What the questionnaire is for
A condominium loan is underwritten twice: once against the borrower and once against the project. The questionnaire is the project underwrite. It asks the association a set of factual questions whose answers determine whether the project is eligible for delivery at all, independent of how strong the borrower is.
That structure is why a project defect is expensive. A borrower defect can sometimes be cured with a document. An ineligible project cannot be cured after closing, and the loan may be unsaleable.
The answers that decide the file
| Topic | What is being tested | Why it fails |
|---|---|---|
| Critical repairs | Whether any repair affecting safety, soundness, structural integrity or habitability is outstanding | An unaddressed condition makes the project ineligible until it is resolved |
| Special assessments | Current and planned assessments, their purpose, and the payment status | An assessment for structural work signals a deferred maintenance problem the reserves did not cover |
| Deferred maintenance | Known conditions the association has not funded | Frequently disclosed in a comment field and then not read |
| Reserves and budget | Whether the budget provides an adequate replacement reserve allocation | An underfunded reserve is a leading indicator of a future assessment |
| HOA delinquency | Share of units delinquent on association dues beyond the permitted period | A ratio over the guide threshold is a hard stop |
| Single-entity ownership | Units owned by one entity or affiliated group | Concentration above the threshold changes the risk profile of the whole project |
| Commercial or non-residential space | Share of the project’s space used for commercial purposes | Over the limit and the project is not a residential condominium for delivery purposes |
| Investor concentration | Share of units not owner-occupied, where the review type requires it | Applies to some review types and transactions and not to others |
| Litigation | Pending or threatened litigation involving the association | Construction defect and structural litigation is treated very differently from a minor claim |
| Insurance | Master policy coverage, deductibles, fidelity and liability | Verified against the actual policy, not against the questionnaire answer |
| Project completion and control | Whether the project is complete and whether developer control has ended | Phasing and turnover status change what review is permitted |
Who may answer it
The association or its management agent. That is the control. A questionnaire completed by the listing agent, the seller, the builder’s sales office, or the borrower is not an independent statement about the project, and it should not be treated as one no matter how complete it looks. The name, title, company and date on the signature block are worth reading before the answers are.
Establish the review type first
Most condo findings are really the wrong question being asked. Before evaluating the evidence, the file has to establish which review path applies, because the required evidence follows from it.
- Limited Review. Available only for defined transaction profiles, with a reduced evidence set.
- Full Review. The complete project analysis, where the questionnaire carries the most weight.
- Fannie Mae project approval paths. Where a project carries an existing approval or determination, the required file evidence differs and is documented by the approval itself.
Record the review type as a field, not as prose. A QC reviewer who cannot tell which path was used cannot test whether the file is complete.
What post-closing QC tests
- Review type documented and consistent with the transaction, occupancy and loan-to-value.
- Questionnaire source is the association or management agent, with a dated signature and a title.
- Age of the questionnaire at the time of the underwriting decision, against the current guide limit.
- Completeness. No blank answer on a question that can make the project ineligible. A blank is not a no.
- Critical repairs and special assessments answered, and where disclosed, resolved with evidence rather than with a comment.
- Threshold recomputation. Delinquency, single-entity ownership and commercial space recalculated from the stated figures rather than accepted from a checkbox.
- Insurance verified against the actual policy or evidence of coverage.
- Contradictions. The questionnaire, the budget, the appraisal and the master policy tell the same story. When they do not, the finding names the two documents that disagree.
Common defects
| Condition | Typical severity | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Unaddressed critical repair disclosed on the questionnaire | Material | Project ineligibility, and the loan may be unsaleable |
| Questionnaire completed by an interested party | Material | The independence of the project evidence is gone |
| Eligibility-critical question left blank | Material or moderate | The project was approved on incomplete evidence |
| Questionnaire older than the guide limit at decision | Moderate | Conditions may have changed before closing |
| Threshold ratio accepted without recalculation | Moderate | Arithmetic errors here change eligibility outcomes |
| Review type not documented | Low to moderate | Completeness cannot be tested |
For the grading conversation that follows an eligibility defect, read defect management, and for the cycle it reports into, the post-closing QC checklist.
Keep decisions human and evidence explicit.
Translate guidance into a review record that preserves what happened, who decided, and which source controlled.
Confirm requirements against current source material.
Requirements and vendor capabilities change. These sources were reviewed July 31, 2026. Confirm current source material, product scope, commercial terms, and your approved QC plan before changing a production process.
What mortgage teams usually ask.
Who completes the Fannie Mae condo questionnaire?
The homeowners association or its management agent completes it. A party with an interest in the sale, such as the listing agent or the seller, should not be the source, and a reviewer who sees one of those signatures should treat the answers as unverified.
Is a questionnaire required on every condo loan?
No. The evidence required depends on the review type. A Limited Review, a Full Review, a project approved through Fannie Mae's project manager tool, and a Project Eligibility Review Service determination do not all require the same documentation. Establish the review type first, then the evidence.
How current does the questionnaire have to be?
Fannie Mae sets an age limit for project documentation, and it is short relative to a typical loan cycle. Check the current Selling Guide limit and record the completion date, not just the receipt date.
What are critical repairs?
Repairs and replacements that significantly affect the safety, soundness, structural integrity or habitability of the project, along with certain deficiencies identified by an inspection or a regulatory authority. Fannie Mae treats a project with unaddressed critical repairs as ineligible, so this is the highest-consequence section of the questionnaire.