The condo questionnaire (Fannie Mae Form 1076 or Freddie Mac Form 476) is the association’s written answers to the facts a lender needs to judge condo project eligibility: delinquencies, litigation, ownership concentration, commercial space, insurance, and flood coverage. It’s optional, but each answer feeds a specific GSE test, so a missing or vague answer usually becomes a condition.
You own the eligibility decision, and you own it after closing too. Here’s what each part of the questionnaire is evidence for, and the threshold each answer has to clear under the current Fannie Mae Selling Guide.
What is the condo questionnaire?
The condo questionnaire is the full Condominium Project Questionnaire, published jointly as Fannie Mae Form 1076 and Freddie Mac Form 476 (December 2021 edition). You fill in your contact details and the date you need it back. The association or its management company completes the rest, on behalf of the buyer or the borrower refinancing.
The form has seven sections, mapped to their eligibility tests in the table below, plus an optional addendum, in use since December 15, 2023, for deferred maintenance and special assessments.
The questionnaire is optional, but you still have to document the same facts another way, so each blank turns into a separate request. It’s also one document in a larger package; see the full set of condo documents a Full Review relies on. Whether your team reads the answers itself or relies on condo eligibility analysis, every answer still has to be checked against the current Guide.
Which condo projects need a full project review?
Not every association unit triggers a project review. Under Fannie Mae’s project standards, units in planned unit developments (PUDs) are generally exempt, except PUDs of manufactured homes subject to a community land trust, ground lease, or shared equity arrangement. Legal form decides it, not the building: a townhouse can be a condo unit or a PUD unit.
For condos, size comes next. Fannie Mae waives review for units in two- to ten-unit projects and for detached condo units, but five- to ten-unit projects only qualify if they aren’t part of a larger development or master association. Here’s how master associations and sub-associations work.
Above 10 units, the standard path is a Full Review, and the Guide still lists FHA Project Approval (through HUD’s review and approval process) as an option for attached units in established projects. Whether a project is established or new (Section II of the questionnaire) decides which review path applies.
Fannie Mae’s Limited Review and Freddie Mac’s Streamlined Review are retired for conventional applications dated on or after August 3, 2026 (Lender Letter LL-2026-03 and Bulletin 2026-C), and lenders could adopt the change earlier. The application date and your implementation policy decide which rules apply, not today’s date; see what changed when Limited Review was retired. Freddie Mac runs its own Exempt from Review path, so check its conditions in Freddie Mac’s condominium project guidance on a Freddie Mac file.
If the borrower is using FHA financing, check the project’s status in HUD’s FHA-approved condominium search. Rexera, a RealPage company, can acquire FHA and VA condo documents, but doesn’t perform formal FHA or VA package reviews.
What does the condo questionnaire ask?
Each section of the questionnaire is evidence for a specific eligibility test.
Use this to see which eligibility test each section of the condo questionnaire (Form 1076/476) is evidence for. Thresholds are Fannie Mae’s, from the Selling Guide as checked November 6, 2026.
