A condo questionnaire is a lender-requested project survey that decides whether a condominium meets conventional or FHA eligibility rules. Standard forms include Fannie Mae Form 1076, Freddie Mac Form 476, and HUD-9991 and HUD-9992. Answers about reserves, special assessments, insurance, litigation, and critical repairs can make a project ineligible. Expect your lender to request it during underwriting, and respond quickly with documentation.
TL;DR:
- HUD submissions must rely on verifiable information from the previous 90 days, so an old questionnaire from another sale usually will not suffice.
- Unresolved critical repairs can make a project ineligible for Fannie Mae loan sales, regardless of a borrower’s strong credit or finances.
- Request the questionnaire and fee schedule as soon as underwriting begins; management companies may take several business days, and administrative charges are often nonrefundable.
- Assemble the approved budget, current financial statements, recent reserve study, insurance policies, governing documents, and assessment or loan details before submitting the form.
Table of Contents
- What do the standardized condo questionnaire forms ask?
- Who fills out the questionnaire, and how long does it take?
- How do your answers affect mortgage eligibility?
- Which documents should you attach to the questionnaire?
- What can HOAs and borrowers do to avoid closing delays?
- How we help with condo project reviews
- Why boards should treat the questionnaire as routine
- Let us coordinate your condo questionnaire
- FAQ
- Sources
What do the standardized condo questionnaire forms ask?
Fannie Mae announced standardized questionnaire forms, a full form and a short form, so lenders, HOAs, and management firms work from the same format. Freddie Mac's Form 476 follows the same approach, and HUD uses its own questionnaires for FHA loans. Across these forms, you will see recurring sections:
- Basic project information: legal name, address, number of units, and project type.
- Ownership mix: owner-occupied units versus investor-owned units.
- Financials: budget, reserve study, and assessment arrears.
- Insurance: hazard, liability, and fidelity coverage, plus flood zone status.
- Special assessments and litigation: what is planned, why, and whether any material lawsuit is pending.
- Construction and phasing: unfinished phases, commercial space, or hotel-style activity.
Representative questions are direct. Form 1076 asks how many unit owners are 60 or more days delinquent on common expense assessments. Others ask how old the reserve study is and whether the HOA has outstanding loans. An addendum, available as Form 1076A or 476A, captures borrowing for improvements or deferred maintenance, including repayment terms and amounts borrowed.
Who fills out the questionnaire, and how long does it take?
HUD guidance lists who may submit the form: a mortgagee, builder, developer, Condominium Association, management company, project consultant, or an attorney acting as an agent. The HUD-9992 instructions also require that the information come from verifiable sources within the last 90 days.
In practice, the HOA or its management company completes the form for the borrower, and lenders accept signed responses from an authorized representative. Plan around these realities:
- Management companies may take time to return the form.
- Administrative or document fees are common, and they are frequently non-refundable.
- Responses must be current, so an old copy from a prior sale rarely works.
Pro Tip: Ask the management company for its fee schedule and turnaround time the day you go under contract, so the payment and the clock both start early.
How do your answers affect mortgage eligibility?
Lenders use the questionnaire to judge whether a project is financially stable and safe. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA look at adequate reserves, insurance coverage, owner-occupancy and investor concentration, limits on commercial or hotel activity, and the absence of unresolved critical repairs.
Scrutiny has tightened. Lender Letter LL-2021-14 introduced temporary requirements on significant deferred maintenance and critical repairs, and it barred sales of loans in projects with critical repairs or evacuation orders. Later, Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2023-06 defined critical repairs and material deficiencies and set special assessment review rules. The Condo Project Manager release notes show the matching data fields, including one on unfunded repairs.
Fannie Mae's guidance states that loans on projects with unresolved critical repairs are not eligible for sale to Fannie Mae. That single rule can sink a purchase even when the borrower's credit is excellent.
Common disqualifiers include:
- Significant deferred maintenance or required critical repairs
- Unfunded repairs above policy thresholds
- A Condo Project Manager status of "Unavailable"
- Missing or insufficient insurance
- High assessment delinquencies
- Unresolved material litigation
Which documents should you attach to the questionnaire?
A complete package prevents the back-and-forth that delays closing. The FHA Required Documentation List is a good model even for conventional reviews. Gather these items:
- The current year's board-approved budget and the year-to-date income and expense statement
- A current balance sheet
- A recent reserve study, with its date clearly shown
- Insurance certificates or full policies for hazard, liability, and fidelity coverage
- Recorded CC&Rs and bylaws, plus proof of a certificate of occupancy for any new phase
- For special assessments or HOA loans: the purpose, total amount, repayment terms, and evidence of completed work such as paid invoices, inspection reports, or certificates of completion
For Florida projects, reserve requirements have changed recently, so confirm your reserve study meets current expectations before you submit.
What can HOAs and borrowers do to avoid closing delays?
Start early and leave nothing to chance. A few habits make the biggest difference:
- Order or update the reserve study and budget before listing or during early escrow.
- Keep insurance certificates in one folder, along with the contact details of the HOA's authorized signer.
- Never answer "unknown" on a key item. Lenders will simply ask for backup documentation, and that costs days.
- If the board is slow, use an eligible submitter such as an attorney or project consultant to prepare the package.
- Request the questionnaire as soon as the lender asks for it, since management responses commonly take several business days.
For Florida closings, legal timelines matter too. A condo rescission period guide explains the 7 versus 15 day windows and what an attorney checks.
Pro Tip: Send your lender the HOA contact and the management company's invoice together on day one. Providing both early helps us coordinate your file.
How we help with condo project reviews
We handle condo loans for homebuyers and refinancers across Miami and Florida, and project reviews are a regular part of our work. We contact HOAs and management companies, help assemble budgets and reserve studies, and explain what FHA and GSE reviewers expect to see. Our standing advice to clients is simple: provide the HOA contact and the management fee schedule early. You can read more about our team and our loan programs.
Why boards should treat the questionnaire as routine
Standardized forms exist so an association can answer once and reuse the work. Boards that keep a current reserve study, valid insurance, and a named signer ready spare every owner a delay. I would put those three items ahead of almost any other governance task, because lenders now treat them as the first test of a project's health.
— David
Let us coordinate your condo questionnaire
Waiting on an HOA response should not put your closing at risk. We coordinate with associations and management companies, assemble the documents, and guide you through GSE and FHA project-review requirements. Have your questionnaire request, the HOA contact, and the latest budget and reserve study ready, and our team takes it from there. Start with our residential mortgage team or review your options for a refinance.
FAQ
Is a condo questionnaire required for a mortgage?
Not every loan requires one, but most lenders request it. Fannie Mae treats its questionnaire and addendum as optional forms, and when a lender uses a version lacking needed information, the lender must collect extra documentation.
Who typically pays for the condo questionnaire?
The borrower usually pays, because the HOA or management company charges an administrative fee. These fees are frequently non-refundable, so ask for the fee schedule up front.
What questions are on a condo questionnaire?
The form covers project details, ownership mix, budget and reserves, assessment delinquencies, insurance, special assessments, litigation, and construction status. An addendum asks about HOA loans and deferred maintenance.
Who fills out the condo questionnaire?
An authorized HOA representative or the management company completes it. HUD also allows a mortgagee, builder, developer, project consultant, or attorney acting as an agent to submit the HUD-9992.
Sources
- Form HUD-9992, FHA Condominium Project Approval Questionnaire, Instructions
- GSEs Standardize Condominium Project Questionnaires to Increase Consistency, Improve Process