You have stable income, no arrears and still receive a negative decision.
FICO may be involved, but it is not the only suspect. The lender also sees card limits, recent checks, job tenure, income type, declared commitments and product rules that the application form never displays.
Rejection is an outcome, not a diagnosis.
First, ask for the reason
For credit concerning residential property, Article 72 of Romanian GEO 52/2016 requires the consumer to be informed without delay and within two working days. The notice covers the reasons and, where relevant, database or automated processing used in the decision.
Ask for the answer by email or another durable medium. A generic reference to internal criteria is not enough to identify whether income, debt ratio, history, documents, property or product caused the problem.
The right to an explanation does not force a bank to publish its scoring model. It gives you something real to correct before another application.
FICO is not the whole decision
Biroul de Credit says you can request a copy of the Credit Report with the FICO Score used in assessment. It may contain up to four reason codes showing what pulled the score away from its maximum.
A score of 642 may fit one product and fail another. Banks combine external data with their own policy, so there is no universal approval threshold.
Check active obligations, arrears, closed accounts, enquiries and identification data. An incorrect entry must be challenged with the participant that submitted it, not simply deleted by the bureau.
Our Credit Bureau report guide explains the fields, while the correction guide covers inaccurate records.
Nine common reasons for refusal
1. Debt-to-income. Existing instalments, card limits and overdrafts leave too little room, even when a revolving line is unused.
2. Income is only partly eligible. Bonus, per diem, dividends, rent and PFA income may be discounted. The form shows declared income; assessment uses the stable portion.
3. Short tenure. A new employer, probation or young independent activity may postpone eligibility.
4. Past arrears or restructuring. Biroul de Credit states that records remain for four years, including an arrear that was later paid.
5. Too many recent applications. A cluster of enquiries can look like urgent borrowing pressure.
6. Mismatched data. Address, employer, phone, marital status or balances differ between the form and supporting records.
7. The wrong product. Amount, term, age at maturity or income currency sits outside that product's policy.
8. The property fails. Valuation, cadastral records, permitted use or a legal defect can stop a mortgage after the borrower passes.
9. Portfolio risk. A lender may restrict exposure to an employer, industry or income type without the applicant doing anything wrong.
Example: good salary, wrong amount
Mihai earns 7,280 lei net. He pays 1,340 lei on one loan, has a credit-card limit of 12,850 lei and keeps an unused overdraft.
He counts only the current instalment. The bank can include obligations linked to revolving limits, leaving less space for a requested 48,700 lei loan.
The answer is not an identical application tomorrow. Mihai closes the unnecessary overdraft, lowers the card limit, waits for the report to update and recalculates an affordable request.
Use the debt-to-income calculator before applying again. It is indicative, but it exposes forgotten limits.
When should you apply again?
There is no magic thirty-day pause. Reapply after the cause changes: probation ends, income history grows, an error is corrected, a limit falls or the amount becomes realistic.
The same data submitted the next day normally produces the same risk picture and another enquiry.
What not to do
Do not invent undocumented income or hide a loan, maintenance payment or fixed-term contract. A deliberate mismatch is worse than a lower income.
Do not pay an intermediary promising guaranteed approval. A broker can organise a file, not compel a bank. Taking an expensive IFN loan merely to repair a score can increase the obligation that caused the refusal.
Assessment fee and third-party costs
Article 19 of GEO 50/2010 prohibits an assessment fee when consumer credit is not granted. Keep the application, payment proof and response. Mortgage valuation by an external provider is a different service and needs separate contract review.
An editor's view
Bogdan Baicu, former TBI Bank risk analyst: “In 2017 I reviewed a refused file with a decent score and steady salary. Four nearly unused cards still represented available exposure. Closing two limits and requesting 11.75% less moved the case into a range the income supported.”
A useful rejection tells you what to repair. An ignored rejection pushes you into the next form.
The right order after refusal
Request the reason, download the report and verify the data. Correct the principal cause, then compare again. Our guides to improving credit score and refinancing cover the two common routes.
Approval is not a reward for persistence. It is a fit between income, debt, product and timing.