| Questionnaire section | What the association reports | Eligibility test it feeds | Fannie Mae threshold |
| I. Basic Project Information | Master or umbrella association; rental pooling, deed restrictions, mandatory memberships; non-incidental business income | Project type; ineligible characteristics | Hotel-style operation is ineligible; more than 10% of budgeted income from non-incidental business is ineligible |
| II. Project Completion Information | Whether the project is complete; phasing or annexation; whether the developer has turned over control | Established vs new project | Established means at least 90% of units conveyed, 100% complete, no further phasing, control turned over |
| III. Newly Converted or Rehabilitated Project Information | Conversion in the past three years; engineer findings on structural soundness | Conversion standards | The engineer’s or architect’s report must comment favorably on structural integrity |
| IV. Financial Information | Units by owner, second home, investor, developer, and association; owners of multiple units; commercial space | Single-entity ownership; commercial space | One entity: 2 units (11 to 20 units, or 5 to 10 in a master association), 20% at 21+ units; commercial space 35% maximum |
| V. Ownership & Other Information | Units 60+ days delinquent; lender responsibility for dues after foreclosure; active or pending litigation | Delinquency; priority lien; litigation | 15% maximum; generally no more than six months of regular assessments ahead of the mortgage; litigation ineligible unless an exception applies |
| VI. Insurance Information & Financial Controls | Hazard, liability, fidelity, and flood carriers and policies; account controls | Master insurance | 100% of replacement cost; deductible no more than 5%, and no more than $50,000 per unit for applications on or after July 1, 2026 |
| VII. Contact Information | Flood zone status and coverage level; who completed the form | Flood | In an SFHA, the lesser of 80% of replacement cost or the NFIP maximum per unit |
| Optional addendum (December 15, 2023) | Deferred maintenance; special assessments | Critical repairs; special assessments | Unfunded repairs over $10,000 per unit due within 12 months indicate critical repairs |
| Not on the form | Budget and reserve allocation | Budget review | At least 10% to reserves; 15% for applications on or after January 4, 2027 |
The form doesn’t carry the budget, so the reserve test always needs the budget itself. The sections below cover what each test asks you to document.
How many units can be delinquent on dues?
No more than 15% of a project’s units can be 60 days or more past due on regular common expense assessments. The same limit applies separately to each special assessment, at both GSEs. Section V of the questionnaire reports the count.
The reason is collateral. Assessments are the association’s operating income. When owners fall behind, the money for insurance, maintenance, and reserves shrinks with them, and deferred maintenance eventually shows up in the collateral you’re lending against. That’s why it helps to know how condo fees and special assessments are structured.
Delinquency also touches your lien position. Where state law gives association assessments priority over a first mortgage, Fannie Mae generally accepts no more than six months of regular assessments ahead of its lien; a longer period is accepted only where state law already allowed it on January 14, 2014. A project that permits more than that is ineligible. For how association liens rank against a mortgage, including state super-lien rules, see how HOA and condo association liens are prioritized.
What budget and reserves does a Full Review require?
The questionnaire doesn’t carry the budget. The budget, balance sheet, and delinquency report do, and reading an association’s financial statements is where the reserve and adequacy tests start.
The budget has to be adequate for the type of project, including utility payments, and the common elements must be consistent with the nature of the project: a community built around a golf course should be budgeting to maintain it.
Reserves are the bigger test, and they’re changing. For Fannie Mae applications dated on or after January 4, 2027, the Full Review minimum rises to 15%; see the January 2027 reserve change. Until then, at least 10% of the budget must go to replacement reserves. For the mechanics, see how association reserves are funded and evaluated.
If you rely on a reserve study instead, it must be prepared by an independent third party and completed within three years of the date you approve the project, and the budget must carry the study’s highest recommended reserve allocation. For applications on or after August 3, 2026, a baseline funding method can’t be used to get under the minimum.
Thin reserves tend to turn into special assessments, and special assessments land on the same borrower whose ability to repay you just underwrote. Neither GSE lets a special assessment stand in for the reserve allocation.
When does litigation make a condo ineligible?
Pending litigation doesn’t automatically kill a deal, but it has to fall within your investor’s parameters, and you have to document why. Section V of the questionnaire asks for active or pending litigation and the association’s attorney contact, which is where that documentation starts.
Fannie Mae treats a project as ineligible when the association is named as a party to pending litigation, or when the developer is a party to litigation over safety, structural soundness, habitability, or functional use. Arbitration or mediation likely to become litigation counts too.
The exceptions are where most files land. They include non-monetary disputes such as neighbor disputes; claims the association’s insurer has agreed to defend and its insurance covers; the association suing to collect past-due assessments or to foreclose; and matters whose expected damages and legal costs don’t exceed 10% of the project’s funded reserves. Freddie Mac sets its own litigation criteria in Guide Section 5701.3, so check them separately on a Freddie Mac file.
