DENVER, Colo., Feb. 18, 2026 — ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, today announced the release of its quarterly ACES Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report covering Q3 2025. The report analyzes post-closing quality control data derived from the ACES Quality Management & Control® software.
Key findings from the Q3 2025 ACES Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report include:
- The overall critical defect rate increased 18.5%, rising from 1.51% in Q2 2025 to 1.79% in Q3 2025.
- Income/Employment defects increased 47.6%, rising from 18.45% to 27.24% of all critical defects and remaining the largest defect category.
- Legal/Regulatory/Compliance defects increased 16.8%, rising from 16.24% to 18.97%.
- Borrower/Mortgage Eligibility defects decreased 56.5%, declining from 15.87% to 6.90%.
- Purchase defect share decreased to 62.65%, while refinance defect share increased to 37.35% as refinance review share expanded.
- Conventional loans accounted for 57.18% of all critical defects, FHA for 31.10% and VA for 11.00%, reflecting relative stability across products with modest shifts in defect concentration.
“While the overall critical defect rate increased again in Q3 2025, the underlying data points to a market adjusting to a shifting mix rather than a broad decline in manufacturing quality,” said Nick Volpe, executive vice president of ACES Quality Management. “The increase was driven primarily by concentrated deterioration in income- and compliance-related findings, reinforcing the importance of documentation integrity and disciplined validation as refinance activity expands and lenders continue to operate lean.”
Findings for the Q3 2025 ACES Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report are based on post-closing quality control data derived from the ACES Quality Management and Control® benchmarking system and incorporate data from prior quarters, where applicable. All reviews and defect data evaluated for the report were based on loan audits selected by lenders for full file reviews. The Mortgage QC Industry Trends Reports are available for download, free of charge, at https://www.acesquality.com/resources/reports.
About ACES Quality Management
ACES Quality Management is the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry. The nation's most prominent lenders, servicers and financial institutions rely on ACES Quality Management & Control® Software to improve audit throughput and quality while controlling costs, including:
- Over 70% of the top 20 independent mortgage lenders;
- 7 of the top 10 loan servicers;
- 14 of the top 30 banks; and
- 7 of the top 15 credit unions in the United States.
ACES also supports multiple state housing authorities and mortgage insurers, a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), along with dozens of third-party QC and compliance service providers that collectively serve hundreds of financial institutions.
Unlike other quality control platforms, ACES Flexible Audit Technology® enables independent mortgage lenders and financial institutions to easily manage and customize the system to their specific needs without relying on IT or outside resources. With ACES’ AI-powered capabilities, audit teams can translate complexity into clear insights and accelerate performance.
Using a customer-centric approach, ACES clients get responsive support and access to our experts to maximize their investment. For more information, visit www.acesquality.com or call 1-800-858-1598.
Media Contact
Lindsey Neal
Depth for ACES Quality Management
(404) 549-9282