Using AI to Strengthen Compliance and Efficiency in Property Preservation

Property preservation and field services enter 2026 facing many headwinds. Costs have climbed, volumes have shifted, and stagnant pricing structures have left contractors and preservation vendors absorbing pressure from multiple angles. At the same time, servicers face heightened scrutiny, aging portfolios, and climate-driven risk, requiring faster reporting and tighter compliance. The industry is being asked to do more with less, even as the labor pool thins and technology investment becomes critical.

In this year’s look at the state of the property preservation sector, leaders from AREMCO, Cyprexx, ServiceLink, Genstone Field Services, and Safeguard Properties share how they’re redesigning operations, rebuilding the contractor ecosystem, and using technology—especially AI—not as a buzzword, but as a practical tool to keep properties safe, servicers compliant, and communities protected.

In this excerpt from the December 2025 MortgagePoint cover story “The Cost of Readiness,” we’re sharing insights from Tony Maher, EVP of Business Development, Cyprexx Services.

How is Cyprexx leveraging technology such as AI to improve efficiency or compliance in field services today?

Tony Maher, Cyprexx

Cyprexx is using AI as an augmentation layer across field services—not to replace people, but to strengthen speed, accuracy, and compliance. Key applications include:

• Automated inspection analysis that verifies whether photos support occupancy determinations, checks for missing compliance indicators, and flags inconsistencies before reports reach clients.
• Risk-scoring models that prioritize properties needing escalation or quality review—allowing operations teams to focus human expertise where it delivers the most value.
• Data normalization and address correction systems that reduce manual rework and improve deliverability across FHA/HUD, VA, USDA, and GSE platforms.
• Utility, HOA, and code-enforcement research automation that accelerates the information-gathering process required for compliance tasks.
• Predictive QA using machine-learning signals to spot patterns (e.g., repeat inspector errors, slow-moving orders, recurring condition exceptions) earlier in the cycle.

The goal is faster, more consistent compliance with federal guidelines while improving contractor and client experience.

How do you balance the human expertise required for nuanced field decisions with increasing automation?

Automation handles consistency; humans handle context. Cyprexx’s approach is:

• Use automation to pre-screen inspections, identify gaps, and structure information.
• Let field inspectors and quality reviewers apply judgment where conditions are nuanced—such as distinguishing seasonal inactivity from true vacancy, or interpreting borderline safety, debris, or code-compliance conditions.
• Equip field staff with AI decision-support tools (not decision-making tools) so they can work faster without losing control of the outcome.
• Maintain a strong training and feedback loop, feeding real-world edge cases back into both human training and automated checks.

AI elevates human accuracy—it doesn’t replace the need for experienced people who understand local markets, weather patterns, materials, and property behavior.

HUD’s pricing structure continues to strain vendors. How is this affecting the health of the industry, and what should change?

HUD’s pricing structure has not kept pace with:

• Inflation
• Material/labor cost increases
• Fuel and transportation volatility
• Lower density in property concentrations causes further drive-time between assets, compounding fuel and transportation volatility
• In addition, there is more competition for similar jobs with “windshield time, further compounding the pay shortages in outdated pricing
• Regional variations in contractor pay
• The rising cost of compliance and reporting requirements

This stagnation has caused:

• Contractor attrition, especially in trades like roofing, plumbing, boardups, and debris removal.
• Regional service gaps are making it difficult for servicers to maintain consistent coverage.
• Quality pressure, as vendors struggle to recruit skilled labor at outdated price points.
• Reduced capacity to handle seasonal spikes, disasters, or bulk conveyance events.

What needs to change:

HUD should adopt a dynamic or indexed pricing model that adjusts for regional labor markets and inflation, similar to how other federal programs revise rates annually. Pricing should also acknowledge the increasing compliance burden—from photo standards to PPE requirements to reporting complexity.

How are companies like Cyprexx maintaining service quality despite outdated pricing models?

