Premium’s Approach to Turning QC Data into Operational Gold

“You can’t fix what you can’t see.” That’s the quiet truth lurking behind too many Quality Control (QC) departments in mortgage lending today.

All too often, QC data stays locked in spreadsheets, siloed from the teams that could act on it — origination, underwriting, processing, post-closing. But Premium Mortgage shows us what happens when you flip the script: when QC becomes not just a back-end checkbox, but a strategic engine for performance improvement. Indecomm’s Brian Margulies recently hosted a webinar discussion and in that discussion Premium’s Director of Compliance, Amy Forrett, pulled back the curtain on how her team uses QC data to sharpen their lending process, train teams, and drive measurable improvement across the board.

Let’s decode their approach — and show how any mortgage lender can follow suit.

From Reports to Results: Using QC Data the Right Way

Premium’s approach is built around one guiding principle: use data to fuel improvement, not just reporting. It’s not enough to generate a monthly QC summary. You need to analyze it, trend it, and share it with the right people at the right level.

Here’s how they do it:

Six-month trending: By analyzing QC defect trends over six months, the team avoids the noise of one-off errors and sees the bigger picture.
Excel-powered insights: After pulling data from Indecomm’s AuditGenius platform  Premium’s team customizes reports in Excel, breaking down defects by category, department, and even individual team member.
Feedback for everyone: Results aren’t just for management. Amy’s team shares anonymized, department-specific data with line-level employees — so processors, closers, and underwriters all see how they’re doing and where they can improve.
KPI integration: QC data directly feeds performance management and training KPIs, reinforcing the connection between quality and accountability.

Spotlight on  AuditGenius: Clarity in a Click

While Premium’s strategy is all about digging into the details, there is value in getting snapshot of QC performance and an easy, clickable way to drill down. That’s where AuditGenius dashboards shine. These  beautiful AuditGenius dashboards offer:

Visual snapshots of QC performance — from gross and net defect rates to root cause analysis
Drill-down capability — so teams can pinpoint exactly where and why issues are occurring
Downloadable data — enabling lenders to manipulate and merge data for broader organizational insights

As Amy put it, the visual reporting “streamlines our QC process and helps everyone — from branch managers to board members — get a clear picture of where we stand.” And when you’re trying to drive change, fast visibility is everything.

Turning Trends into Training — and Change

What sets Premium apart is how they act on the insights. When recurring issues pop up — like the nationwide challenge with 4506-C rejections — they don’t just flag the problem; they fix it:

Cross-functional collaboration: QC meets regularly with department heads to address root causes, tweak workflows, and drive adoption of new processes.
Innovative solutions: In response to high rejection rates on 4506-Cs, Premium shifted to using the more forgiving 8821 tax form — a change made possible by partnering with Indecomm and a new vendor.
Expanded testing: When QC data revealed trouble spots, Premium added discretionary audits for targeted employees or topics — even extending QC to processors to build “junior underwriter” skills.
Testing Change: They’re also not afraid to test changes before they reach QC. Internal audits help validate new processes early, avoiding unnecessary rework or defects later on.

Keys to Scaling QC’s Impact

Amy and Brian shared several best practices any lender can adopt:

Create a QC working group: Involving leads from compliance, ops, underwriting, and post-closing builds buy-in and speeds solutions.
Use root cause analysis: AuditGenius allows lenders to classify defects by cause — such as training gaps, system issues, or misunderstanding of guidelines — making corrective actions more effective.
Focus on gross defects: It’s not just about fixing issues post-facto (net defect rate). Gross defects show the full picture of where risk lives and where process inefficiencies exist.
Audit the auditor: Premium reviews 10% of Indecomm’s audits monthly, ensuring consistency and offering valuable feedback. It’s not about catching mistakes — it’s about partnering for better outcomes.
Getting Cozy with your QC Partner: Premium’s close partnership with Indecomm is a source of pride for both organizations and Premium emphasized that this is often the difference when leveraging data. You can watch the full webinar here. 

Final Thoughts: From Checkbox to Change Agent

Too many lenders treat QC as a necessary evil — a compliance requirement to check off every 90 days. But Premium Mortgage offers a smarter approach. QC can be a lens into your operation’s blind spots, a guide for process refinement, and a catalyst for employee growth.

And with technology like AuditGenius, that transformation doesn’t have to be hard. Dashboards deliver clarity. Drill-down tools uncover patterns. Easy data downloads make it simple to tell the story.

So the question isn’t whether you’re doing QC — it’s whether you’re using it to get better.

Interested in a partnership or want to look at AuditGenius for your organization? Reach out!