65 years of making homeownership possible

Our founder, Max Karl, was a real estate attorney in Milwaukee, WI, who saw how people struggled to save for a down payment. He also knew the risks lenders faced in lending money to potential homebuyers. He was frustrated with the process of closing loans with 100% government guarantees.

So, he came up with a better way: Have a private company insure only the top portion of a mortgage, rather than 100% of the loan. It would be an easier and less costly way to provide low-down-payment financing to borrowers with less than a 20% down payment. Mr. Karl took his idea to a group of investors, many of whom were Savings & Loan executives. This group, along with his family and friends (even his barber!) contributed $250,000 in capital, and he founded Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation, or MGIC, in 1957. It was the invention of modern private mortgage insurance.

65 years later, we're still here, working with mortgage lenders and helping people afford homes with low-down-payment loans. Yet, we have evolved along with our customers’ needs and expectations. Today, we’re taking a fresh look at how we can attain our broader business goals, increase our agility, ensure quality in the evaluation of risk, and create new efficiencies to improve our customers’ overall experience for the next 65 years.