It requires operational discipline and innovation:

• Process optimization: Reducing waste, automating routine tasks, and tightening inspection workflows.
• Smarter routing and scheduling: Using data to minimize travel and reduce contractor downtime.
• Contractor support: Offering clearer scopes, faster payment cycles, and better communication to help retain top performers even in tough markets.
• Quality-focused triage: Prioritizing QA resources on the highest-risk properties or the most complex preservation scopes.
• Technology-driven consistency: Automated checks reduce rework and catch issues early, preventing costly revisits.

The reality is that the industry is absorbing pressure, and continued stability will require pricing modernization from HUD and other agencies.

What are the biggest hurdles in recruiting and retaining qualified field contractors today?

The largest challenges include:

• Pay compression: Skilled trades can earn significantly more in construction or renovation markets.
• Travel costs: Fuel volatility makes rural coverage difficult.
• Scope variability: Preservations often require wide skill sets—carpentry, landscaping, plumbing basics—which not all contractors possess.
• Documentation burden: High photo counts, app compliance, and real-time reporting create steep onboarding ramps.
• Generational shifts: Younger workers seek predictable income, digital tools, and flexibility—conditions harder to provide in field services.

To combat this, companies must streamline documentation tools, provide real-time communication pathways, and build contractor-friendly operational models.

How do generational shifts—especially younger workers’ expectations—affect field operations and training?

Younger workers expect:

• Mobile-first tools
• Real-time communication channels (text, chat, app notifications)
• Clear feedback loops
• Work-life balance and flexibility

Cyprexx is adapting by:

• Simplifying onboarding and providing clear and concise investor and client requirements.
• Using AI to pre-validate photo sets, so new inspectors receive faster correction and coaching.
• Structuring work assignments to provide clearer expectations and predictable workflows.
• Building more responsive contractor support channels.

Meeting generational expectations isn’t optional—it’s essential for rebuilding the field workforce.

How is recent consolidation across field services reshaping competition?

Consolidation is creating:

• Fewer, larger national players that compete on scale, technology, and compliance infrastructure. This provides the well-established providers with a clear advantage over new entrants.
• Higher barriers to entry, as compliance demand increases and pricing stagnates.
• Servicer technology overlays provide Nationals with their own technology platform to quickly integrate with these new requirements.
• Greater regional dependency—smaller subs and independents now rely more heavily on large national property preservation providers for volume.

The upside is that consolidation encourages modernization—firms are investing more heavily in systems, automation, and contractor support. But it also shrinks the vendor pool, which can create fragility during high-volume cycles.

Are there opportunities for more collaboration across preservation, asset management, and mortgage servicing?

Yes, and the industry is underutilizing them. The biggest opportunities include:

• Shared data ecosystems where inspection photos, work orders, utility data, and code-enforcement cases are exchanged seamlessly between servicers, field vendors, and asset managers.
• Unified definitions and standards for occupancy determinations, debris, winterization, and conveyance across FHA/HUD, GSEs, and investors.
• Integrated preservation + REO strategies, allowing early repair planning during default instead of waiting until conveyance.
• Cross-training between preservation, valuations, and asset management teams to reduce blind spots.
• Industry-wide digital compliance frameworks, reducing redundant photo/documentation requirements.

Stronger collaboration would cut cycle times and reduce avoidable conveyance delays.

What are the industry’s “blind spots” that aren’t getting enough attention?

A few stand out:

• Data interoperability: Everyone collects photos, inspections, and property data—but systems still don’t talk to each other effectively. Lack of shared standards creates inefficiency and rework.
• Contractor pipeline fragility: The field labor pool has been shrinking for years; without pricing modernization, it will continue to collapse.
• Technology adoption inequality: Some contractors are highly sophisticated; others struggle with basic mobile reporting. The gap creates inconsistencies that technology alone can’t solve.
• Deferred investment in aging housing stock: Preservation work is getting more complex as properties age, but pricing structures haven’t adjusted to reflect more intensive repair conditions.

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