Non-QM is not a niche anymore. Optimal Blue data showed it above 11% of rate-lock volume in August 2026, and Bank of America Securities projects $175 billion in non-QM production this year, up from $108 billion in 2025. The hard part for business development teams isn't finding product. It's finding who is actually closing it.
Why Is Non-QM So Hard to Find in Public Records?
Because non-QM is defined by the borrower, not the program. Self-employment, bank statement income, or a property's rental cash flow won't show up on a deed of trust the way FHA or VA does. County records alone won't hand you a prospect list, so you have to work from the signals around the loan.
Which Data Signals Reveal Non-QM Activity?
Upstream lenders. Closed loans that keep naming known non-QM lenders, such as Angel Oak or Acra Lending, point to a branch that already knows the documentation. This is the signal Modex builds on, matching production against a non-QM lender list.
Production mix by loan type. Filter a loan officer's units by product to see who is comfortable with bank statement and DSCR files and who only closes agency. A meaningful non-QM share usually means a referral pipeline is already built.
Geographic concentration. Self-employed borrowers and investors cluster by market. Filter by county or MSA, then layer on branch and loan officer data to see who is capturing that volume.
Workforce movement. When producers with non-QM experience join a branch, leadership is often investing in the channel. Arrivals and departures, refreshed monthly from NMLS data, show where capacity is growing.
Lender concentration. A branch whose closings lean on one or two non-QM lenders may have a correspondent or wholesale relationship. That tells you who you'd be up against, and where a second lender could fit.
Product mix over time. Compare a company's current loan type mix with its own history. A shop that has gone from no visible non-QM to a real share over a year or two is building the channel, and is often open to new partners.
Licensing and employment history. A loan officer licensed across several active states, at a company known for non-QM, deserves a direct call. Modex Recruit lets you filter licensing and employment alongside production.
Market share shifts. If a competing branch loses non-QM share in a market, its producers and referral partners may be looking for a new home. County data runs about four to six weeks behind, so read the trend, not one month.
How Do You Turn Signals Into a Prospect Scorecard?
Each signal answers a different question. Upstream lenders show operational readiness, production mix shows expertise, geography shows demand, and workforce movement shows intent. Alone, each one just trims a list. Weighted together, they give you a shortlist.
Weight them for your role. Wholesale and non-QM AEs should lean on the lender signals. Recruiters should lean on production mix and licensing.
One note on method: Modex infers non-QM from the lender, so not every loan from a listed lender is a non-QM product, and some volume from unlisted lenders gets missed. Use the signals to prioritize, then confirm on the call.
Quick Answers
Can you identify non-QM loans directly from public records?
Not reliably. Deeds of trust don't capture the borrower characteristics that define non-QM, so lender-based analysis is the practical workaround.
How does Modex identify non-QM production?
Modex runs transactions through a proprietary algorithm to identify likely non-QM loans. We then match county-level deed of trust data, covering 2,370 counties and 95% of U.S. residential home loans, against a list of known non-QM lenders that is updated monthly.
Which signal should you start with?
Start with the one closest to your job. AEs should begin with upstream lenders. Recruiters should begin with production mix.
Want to see who is closing non-QM loans in your market? Request a Modex demo today.
