Here in Germany it's pretty common.
I'm living in an apartment building where it is impossible to get a credit card. It's not only me - all neighbors I asked have the same problem.
Looks like one of our neighbors has a catastrophic credit rating and is pulling down the rest of us.
I heard similar stories from friends who were able to get a loan only after moving.
Reread the comment. It's exactly what you describe, down to the actual building. People living in a particular apartment complex can't get a credit card.
Morgan Spurlock also had to pay a deposit in his show 30 Days, and he commented about how it was the first time in his life he had to pay a deposit, and it must have been the address he was living in. (He was living with a minimum wage for 30 days in the episode, so he moved into a low rent apartment in Ohio.)
They take average paying morale in a neighborhood into account. But I guess one very bad seed can spoil pull down a otherwise good/average neighborhood.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_mail_receiving_agenc...
https://ribbs.usps.gov/index.cfm?page=mtcsa
(you can also google for dpv cmra)
Image search for "schuldneratlas" (a detailed map of private households in distress) to get some impressions.
Or see there: http://www.boniversum.de/schuldneratlas/
Do these creditors think that people have the moral fortitude of five-year-olds?!
They want to make as many loans as possible. The want to loan you money or grant credit. But if they find a correlation that indicates too much risk they'll say no.
The questions then are, is the correlation real, and is doing the correlation legal in the local jurisdiction.
Profiling people (who have nothing to hide) gives banks and insurance companies huge advantage. It may look insane in personal level, but there is solid math behind many of their descisions.