Fair Isaac Corp, the company that created FICO, has established a new credit index that should help more homebuyers qualify for a home loan. The index uses financial information before and after the Great Recession to determine “financial resilience” during times of economic volatility.

The idea is to go beyond the traditional FICO score, which evaluates a borrower’s ability to meet payment obligations based on previous history, with an emphasis on lower account balances and credit use.