Mortgage AI needs a standard of trust built on experience

Over the past two decades, the mortgage industry has repeatedly confronted the distance between originating a loan and understanding the risk that survives its sale. For AZP Insurance Specialists and its predecessor organizations, that challenge forms part of a mortgage risk and claims history spanning nearly four decades. When the housing market turned in 2006, and the financial crisis followed, weaknesses in underwriting, documentation and risk assumptions became painfully consequential. The lesson extended beyond falling property values: Confidence in a process was only as strong as the evidence supporting it and the ability of responsible parties to meet their obligations when that confidence was tested. The following decade brought renewed emphasis on loan quality, verification and accountability. Changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s representation-and-warranty framework sought to clarify lenders’ obligations and available relief. For AZP and its predecessors, the practical questions remained familiar: Where did the process fail? Who was responsible? How could the resulting loss be addressed? The refinancing surge of 2020 and 2021 brought another test: capacity. As rates su...