Condo Questionnaire Sets Eligibility On A Super Jumbo Loan — The Quick Read: The condo questionnaire is a form the HOA fills out, not the borrower — and it decides whether the building itself qualifies for financing before your credit score or reserves ever matter. On a super jumbo file, a bad answer on litigation, reserves, or deferred maintenance can force a completely different loan structure, or push the deal toward a non-QM path where the building’s cash flow, not its agency label, decides the outcome.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac don’t touch super jumbo loans — the balances are too large for conforming limits. But the questionnaire itself still shows up in most large-balance condo files, because it’s the fastest way any lender, agency-bound or not, learns whether a building is financially sound. Understanding what it asks, who answers it, and what a bad answer actually triggers is the difference between a smooth closing and a deal that stalls for weeks waiting on paperwork the buyer never sees.
What Is The Condo Questionnaire, Exactly?
It’s a project-level disclosure form the HOA or management company fills out — not something the borrower ever completes. It started as Fannie Mae’s Form 1076, sent to an association “because the lender needs the information to determine the eligibility of the project for mortgage financing purposes.” Freddie Mac runs an equivalent version.
The form covers project completion status, how many units are owner-occupied versus rented, delinquent HOA dues, pending litigation, insurance coverage, and reserve funding. A December 2021 addendum added a structural-safety layer, asking directly when the building was last inspected and whether that inspection turned up any findings on safety, soundness, or habitability, per the Fannie Mae Form 1076A / Freddie Mac 476A Addendum.
On a conventional file, a bad answer here can sink the loan outright — the building itself becomes ineligible for agency purchase, regardless of the borrower’s credit. On a portfolio or non-QM file, the same document still gets pulled, but the lender is weighing collateral risk on its own terms, not checking a box for resale to Fannie or Freddie.
Does The Questionnaire Even Apply To Super Jumbo Loans?
Yes, in practice, even though the agencies never touch these files. Super jumbo isn’t a federal category — it’s a lender-defined pricing tier that sits well above standard jumbo thresholds, and every lender draws that line differently. Because these loans get held on a lender’s own books rather than sold off, the agency eligibility rules technically don’t apply. But the underlying building risk the questionnaire uncovers — bad reserves, active litigation, deferred maintenance — matters just as much, sometimes more, when a lender is carrying seven figures of exposure on its own balance sheet.
That’s why most super jumbo underwriters still request some version of the form, even on a portfolio program. They’re not checking a resale box. They’re deciding whether the collateral behind a large loan is sound enough to hold.
Who Fills Out The Questionnaire, And What Happens If They Refuse?
An authorized board officer or the management company completes it, never the buyer. That single fact catches a lot of investors off guard on a fast-moving purchase — the loan’s fate on the project side sits entirely in someone else’s hands.
An association can decline to complete the form. When that happens, it effectively blocks conventional financing for every unit in the building, not just the buyer’s. That dynamic is part of why non-warrantable buildings — the ones agencies won’t touch — often end up financed exclusively through non-QM or portfolio channels, where a lender may proceed on alternative documentation when a full questionnaire response isn’t forthcoming.
Turnaround time is the other practical risk here. Management companies are frequently slow, and a file waiting on this one document faces the same bottleneck whether it’s agency or non-agency. Getting the request into the HOA’s queue the day you go under contract — not after full underwriting starts — protects your timeline.
Which Answers Actually Sink A Deal?
Litigation and reserve health matter most, and lenders don’t treat them as simple pass/fail. A minor nuisance claim against the HOA generally isn’t disqualifying. But active litigation over structural defects or major financial liability usually is. This holds true across nearly every lender type, because it directly threatens the value of the collateral.
Delinquency rates create a similar sliding scale. Market surveys report review thresholds where delinquency above roughly 10% draws closer scrutiny and above roughly 20% becomes a hard flag in many underwriting shops. Separately, one industry source notes conventional lenders may treat delinquency above 15% as outright ineligible for agency purchase. None of these numbers are Lendmire program figures — they’re general patterns across the market, and every lender in a wholesale network sets its own line.
Deferred maintenance is the newest disqualifier, and it’s growing fast. After the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside, Florida, Fannie Mae made its stance clear. Buildings with significant deferred maintenance, or those under a regulatory repair order for unsafe conditions, are ineligible until repairs are documented complete. This standard started as emergency guidance, then became permanent policy. States have added their own rules on top. Florida now requires milestone structural inspections for condo and co-op buildings three stories or higher once they turn 30 years old. After that, follow-up inspections are required every decade.
Investor concentration behaves differently depending on the channel. A building where 80-90% of units are rented out is often an automatic decline for a conventional buyer, but it doesn’t move the needle the same way on a DSCR or portfolio file, where the underwriter is focused on the subject unit’s own cash flow rather than the building’s occupancy mix.
How Does This Interact With Super Jumbo Leverage?
The questionnaire doesn’t set your leverage number directly. Instead, it decides whether the building clears collateral review at all. That review happens before any pricing or leverage discussions start. Once a condo project passes, leverage on a super jumbo file follows a size-based ladder. Leverage steps down as the loan gets larger, typically through select wholesale-network programs and subject to full underwriting.