What insurance does the condo project need?
Master policy and unit owner coverage
The master policy must cover at least 100% of the estimated replacement cost of the project improvements. The overall deductible can’t exceed 5% of the policy amount, and for applications dated on or after July 1, 2026, the per-unit deductible can’t exceed $50,000; see the $50,000 per-unit deductible cap. A master policy above either limit doesn’t meet Fannie Mae’s insurance requirements. Section VI names the carriers; the certificate is where you check the limits.
The borrower needs a unit owner’s policy, usually called an HO-6, whenever the master policy doesn’t cover the unit’s interior or improvements, or whenever the master policy has a per-unit deductible. It has to cover at least the greater of what the master policy leaves uncovered or the per-unit deductible.
Flood coverage in a flood hazard area
If the building is in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), flood insurance is required, and every flood zone beginning with A or V is an SFHA under Fannie Mae’s flood insurance requirements. For an attached condo in an SFHA, the association’s master flood policy must cover the building for at least the lesser of 80% of replacement cost or the NFIP maximum available per unit. If the policy meets the 80% test but not the per-unit amount, the unit owner must carry a supplemental flood policy for the difference.
Check two edge cases early: if the community doesn’t participate in the National Flood Insurance Program, an SFHA loan isn’t eligible for sale to Fannie Mae, and an SFHA project with more than 25% commercial space may need supplemental or private flood coverage.
What else can make a condo project ineligible?
Fannie Mae also lists project characteristics that make a project ineligible however clean the rest of the file looks. The questionnaire surfaces these most directly:
- One entity owning more than 2 units in an 11- to 20-unit project (or a 5- to 10-unit project in a master association), or more than 20% at 21 units or more
- Commercial or other non-residential space above 35% of the project or building
- More than 10% of budgeted income from non-incidental businesses the association runs, such as a restaurant, spa, or health club
- Operation as a hotel or condotel, including mandatory rental pooling
- Timeshare, fractional, or segmented ownership
- Critical repairs, including unfunded repairs over $10,000 per unit that should be done within 12 months
On critical repairs, you also have to obtain and review any inspection report completed in the last three years. Several of these first show up in the governing documents, such as mandatory rental pooling or limits on investor ownership, so it helps to know what CC&Rs control and how they affect lender approval.
What should processors check before underwriting?
Most conditions on a condo file trace back to an answer that was missing, vague, or never matched to a source document, and each one sends the file back to the association. A few checks before the file moves protect the closing date.
Confirm the questionnaire came back with every section answered and a named preparer you can call. Check whether the addendum was used; if it wasn’t, deferred maintenance and special assessments need documenting another way. Hold the insurance certificate against the 5% and $50,000 deductible limits, and match the flood zone answer to the flood certificate. If the litigation answer is yes, make sure the attorney’s contact details are there. Attach the budget, because the questionnaire won’t show the reserve allocation. Getting the questionnaire back complete is easier when the request says up front which sections matter.
Where Rexera fits in condo project review
Rexera, a RealPage company, acquires condo documents and questionnaires nationwide through Condo Documents Acquisition, and reviews projects against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Full Review requirements and your own overlays through Condo Project Review. Condo Review returns a standardized eligibility summary that cites the source documents and flags missing items, guideline conflicts, and high-risk language. Condo Review Plus adds human-supported review. Rexera can acquire FHA and VA documents, but doesn’t perform formal FHA or VA package reviews.
Consistent, comparable output is what makes a review defensible later. On the title side, Hankin & Pack’s experience with standardized output makes the same point. As Jordan Edgerton, VP of Closing Operations, puts it: “It helps us from a consistency standpoint, that’s one of our core values.”
Book a demo or email sales@rexera.com.
Disclaimer:
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For interpretation of specific laws or legal obligations, consult qualified legal counsel.
