Questions managers ask, answered

The rules after August 3, 2026

Is Limited Review still available after August 3, 2026?

No. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac retired Limited Review and Streamlined Review for mortgage applications dated on or after August 3, 2026. Unless a loan falls in a narrow waiver path, every conventional condo loan in a building of 11 or more units now goes through Full Review, which means the complete project questionnaire on every file. The change was announced on March 18, 2026 in Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2026-03 and Freddie Mac Bulletin 2026-C.

Does the change apply to my building?

It turns on the lender's application date, not the closing date and not the date the questionnaire is filled in. A conventional condo loan in a project of 11 or more units, with an application dated on or after August 3, 2026, goes through Full Review. Projects of 10 or fewer units that are not part of a master association, planned unit developments, detached condo units and certain refinances sit outside it. A waived review is not a clean bill of health on its own, because a project flagged as ineligible in Fannie Mae's project database is still ineligible.

How much does a condo have to put in replacement reserves?

At least 10% of assessment income for applications dated now, rising to 15% for applications dated on or after January 4, 2027. The alternative is a reserve study less than three years old, funded at its highest recommended allocation. Baseline funding is no longer accepted. A budget adopted this autumn is the budget that will be tested in January, which is the reason the date is worth raising with boards before it arrives.

How is delinquency counted?

In units, not dollars. No more than 15% of total units may be 60 or more days past due, and regular and special assessments count alike. Answering in dollars is one of the most common reasons a questionnaire comes back, because a dollar figure cannot be tested against a unit-count threshold.

What is the per-unit insurance deductible cap?

$50,000 per unit on the master policy, for applications dated on or after July 1, 2026. A deductible above the cap has to be cured, typically through the borrower's own HO-6 policy. State deductibles exactly as the declarations page states them rather than summarising them.

When is fidelity or crime coverage required?

At 21 or more units. Below that threshold the questionnaire does not require it, though an association may carry it anyway.

How much commercial space is allowed?

Non-residential space is measured by square footage against a 35% limit. It is a square-footage test, not a count of units and not a share of income, and answering it from the unit count is a frequent source of a return.

What makes a project a condotel?

Hotel-type services, not the share of units that are rented. Registration desks, daily housekeeping, central room booking and similar services are what put a project in that category. A high rental percentage on its own does not.

Test one of your buildings against six of these thresholds, free and with no signup, or read the ten answers that get a questionnaire returned.

How this desk works

Who signs the completed questionnaire?

The management company. Averbrook is a production subcontractor and nothing more: the management company reviews and signs every document, remains the preparer of record, and is the only party that delivers anything to a lender. Averbrook never contacts the association, its board, its vendors or any lender. Every conversation runs through the management company.

Is Averbrook a law firm, and is any of this legal advice?

No, on both counts. Averbrook is not a law firm, and nothing it produces is legal advice or statutory interpretation.

How long does a package take?

24 to 48 business hours from a complete document set. There is no rush fee, because there is no slow lane to upgrade from. If something is missing, it comes back as one consolidated list rather than a string of emails, and the clock starts when the last item arrives, confirmed in writing.

What does it cost?

The first package for any new client is free. After that it is $115 a package, $95 each at ten or more a month, and $45 for a refresh of the same community inside 90 days. No rush tier, no subscription. Management companies commonly bill the transaction $150 to $400 for this document, so the desk sits inside a fee the company already charges and the difference stays with the company. The whole price list.

What documents do you need?

Documents the company already holds: the budget, the insurance declarations, a delinquency aging report, the declaration, and the unit roster. The first order for a community is the long list. Every order after that is a short refresh of the figures that moved.

Do you need unit owner personal information?

No. Counts and totals, never people. No owner names, account numbers, Social Security numbers or payment details. If a delinquency report carries them, remove the columns, or simply state the count and the total instead. Holding less of that information is the best protection for the association and for us. How documents are handled.

What if the lender sends it back?

It is corrected free, whenever it is found, with no time limit. A re-answer because the community's own figures have changed is a refresh rather than a correction, and that is the $45 line inside 90 days.

How do the documents actually reach you?

Through the upload on the order page rather than as email attachments, so everything for an order stays together in one place and we can tell you exactly what we hold. If it is easier to write first, do that: we enter the order and send the upload link back with the document list for that community.

Is there a contract, a portal or a minimum?

No portal to learn and no minimum. The upload sits on a single page, there is nothing to install and no account to log in to, and the written agreement is one document that can be read in a few minutes.

Still deciding

The most useful next step is usually to look at the work rather than read about it. A finished package is published in full, including one building we would refuse to sign and why.

The first package is free. Pick one building, send the documents, and judge the work on your own paperwork. Start a free first package, or write to desk@averbrook.com with the question this page did not answer.