Lending / denial reasons

Why applications are denied

Every denied application carries a primary-reason field. In 2024, of 2,099,966 denials, 32.16% were recorded as debt-to-income ratio and 26.93% as credit history. The debt-to-income share was 28.65% in 2018, peaked at 34.33% in 2023, and stood at 32.16% in 2024. Within the same 7 years the median contract rate on an originated loan ranged from 2.99% in 2021 to 6.88% in 2023, and the median reported applicant income on an origination rose from $86,000 in 2018 to $113,000 in 2024.

Read this as a primary reason. The register has four denial-reason fields. The first is required on a denial; the other three are optional supplements. Everything on this page tabulates the first field only, so it is the distribution of primary reasons, not a tally of every reason a lender cited. On 1.35% of 2024 denials (28,250 applications) the primary reason is the exemption code, filed by lenders using the partial reporting exemption: a reason exists, and the file does not carry it.

Primary reason, 2024

Source: HMDA public LAR (CFPB/FFIEC), snapshot files Share of the 2,099,966 denials in 2024, by the primary denial reason field. Shares sum to 100% across the reasons shown. Methodology

Composition, 2018 to 2024

Each column is one year’s denials, at 100%. The bands are the four largest primary reasons in 2024; everything else is folded into one band so the shares stay legible.

Debt-to-income ratioCredit historyCollateralCredit application incompleteAll other primary reasons

Source: HMDA public LAR (CFPB/FFIEC), snapshot files Each column sums to that year's denials on decisioned applications (action taken 3). Methodology

By loan type, 2024

The shares below are of each product’s own denials. Debt-to-income is named on 33.5% of conventional denials and 20.2% of VA denials; collateral is named on 16.2% of FHA denials against 12.4% of conventional ones.

Loan type	Denials	Debt-to-income	Credit history	Collateral	Largest reason
Conventional	1,761,034	33.5%	27.8%	12.4%	Debt-to-income ratio
FHA-insured	239,641	27.0%	19.9%	16.2%	Debt-to-income ratio
VA-guaranteed	94,024	20.2%	29.5%	12.1%	Credit history
USDA Rural Housing / FSA	5,267	30.9%	17.4%	12.5%	Debt-to-income ratio

Source: HMDA public LAR (CFPB/FFIEC), snapshot files Percentages are shares of that loan type's own denials in 2024, not of all denials. Methodology

By state, 2024

54 states and territories, ranked by denial rate. The national rate is 24.3%. The debt-to-income and credit-history columns are shares of that jurisdiction’s own denials, so they say what denials there are made of, not how many there are.

State	Decisioned	Denials	Denial rate	vs US	Debt-to-income	Credit history
MS	76,993	23,282	30.2%	5.9 pp	23.8%	42.4%
LA	96,670	29,229	30.2%	5.9 pp	25.1%	35.5%
HI	24,144	7,190	29.8%	5.5 pp	39.1%	15.5%
FL	712,806	207,396	29.1%	4.8 pp	37.3%	21.8%
WV	39,908	11,274	28.2%	3.9 pp	18.8%	38.6%
GA	328,722	88,535	26.9%	2.6 pp	29.6%	29.0%
AL	151,498	39,886	26.3%	2.0 pp	22.8%	38.7%
NJ	223,878	58,372	26.1%	1.8 pp	36.3%	24.0%
TX	706,922	184,113	26.0%	1.7 pp	31.2%	29.2%
NM	52,223	13,459	25.8%	1.5 pp	28.4%	28.5%
RI	31,753	8,158	25.7%	1.4 pp	36.8%	26.0%
NY	293,229	74,545	25.4%	1.1 pp	35.8%	25.2%
DE	33,869	8,600	25.4%	1.1 pp	30.6%	27.5%
SC	179,003	45,216	25.3%	0.9 pp	28.8%	30.7%
DC	11,779	2,959	25.1%	0.8 pp	27.5%	20.6%
AR	85,390	21,409	25.1%	0.8 pp	25.4%	37.9%
KY	124,803	31,290	25.1%	0.8 pp	23.1%	39.0%
MD	163,254	40,740	25.0%	0.6 pp	30.5%	26.5%
CA	725,648	180,402	24.9%	0.5 pp	38.0%	16.8%
PA	339,904	82,231	24.2%	-0.1 pp	29.5%	30.2%
MI	284,583	68,401	24.0%	-0.3 pp	30.2%	28.8%
NC	355,442	85,304	24.0%	-0.3 pp	33.0%	29.5%
NV	91,535	21,941	24.0%	-0.3 pp	34.1%	23.6%
CT	91,198	21,641	23.7%	-0.6 pp	31.2%	22.6%
OH	338,222	79,511	23.5%	-0.8 pp	27.9%	32.7%
OK	101,501	23,783	23.4%	-0.9 pp	26.5%	35.4%
IL	278,680	64,895	23.3%	-1.0 pp	29.9%	27.5%
NH	41,177	9,417	22.9%	-1.4 pp	37.1%	22.0%
TN	220,874	50,019	22.6%	-1.7 pp	28.9%	29.6%
MA	159,810	35,689	22.3%	-2.0 pp	38.6%	22.6%
AZ	228,338	50,714	22.2%	-2.1 pp	33.7%	21.8%
VA	246,041	54,420	22.1%	-2.2 pp	29.5%	26.9%
CO	193,752	41,918	21.6%	-2.7 pp	38.0%	22.2%
IN	216,627	46,513	21.5%	-2.8 pp	27.3%	31.3%
WA	204,645	43,536	21.3%	-3.0 pp	35.7%	18.9%
WY	14,933	3,132	21.0%	-3.3 pp	30.5%	22.8%
ME	42,048	8,806	20.9%	-3.4 pp	31.3%	21.0%
MT	25,472	5,334	20.9%	-3.4 pp	32.6%	19.7%
OR	105,308	21,729	20.6%	-3.7 pp	35.0%	19.4%
UT	116,214	23,869	20.5%	-3.8 pp	39.0%	20.1%
PR	16,435	3,372	20.5%	-3.8 pp	19.1%	10.1%
MO	170,604	33,952	19.9%	-4.4 pp	26.1%	29.5%
AK	13,928	2,765	19.9%	-4.5 pp	27.6%	21.4%
VT	15,096	2,963	19.6%	-4.7 pp	36.7%	18.9%
ID	64,244	12,476	19.4%	-4.9 pp	43.3%	18.3%
KS	70,207	13,474	19.2%	-5.1 pp	27.3%	29.3%
VI	45	8	17.8%	-6.5 pp	0.0%	25.0%
NE	48,169	8,266	17.2%	-7.2 pp	29.8%	28.9%
WI	173,491	29,735	17.1%	-7.2 pp	32.6%	26.7%
SD	19,773	3,371	17.0%	-7.3 pp	34.7%	28.2%
MN	141,331	23,899	16.9%	-7.4 pp	33.0%	24.8%
IA	83,538	13,301	15.9%	-8.4 pp	28.2%	32.0%
ND	15,699	2,244	14.3%	-10.0 pp	28.9%	29.7%
GU	126	12	9.5%	-14.8 pp	25.0%	8.3%

Source: HMDA public LAR (CFPB/FFIEC), snapshot files State is the property's state as reported on the application. Applications with no state code are counted in the national totals and carry no row here, which is why the state rows sum to 8,591,482 of 8,636,578 decisioned applications. Methodology