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Questions to Ask Your Mortgage Lender About AI and Data Privacy

Before submitting mortgage documents, ask where automated systems are used, how your information is shared and retained, and how to correct errors or challenge a credit decision.
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Before you upload pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements, or other mortgage documents, ask the lender where automated systems are used, what information they process, who can access it, and how you can challenge an error. Practices vary by lender: do not assume your application does—or does not—use AI. If a lender takes adverse action, including a denial, complex technology does not remove its obligation to provide specific principal reasons.

Where do you use AI or automated systems in my mortgage application?

Ask the lender to walk through each stage, from application to servicing, and identify whether it uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other automated tools. Possible stages include document intake and data extraction, fraud screening, credit assessment, underwriting, property valuation, and loan servicing. These are questions to ask, not a claim that every lender uses AI at every stage.

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  • Which stages use automated systems, and what does each system do?
  • Does a system make a recommendation, or can its output determine an outcome?
  • When does a person review an exception, a disputed result, or information the system cannot process?
  • Can I request a person to review a decision, and what is the process?

Regulation C uses a defined category called an automated underwriting system; that term is narrower than the everyday idea of “any AI” and is not a complete inventory of a lender’s tools. The CFPB’s guidance on complex algorithms and Regulation C reporting rules provide regulatory context, but they do not tell you which systems a particular lender uses.

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What information goes into those systems, and where does it come from?

Ask the lender to name the information categories it uses and explain their sources and purposes. For example, the process may involve details from your application and uploaded documents, credit-report information, property or valuation data, connected financial accounts, or information from third parties. Ask which categories can materially affect your application and how to correct inaccurate information.

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  • What information do you collect directly from me, and what do you obtain elsewhere?
  • Do you use data from account connections, property databases, or other third parties?
  • How can I see or correct a data item that is wrong or out of date?
  • Does any automated output rely on information I have not provided? If so, what is its source?

The CFPB has raised concerns that some algorithmic credit processes may use large datasets, potentially including information harvested through consumer surveillance. That is a documented concern about possible data use, not evidence that your lender uses surveillance-derived information. Ask the lender directly what sources apply to your application. See the Bureau’s September 19, 2023 guidance on AI-related credit denials.

Who receives or can use my information?

Request the lender’s privacy notice and ask it to explain, in plain language, how your information may be shared. Ask about affiliates, investors, service providers, and other recipients, and what purpose each sharing serves. Find out what privacy choices or limits are available to you and how to exercise them.

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  • Which parties may receive my application information?
  • What does each recipient do with it?
  • Can information be used for a purpose beyond processing or servicing this mortgage?
  • What privacy choices apply, and where can I submit a request?

The CFPB’s mortgage compliance resources cover privacy compliance, and its GLBA privacy notice resources include information about Regulation P and model notices. Those materials are a framework; the lender’s own notice and answers are what explain its practices.

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How long do you keep my application and derived data?

Ask for the lender’s actual retention policy rather than expecting a universal deadline. Ask separately about the documents you submit, information extracted or inferred from them, and copies held by vendors. Find out what happens if you withdraw, after closing, and when information must be kept for legal or operational reasons.

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  • How long are submitted documents and extracted or inferred data retained?
  • Do vendors keep copies, and how does the lender govern their access?
  • Who inside the lender or at a vendor can access the information, and what controls apply?
  • What is deleted after withdrawal or closing, and what must be retained?

The cited CFPB privacy resources do not establish one retention period for every mortgage lender or a specific lender’s policy. Get the answer directly from the lender.

Can you explain a denial or other unfavorable credit action?

Yes. Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B, a creditor must give specific principal reasons for an adverse action, and that obligation applies even when a complex algorithm or machine-learning model is involved. An opaque model is not an exception. The explanation should identify the actual principal reasons; credit-score factors alone do not necessarily substitute for the required reasons.

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In its May 26, 2022 circular, the CFPB said that adverse-action explanations must be specific and technology-neutral. In a September 19, 2023 release, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said: “Creditors must be able to specifically explain their reasons for denial. There is no special exemption for artificial intelligence.”

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What can I do if my credit application was denied because of my credit report?

Start with the adverse-action notice. If the lender relied on a credit report, ask which reporting company supplied it and which credit score was used. The CFPB says the notice should provide relevant information about the reporting company and score. You can request a free copy of the report from the reporting company within 60 days of the adverse-action notice, then review it and dispute inaccurate information with that company.

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  1. Read the adverse-action notice and note the reporting company and score information it provides.
  2. Request your free report from that reporting company within 60 days of the notice.
  3. Check the report for errors and dispute inaccurate information with the reporting company.
  4. Ask the lender whether it offers a separate reconsideration or human-review process; that process varies.

The CFPB explains these steps in What can I do if my credit application was denied because of my credit report?

How should I compare lenders’ answers?

If you are considering more than one lender, use the same questions with each so you can compare their answers rather than relying on broad assurances. Record what each lender says about:

  • Where automation is used and whether it recommends or determines outcomes.
  • What data sources and categories affect the application.
  • Who receives information, why it is shared, and what privacy choices apply.
  • Retention, access, and vendor controls.
  • How you can correct errors or seek human review.
  • Whether an adverse-action explanation identifies the actual principal reasons.

The regulatory and consumer-protection sources cited here explain applicable rights and frameworks; they do not rank lenders or establish that one lender’s practices are better than another’s.

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