Waiting on a condo questionnaire

Why the volume changed

Limited Review and Streamlined Review were retired for applications dated on or after August 3, 2026. Conventional condo loans in buildings of eleven or more units now go through Full Review unless they fall in a waiver path, and Full Review means the complete project questionnaire on every file.

The same letter widened the review waiver at the other end, from projects of four or fewer units to projects of ten or fewer, where the project is not part of a larger development or master association. Detached condo units, two to four unit projects, most PUDs, and Fannie-to-Fannie limited cash-out refinances at or below 80% remain waived. So the volume did not rise everywhere at once, it rose sharply above eleven units and fell slightly below it.

The practical effect for a community association manager is a step change in requests, arriving at a desk that was already carrying estoppel and resale work with statutory clocks on it. The questionnaire has no statutory clock, so when something has to wait, it is usually this. Knowing that changes how you ask.

What to send with the request

A request that carries its own context comes back faster than a bare form, because the manager does not have to work out what is being asked or hunt for a matching community.

1. The legal project name as it appears in the declaration, not the marketing name on the sign. Large managers run hundreds of communities and the two rarely match.
2. The unit number, the phase if the project has phases, and the borrower's name, so the file can be matched to the sale.
3. The application date. It decides which set of thresholds applies, and three of them moved in 2026.
4. The closing date, so the request can be placed in a queue rather than at the back of it.
5. Whether you need the building safety addendum, which you almost certainly do, and whether your own version of the form will be accepted in place of the published one.
6. Your own freshness window, if it is shorter than the agency's. It is the difference between one answer and two.

Why a completed questionnaire still comes back

Most returns are not refusals. They are answers that cannot be used, and the same handful recur.

Delinquency given in dollars

The test counts units 60 or more days past due against total units, at 15%, and it covers special assessments as well as regular ones. An aged receivables total in dollars cannot be converted into that number by the reader.

Insurance answered with identifiers only

The form asks for carrier, policy number and telephone. The review needs the coverage amount tied to a replacement cost source, the policy form, and both deductibles, including the per unit cap of $50,000 that applies to applications dated on or after July 1, 2026. None of those are fields on the form, so ask for the evidence of insurance with the questionnaire rather than after it.

Reserves invisible in the budget

The requirement is at least 10% of assessment income allocated to replacement reserves, rising to 15% for applications dated on or after January 4, 2027. Where a budget funds reserves out of surplus, or labels the line something else, the reader computes zero. Asking for the adopted budget alongside the form settles it in one pass.

Litigation answered as a bare yes

The form gives one box and the decision is made in the attachment. A yes with no documentation reads as unresolved, and a collection action against a delinquent owner reads exactly like a construction defect claim until somebody says which it is.

The addendum left open

Unknown on inspections, repairs or violations is treated as an answer rather than as a blank. It is the most common reason a form that looks complete produces a second round.

The longer version of this list, written for the side completing the form, is here.

Deadlines that expire quietly

• Project review evidence may not be more than 365 days old at the note date for an established project, or 180 days for a new one.
• Many lenders apply a shorter freshness window of their own, commonly 60 to 120 days. A questionnaire obtained early in a long escrow can expire before the note.
• Where the project's status in Condo Project Manager is Unavailable, no questionnaire answer cures it. The reason sits in the comments, and a status review request is the route.
• The short-form questionnaire that went with Limited Review has no application for loans dated on or after August 3, 2026. Sending one produces a delay and then a second request.

What the association can and cannot tell you

A management company answers from the association's records. It does not opine on eligibility, it does not interpret the agency guides, and it should not be asked to characterize litigation beyond what the association's attorney has stated. Requests that ask a manager to conclude rather than to report are the ones that come back slowest, because they get referred.

Asking for the underlying document alongside the answer is faster than asking the manager to summarize it, and it gives your reviewer something to rely on.

Common questions from the requesting side

Short answers for loan officers, processors and closing agents.

How long does a condo questionnaire take to come back?

There is no statutory deadline, so it depends entirely on the management company's queue. Five to fifteen business days is the ordinary range and two to four weeks is common in season, because the questionnaire is the one request on a manager's desk without a statutory clock attached to it.

When in the file should the questionnaire be ordered?

As early as the project is identified, and earlier than most files do it. The two constraints pull against each other: ordering late risks a three week wait against a closing date, and ordering very early risks the answer going stale against your own freshness window. Where an escrow is long, ordering early and budgeting for one refresh is generally cheaper in days than ordering once and waiting.

Can the association refuse to complete a condo questionnaire?

There is no federal obligation on an association to complete one, and some decline to answer particular questions, most often about litigation, on their attorney's advice. In practice most complete them, because a project that cannot be reviewed cannot be financed and that reaches the owners as failed sales.

Who is allowed to sign a condo questionnaire?

An authorized representative of the association, usually the community association manager. The form asks for name, title, company and date, and an undated or unsigned form is returned.

Will the association accept our own questionnaire form?

Often, but it is worth asking in the request. The published Fannie Mae Form 1076 and Freddie Mac Form 476 is optional, and a manager who has standardized on it may take longer with a bespoke version. The requirements collected are the same either way.

What does it mean when Condo Project Manager says Unavailable?

That the project is ineligible on that status alone, whatever the questionnaire says. The reason appears in the comments section, and a status review request is the route rather than a better answer on the form.

Can we speed a questionnaire up by paying a rush fee?

Many portals sell one. What it buys is queue position rather than a different document, and the association's own records still have to produce the answers. Sending a complete request in the first place buys more time than a rush fee does.