On a primary residence, purchase leverage commonly runs as high as 90% on loans up to roughly $1 million, stepping down to 85% up to $2 million, 80% up to $3 million, and 75% at the top credit tier up to $4 million. Above $4 million, every file gets reviewed case by case before submission — never treat any figure above that size as a flat ceiling. Beyond $6 million, a bank portfolio program that carries twelve-month bank-statement files up to $30 million runs its own separate ladder: roughly 65% up to $5 million, 60% up to $10 million, and 55% up to $30 million, with interest-only capped at 60% or the band’s own ceiling, whichever is lower.
Second homes and investment properties typically get about five points less leverage than primary residences, at every loan size. Non-warrantable condo findings on the questionnaire can lower leverage even further, no matter the loan size. Condotels often face an even lower ceiling than a standard warrantable unit.
Suppose an investor wants a condo-secured super jumbo loan for a rental property. They should first weigh whether the DSCR loan vs jumbo loan for investment property path fits better than a traditional jumbo loan. Do this before sending out the questionnaire. That’s because litigation and reserve questions may get different answers depending on which program the file lands in.
Key Terms Defined
Non-warrantable condo — a condo project that fails Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac’s project-eligibility standards, meaning the building can’t be financed through a conventional loan sold to those agencies, though it may still qualify through a portfolio or non-QM program.
HOA (homeowners association) — the governing body that manages a condo project’s shared spaces, collects dues, and answers the condo questionnaire on the association’s behalf.
Deferred maintenance — necessary repairs a building has put off, often flagged during a structural inspection, that can make a project ineligible for financing until fixed.
DSCR (debt-service coverage ratio) — a measure of whether a rental property’s income covers its full monthly obligation; DSCR loans qualify primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines, rather than the borrower’s traditional personal-income documentation.
Case-by-case review — how every super jumbo file above roughly $4 million on a primary residence (or roughly $3 million on a second home or investment property) gets treated; no flat leverage ceiling applies at that size until an underwriter looks at the full file.
Common Mistakes Investors Make Here
- Assuming the questionnaire is their job to fill out — it isn’t, and chasing the HOA yourself rarely speeds it up.
- Waiting until full underwriting submission to request it, instead of the day the contract goes under.
- Treating “non-warrantable” as a verdict on the building’s condition, when it’s really a secondary-market label about resale eligibility.
- Assuming investor-heavy buildings automatically kill a deal, when DSCR and portfolio underwriting often don’t weigh that factor the same way agency review does.
- Assuming one flagged answer means the whole deal is dead, when litigation, delinquency, and reserve issues sit on a spectrum most lenders review individually.
Across the wholesale network Lendmire works with, files on non-warrantable buildings tend to move faster when borrowers stop trying to fix the questionnaire. Instead, they should document the property’s own income and their own liquidity. That’s usually what gets a super jumbo condo file approved — not a perfect HOA scorecard.
DSCR loans are built for non-owner-occupied investment properties. Because they are business-purpose investor loans, lenders review them differently than a standard owner-occupied mortgage. If you’re weighing a condo purchase this way, start with Lendmire’s complete DSCR loans guide. It explains how property-level income underwriting compares to the agency-driven condo review described above.
Tax treatment can depend on how the funds are used and how the property is held; investors should keep clear records and speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a non-warrantable condo automatically disqualify a super jumbo loan? No. Non-warrantable describes agency resale eligibility, not the building’s actual soundness. Portfolio and non-QM programs still review the collateral — reserves, litigation exposure, and structural condition — just under their own guidelines rather than Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac’s.
Who requests the condo questionnaire, and when should it happen? The lender requests it, but the HOA or management company completes it. Getting the request submitted the day the contract goes under, rather than waiting for full underwriting, protects against the single biggest source of condo-file delay.
Can investor concentration in a building sink a super jumbo condo loan? It depends on the channel. Agency-style review often treats a heavily investor-occupied building as a hard decline. DSCR and portfolio underwriting typically focus on the subject unit’s own income instead, making concentration a much smaller factor.
What building issues most commonly cause a decline on the questionnaire? Active litigation over structural defects, significant deferred maintenance, and high assessment delinquency are the three categories that most consistently trigger a decline or a deeper review, across nearly every lender type.
Does the condo questionnaire affect leverage directly on a super jumbo loan? Not directly — it decides whether the building clears collateral review at all. Once it passes, leverage follows the size-based ladder tied to loan amount, occupancy, and credit tier, reviewed case by case above roughly $4 million on a primary residence.
For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s super jumbo bank statement loan programs page.
Self-employed borrowers can compare both super jumbo programs on Lendmire’s self-employed mortgages page.
About Lendmire
A non-QM mortgage broker (NMLS# 2371349), Lendmire arranges DSCR financing for real estate investors in 40 markets — 39 states plus Washington, D.C. Because deals are underwritten primarily on property cash flow rather than personal income documentation, the structure suits self-employed buyers and entity-owned portfolios. Lendmire places loans through wholesale investor lenders; it is not a direct lender. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. Fannie Mae Form 1076/476 Official Form Text
2. Fannie Mae Form 1076A / Freddie Mac 476A Addendum
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Compliance and disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a licensed mortgage broker and is not a direct lender, depository institution, financial advisor, or tax professional. Content in this article is general market analysis and educational information — not financial, legal, or tax advice for any specific situation. Lendmire does not guarantee loan approval; every transaction is subject to underwriting by the funding lender. Mortgage pricing and loan program guidelines are subject to change at any time without notice and vary by borrower characteristics, property type, and state regulations. Lendmire complies with Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensure verification: NMLS Consumer Access.
