Quick answers.

How do I create an account?

Accounts open per state. Join the waitlist and we'll send you an account-opening invitation as soon as your state is ready. We onboard one appraiser at a time so the first month is a real conversation, not a help-desk ticket.

What do I need to run my first evaluation?

A work file in JSON form — your form-fill software can emit one, or you can paste a sample payload to try the flow. The Evaluate walkthrough describes the three-click flow in detail. For your very first evaluation, we recommend running one of the built-in sample payloads first so you see the engine's output shape before submitting real work.

What loan programs and states does North Star cover?

FHA, VA, USDA, Conventional (Fannie + Freddie), and HUD Multifamily. State licensing rules for Washington and Oregon at launch — California, Idaho, and other Western states follow based on demand. The full rule library is at athenadecisionsystems.com/catalogs.

What does each severity mean?

• Critical. Loan-eligibility blocker. The deal cannot proceed until cured. Fix these first.
• Material. Report defect requiring correction before sign-off. Won't block the loan but will block the lender's QC acceptance.
• Advisory. Best-practice nudge. Non-blocking. Consider whether the suggestion applies to your specific case.

What does "compliant" mean in the summary?

A compliant rule fired against your submission and passed. Compliant rules count toward the audit chain just like findings — they prove the rule was evaluated and the predicate was satisfied.

What does "not applicable" mean?

The rule's applicability gate didn't match this submission's envelope or content. For example, an FHA-specific rule doesn't fire on a USDA loan; a multifamily rule doesn't fire on a single-family subject. Not-applicable rules don't count as "misses" — they simply don't apply.

I disagree with a finding. What do I do?

Two options, both of which preserve the audit chain:

• Per-case override (before the run). On the run-case panel, add an override with the rule ID and a written reason before clicking Run. The override and your reason both land on the Decision Record — a future reviewer sees the rule fired and sees your documented justification.
• Reviewer action (after the run). On a sealed run's findings, click Accept / Reject / Modified to record whether you agreed with the finding. These decisions persist as learning events that inform future product iterations.

What's a Decision Record?

A cryptographically sealed file that witnesses one evaluation event. It contains the hash of your work file, the hash of the rule set, the timestamp, the hash of the findings, and our digital signature. Anyone holding our public key can re-verify it offline, indefinitely.

For the full framing — what the seal does and doesn't attest — read the audit-chain page. The framing matters; it's contractually binding (see Terms of Service §6).

How do I verify a Decision Record?

Install the open-source athena-verify CLI:

cargo install athena-verify

Then:

athena verify --record YOUR_RECORD.json \
              --public-key PUBLIC_KEY.pub

Expected output: six "OK" lines plus verified: true. Public keys are at verify.athenanorthstar.com/keys. Detailed walkthrough on the verify page.

What happens to my Decision Records if I close my account?

They remain offline-verifiable indefinitely. The CLI doesn't require an account, the public keys are publicly available, and the Records you sealed during your subscription stay in the audit chain forever. Closing your account doesn't break their verifiability.

Your raw work-file content (the input that produced the Records) is deleted on the timeline described in the Privacy Policy after account closure, but the Records themselves persist.

What if Athena Systems goes out of business?

Every Decision Record we ever sealed stays verifiable. The verification path was designed to not require our infrastructure: anyone with the Record file and the public key (both freely available, both already in your archive if you've been paying attention) can re-verify using the verifier CLI. We can't take it away even if we wanted to.

How much does North Star cost?

Final pricing is being set during the bootstrap launch phase. See the pricing page for the shape of what we're planning. Waitlist members see real pricing before it lands on the public site.

How do I cancel?

Cancellation is monthly — no annual contract, no lock-in. Email support@athenadecisionsystems.com or use the cancellation flow in your account settings. Your Decision Records remain verifiable after cancellation.

Can I export my data?

Yes. Decision Records and Evaluation Reports are downloadable as files (JSON and PDF respectively). On account closure, you have a 60-day export window to retrieve work-file content and historical evaluations.