in on any particular post or elements, we're often reading disgruntled posters being denied CC or CLI or Mortgages due to a specified reason.  But, more and more I'm gathering that the "reason" is more like a collective based on your complete report:  Payment history, incomes, min payments or DtI, age of accounts... and on and on and on.  I could point out several items on my own report that suggest I never should have been approved for some of the recent cards; yet, there was no problems.  On the other hand, you see I have a recent $800 Walmart Discover, so clearly, they had some concerns.  AMEX had less of one. 

We want hard fast rules and answers.  I gather for young credit seekers your reasons for denial may be more straight forward because the banks have little to go on.  But for old folks like me, the rules get really blurry and maybe a more flexible, or comprehensive, review takes place.  

To make it personal, when I went app crazy this year, no matter what the FICO score said (and I'm not aware of it dropping below 700 but only spot checked it when BofA told me to split limits to issue me a card) or how many inquiries I have ( 7 card apps and a home and car refi in 3 months) when that analyst decides to send me a pre approval or scan my cold application, one thing may stick out more than any other:  No lates ever and Utilization < 10%. 

However, what I seem to be experiencing now is a ceiling on available credit.  Granted, I have not tried actively for CLI, the hints are there

So what am I saying?   I guess, never miss a payment.  And we might be over emphasizing the impact of certain aspects that are less important to the issuer than the FICO scoring would indicate.

My source is empirical and admittedly light on data and foresite.

[takeshi74]

Fixating on any one aspect of your credit and overlooking all the other factors is certainly a mistake.  One also has to consider what factors a potential creditor considers.

[Anonymous]

Posters do add the non-disclosure "YMMV".