Why can I collect the documents but not judge creditworthiness?

You can build the file. Pull the statements, the history, the references. That part is safe — no one can fault a well-organized folder. Then you reach the question underneath it all: will this person or business pay you back? And you stop. This is not a knowledge gap alone. You likely know more than you think. What you lack is the habit of deciding. Gathering has no risk. Judging does — you might be wrong, and someone will see it. So you keep gathering, hoping the pile itself will announce the answer. It never will. Creditworthiness is judged on a short list of things: can they pay, will they pay, what happens if they don't. Learn that list. Then practice saying, out loud or on paper, what you conclude — before you feel certain. Certainty comes after the reps, not before.