The Lender's Modern Inspection Playbook: 5 Must-Haves for Protecting Capital in a Faster Market

Borrowers expect funding in hours, not days, and while speed is nothing new in private lending, the risk landscape has changed dramatically. Growing rates of AI-generated fraud, location spoofing, and image manipulation mean lenders can no longer afford to bypass due diligence for the sake of speed. 

That reality is reshaping how lenders approach inspections. Traditional site visits and even basic virtual photos can’t keep up with today’s fraud tactics or with borrower expectations for faster draws.

In a recent conversation on The Lenders’ Playbook podcast with Matt Rosen, Truepic's President, Craig Stack outlined what modern inspections must look like.

This playbook distills his insights into five rules every private lender can use to protect capital, move faster, and win repeat borrowers.

1. Verify every image at the point of capture

Borrowers are sending photos every day to prove project progress; but how do you know they’re authentic?

The problem isn’t theoretical. With dozens of apps, borrowers can easily strip or alter metadata to change the time, date, or location of an image. Craig warned:

“Location spoofing can make it look like a photo came from your property, when it didn’t."

That’s why modern inspections must verify images at the moment of capture, embedding geolocation, timestamp, and tamper detection to ensure they reflect the actual status of the project.

2. Build AI fraud detection into your workflow

AI has raised the stakes for fraud in lending inspections. What used to take a design pro in Photoshop can now be done instantly, for free. Craig shared a startling but common example:

“We still see people pulling a ‘gourmet kitchen’ photo off Google, taking a picture of their screen, and passing it off as their own property.”

Unfortunately, the fraud doesn't stop at photos. With AI tools, bad actors can continue to misrepresent project progress with hyper-realistic videos, like in this kitchen example below:

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This is why modern inspections need AI-driven detection that can spot fakes, overlays, and other digital manipulations before they slip into your underwriting process.

3. Eliminate the 'travel gap' in your inspection process

In a market where borrowers measure funding time in hours, the wait for an inspector to physically visit the property is a liability you can’t afford to ignore.

Verified virtual inspections close that gap. With instant capture, review, and approval, lenders can release draws the same day while still performing the necessary rigorous due diligence to protect capital. Craig shared how this has become a reality for Truepic customers: 

“Our lenders are approving inspections in minutes instead of days, without losing control of risk.

This isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about removing unnecessary delays while still keeping your process fraud-proof.

4. Treat inspection delays as portfolio risks

Faster draw inspections don’t just make borrowers happy; they also protect your pipeline. The longer a project stalls waiting for funds, the more capital is tied up in incomplete builds.

Fraud adds another layer of risk. And the longer it takes to catch fraud, the more costly it becomes.

By eliminating travel delays and validating images at capture at the same time, you can reduce both project drag and fraud risk. As Craig explained:

“Replacing boots on the ground can save lenders hundreds per inspection and weeks in project time.”

When inspections happen instantly, lenders can keep projects moving, reduce exposure to incomplete builds, and avoid being stuck in stalled loans.

5. Make trust a part of your brand

By now, every borrower expects fast funding. That’s the baseline. What sets lenders apart is delivering speed while giving investors confidence that their capital is protected.

Craig boils that mandate down to a single principle: 

“When you’re making a decision based on a photo, you need to know it’s real.”

That certainty is what builds a lender’s reputation.  Fraud-proof inspections prove you can move fast without sacrificing due diligence.

Borrowers remember how quickly you moved; investors remember how securely you protected their dollars. Modern inspections are how you deliver both, consistently.

The bottom line

The private lending market is moving too fast, and the face of fraud is evolving too quickly, for your inspection process to stay stuck in the past.

The lenders who win in today’s market won’t just be the fastest. They’ll be the ones who fund quickly while protecting their capital with verified, fraud-proof inspections.

And that’s why a modern inspection process doesn’t just keep you competitive - it keeps your capital safe and your borrowers loyal.

To hear more insights from Craig Stack, check out our episode "The 48 Hour Draw is Dead" on The Lender's Playbook podcast.
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