I had a similar experience when refinancing a couple years back. Everything looked good on paper, but the underwriter got hung up on a single late payment from years ago—like ancient history, practically. Took forever to clear up, and I remember thinking, "Really? THIS is what's holding things up?"
Honestly, I get why lenders are cautious. After 2008, who can blame them for being extra careful? But sometimes it feels like they're splitting hairs over stuff that doesn't really reflect your current financial situation.
As for automation vs human judgment... I'm kinda torn. Automated systems might speed things up and cut down on those frustrating inconsistencies, but there's always gonna be weird edge cases that need a human touch. I mean, imagine trusting your entire financial future to some algorithm that glitches out over a typo or something... no thanks.
Personally, I'd rather deal with an overly cautious human than a rigid computer system that can't see nuance. At least you can reason with a person (usually).
I see your point about human judgment, but honestly, I've seen plenty of cases where a human underwriter's "nuance" was just bias or inconsistency. Algorithms aren't perfect, sure, but at least they're predictable and transparent. Had a client once whose refinance got delayed because the underwriter didn't like their freelance income—even though they'd been stable for years. Sometimes automation can actually level the playing field a bit...
"Had a client once whose refinance got delayed because the underwriter didn't like their freelance income—even though they'd been stable for years."
Ugh, this hits home. Freelance income always seems to make underwriters twitchy, doesn't it? I swear, you'd think we freelancers were trading seashells or something instead of actual money...
But seriously, your point about automation leveling things out makes sense. I refinanced last year and had a similar hiccup—my side hustle income apparently looked suspiciously "unpredictable" to the human underwriter. Took me weeks of back-and-forth just to prove I wasn't secretly laundering cash through Etsy sales (spoiler alert: I wasn't).
Anyway, hang in there. Boosting your credit even a little can sometimes tip the scales enough to smooth things out. And if automation means fewer headaches and less explaining why you sold handmade cat sweaters online... I'm all for it.
