Mortgage QC guides
Plain-language guides to agency QC, income, asset and program requirements, each cited to the current Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD, VA or CFR text.
QC practice
How to foot a bank statement in a QC review
Start from the opening balance, add every deposit and subtract every withdrawal on every page, then compare your figure with each printed running balance and…
How to spot fraud and inconsistencies in a loan file
Check the file against itself, then against sources the borrower doesn't control. Line up identity, employment, income, assets, debts, occupancy and value…
How to lower your QC defect rate and repurchase risk
Measure the defect rate the way the Guide requires, trace each defect category to the step that produced it, fix that step, and run the same test at…
How to evaluate AI mortgage QC software
Test it blind on loan files your team has already reviewed, and judge it against what the agencies still hold you responsible for. A tool is worth buying only…
AI mortgage quality control software in 2026: vendors compared
This page compares eleven vendors that offer AI-assisted mortgage quality control in 2026: ACES Quality Management, Flightline, Indecomm (AuditGenius and the…
QC programs
Fannie Mae post-closing QC requirements
Fannie Mae requires a random post-closing sample of at least 10% of monthly production, or a statistical sample at 95% confidence and 2% precision, plus…
Freddie Mac vs Fannie Mae QC requirements
Both agencies require a written QC program, prefunding and post-closing reviews, a 10% random sample and self-reporting of ineligible loans within 30 days…
FHA quality control plan requirements
An FHA mortgagee needs a written QC plan covering origination through servicing, with both pre-closing and post-closing reviews. You review at least 10% of…
FHA compare ratio and HUD Credit Watch
The FHA compare ratio is your early default and claim rate on FHA loans divided by the rate for all lenders in the same area, times 100. Above 150 in a HUD…
Prefunding vs post-closing QC: what each agency requires
Prefunding QC reviews a sample of loans before closing, or before acquisition, so defects get fixed before the loan funds. Post-closing QC reviews a random…
How to respond to an agency QC repurchase demand
Start by reading how the agency classified the defect: a finding or a price-adjusted loan can't be pushed to repurchase. For a significant defect, correct it…
Running a QC program
Mortgage QC checklist: prefunding and post-closing, by agency
A mortgage QC checklist covers income, employment, assets, credit, collateral, occupancy, data and closing documents, checked against each agency's loan-level…
Mortgage quality control plan template: what Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD require
A mortgage QC plan is the written part of a lender's QC program: the standards, sampling, review procedures, reporting, corrective action and records that…
Early payment default reviews: FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
An early payment default (EPD) review is a post-closing QC review of a loan that went seriously delinquent soon after closing. FHA defines an EPD as a…
How long does mortgage QC take?
The agencies set outer limits, not review times. Fannie Mae wants the whole post-closing cycle finished within 90 days from the month of disbursement, Freddie…
Income
How to check self-employed income and Form 1084 in QC
Under Fannie Mae's rules, a borrower with a 25% or greater ownership interest in a business is self-employed. Confirm the history and the returns, then…
Overtime, bonus and commission income: Fannie, Freddie, FHA
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA all want about two years of overtime, bonus or commission history, and all accept a shorter history of at least 12 months when…
VA residual income: the tables and how to check them
Residual income is what a VA borrower has left each month after taxes, the new housing expense and significant debts. Compare it with VA's guideline for the…
Assets & reserves
Large deposit sourcing and seasoning by loan program
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA all treat a single deposit over 50% of monthly qualifying income as a large deposit, and Freddie adds asset-derived income to…
Mortgage reserve requirements: Fannie, Freddie, FHA, VA
Reserves are the liquid assets a borrower still has after closing, counted in months of the housing payment on the subject property. On most conventional…
Programs
Your files. Your standards.
See how Flightline cites the requirement behind every finding.