On March 18th, 2026 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac released lender guidance letters outlining new condo lending requirements. These guidelines are impactful for lenders, association managers, board members and unit owners alike.
CondoTek is providing a detailed series of educational webinars to help guide our clients and industry partners and ensure lending compliance.
Most Impactful 2026 Condo Lending Guideline Changes
Lender Underwriting
- Elimination of Limited Review-Effective August 3, 2026
- Project Review Waiver Expanded for Condo Properties with 10-Units or Less-Effective Immediately
Condo Association and Property Insurance
- Actual Cash Value Accepted for Roofs: Effective Immediately
- Inflation Guard Requirement Removed: Effective Immediately
Reserves
- Minimum Reserve Requirement for Condo Properties Increased from 10% to 15%: Effective January 4, 2027
- When Utilizing a Reserve Study that provides 3 funding plans (low/medium/high) only the Highest Recommended Funding Plan will be accepted: Effective August 3, 2026
Unavailable for Lending Designation
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are working to update the ”unavailable for lending designation” for specific condo properties that may now be compliant based on this new guideline release.
Each of these new guidelines is highly impactful for lenders, condo managers and unit owners. Many additional guideline changes will impact mortgage availability in condo properties.
The document retrieval and auditing team at CondoTek is fully trained in ensuring that our clients get the right documents for review with our CondoPak product and get the right decision on warrantability with our Condo Project Warrant product.
Residential mortgage availability in condo properties is key to maintaining unit value. We encourage you to register for each detailed webinar we’re providing. If you’re an association manager or board member and want a “deep-dive” review of mortgage eligibility in your condo property.
Click HERE to order our Lending Compliance Report.
