What makes a condominium warrantable

What the word actually means

A lender that writes a conventional mortgage on a condominium unit usually intends to sell that loan to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Both will buy it only if the project itself meets their standards, separately from anything about the borrower. A project that meets them is called warrantable, because the lender can warrant to the buyer of the loan that it does.

So warrantability is a statement about the building and its association, not about the unit, the price or the person borrowing. Two identical borrowers in the same building get the same answer, and a strong borrower does not carry a project over the line.

Nobody issues a certificate, and there is no list to search

This is the single most common misunderstanding, and it costs boards the most time. There is no public register of warrantable projects, no certificate an association can apply for, and no badge to display. The agencies maintain project records for lender use, and a project's absence from anything a member of the public can see means nothing at all.

The determination is made by the lender, on one loan, from the project's figures as they stand on that day. That is exactly why the questionnaire is asked again on the next file rather than a previous answer being reused: reserves, delinquency and insurance all move, and the answer moves with them.

The thresholds a project is measured against

These are the standards every package from this desk is measured against, printed here from the same figures we check a project's own numbers against, so what is published and what is delivered cannot disagree. A project sitting the wrong side of any one of them is where a file usually stops.

Owners 60 or more days behind on assessments

No more than 15% of units. Counted by units rather than by dollars, which is the single most common way a passing project is reported as failing.

Money going to reserves each year

At least 10% of the budget today, rising to 15% for applications dated on or after January 4, 2027.

Reserve study

Dated within 3 years, and its findings funded rather than noted.

Deferred maintenance the study identified

Unfunded repairs under $10,000 per unit, and nothing that makes the building unsafe or unsound.

Commercial and non-residential space

No more than 35% of the total floor area.

Units held by any one owner

No more than 20% in a project of more than 2 units.

Units still held by the developer

No more than 20% once the project is no longer in its initial sales.

Units sold and conveyed

At least 50% in a new project, and 90% for a project to count as established.

Fidelity or crime coverage

At least 3 months of total assessments plus the reserve balance, where the project has more than 20 units.

Property insurance deductible

No more than $50,000 per unit for applications dated on or after July 1, 2026.

Liability coverage

At least $1,000,000 per occurrence.

Litigation the association is in

Anything beyond minor matters is examined, and exposure above 10% of reserves is weighed on its facts rather than waved through.

Each threshold has agency text behind it, cited line by line in the packages themselves. The dates that decide which version of a rule a file lives under are set out on the rules page.

How long a determination lasts

A project review is not permanent, and this is the question managers are asked most often by lenders chasing a closing. A completed review may be no older than 365 days at the note date for an established project, and 180 days for a new one. Past that, the questions are asked again.

In practice that is why the same association is asked the same things several times a year, by different lenders, on slightly different forms. Each file needs an answer current on its own date.

What most often puts a project the wrong side of the line

In the order they actually turn up: arrears above the threshold, reserve contributions below it, a reserve study that is out of date or whose findings are unfunded, a single owner or the developer holding too many units, commercial floor area above the limit, an insurance deductible above the cap, fidelity coverage that is short, and active litigation that is more than a minor matter.

Two things on that list are worth separating from the rest, because they are answers rather than conditions. A project is regularly reported as failing when the figure was never supplied, or was supplied on a different basis from the one the question asks. An arrears figure counted by dollars rather than by units, or a deductible stated per building where the question asks per unit, fails a project that passes. That is a documentation problem rather than a project one, and it is fixable in an afternoon.

A project that genuinely sits outside the standards is a different matter and is not a verdict on how it is run. Plenty of well managed buildings are outside them by design, a building with substantial ground floor retail being the obvious case. The free readiness check tests a project against six of these thresholds on your own figures, in your browser, and keeps nothing.

Co-operatives are a different regime

None of the above is the test for a housing cooperative. A co-op is a corporation with a blanket mortgage and a proprietary lease, and it is measured on its own standards, several of which have no condominium equivalent at all. The co-op question set is set out here.

Common questions

The ones that arrive most often, from managers, boards and the lenders chasing them.

Is there a list of warrantable condos I can check?

No. There is no public register, and no certificate an association can hold. The determination is made by a lender on a particular loan, from the project's figures on that day, which is why the questionnaire is asked each time rather than an earlier answer being reused.

Who decides whether a project is warrantable?

The lender, using the project information the association supplies. The association does not make the determination and cannot be asked to, which is why a questionnaire asks for facts and never for a conclusion.

Does non-warrantable mean the building is badly run?

No. It means the project sits outside the standards of two particular loan buyers. A building with substantial commercial space, or one still in its initial sales, can be outside them while being in excellent order, and financing exists for those buildings on different terms.

How long is a completed review good for?

No more than 365 days before the note date for an established project, and 180 days for a new one. After that the questions are asked again.

Can an association do anything to become warrantable?

Sometimes, and the cheapest wins are documentary. A current reserve study, an arrears figure counted the way the question asks, and an insurance certificate that states the deductible per unit resolve a surprising share of the files that come back. Where a project is outside a threshold on its facts, the reserve and delinquency lines are the two most often moved by a budget decision.