What the agencies actually say
Four Fannie Mae rules matter most for Florida condos this year. Freddie Mac issued aligned changes the same day as the 18 March 2026 lender letter.
- Failed inspections and critical repairs. A project is ineligible if it failed state, county or other mandatory inspections or certifications specific to structural safety, soundness and habitability, or if its inspection report shows critical repairs that have not been addressed (Selling Guide B4-2.1-03). Read the verb closely: failed to pass, not "has not completed".
- No more Limited Review. For loan applications dated on or after 3 August 2026, Fannie Mae retired its Limited Review and Freddie Mac its Streamlined Review (Fannie Mae LL-2026-03). Established projects that used to qualify that way now go to Full Review, unless they fit the Waiver of Project Review, which is for projects of ten or fewer units (five to ten only outside a master association).
- The highest funding level. A lender that relies on a reserve study has to see the budget carry the study's highest recommended funding level. Baseline funding no longer qualifies (Fannie Mae LL-2026-03).
- 15 percent reserves. For loan applications dated on or after 4 January 2027, the minimum replacement reserve under Full Review rises from 10 percent to 15 percent of annual budgeted assessment income (Fannie Mae LL-2026-03).
None of these names Florida's milestone inspection or SIRS. They do not need to. In Florida those two documents are where the inspection findings, the critical repairs and the reserve recommendations live.
The Florida check, in order
1. Is the milestone inspection done, or not yet due?
An overdue inspection is not the same thing as a failed one under the Selling Guide wording. Expect the lender to ask why, though, and expect the questionnaire to ask when the last inspection happened.
2. Did phase two find anything, and are the repairs finished?
A phase one that finds substantial structural deterioration leads to a phase two report within 180 days, and repairs have to start within 365 days of it (§553.899). Unfinished phase two repairs are the obvious candidate for a "critical repair" finding.
3. Is there a SIRS, and does the budget fund it at the top level?
Florida already bars unit-owner-controlled associations from voting to underfund the SIRS items in budgets adopted on or after 31 December 2024 (§718.112(2)(f)2.b). The agency rule goes further: the budget has to carry the study's highest recommended level, not just a level the statute allows.
4. Will reserves clear 15 percent from 4 January 2027?
Divide the budget's replacement reserve line by its total budgeted assessment income. Below 15 percent, a Full Review application dated from 4 January 2027 has a problem.
5. Any special assessments, current or planned?
The questionnaire asks for the amount, terms and purpose of both. See the condo questionnaire for the full list of building safety questions.
Other things the questionnaire flags
Structural issues are not the only route. The full agency questionnaire also asks whether a project has hotel, motel or resort activities and rental pools, deed or resale restrictions, manufactured homes, mandatory paid memberships for amenities, non-incidental business income, or supportive or continuing care for residents (Fannie Mae Form 1076 / Freddie Mac Form 476). Lenders weigh those separately, and they are outside what the calculator checks.
Insurance is checking too
Citizens Property Insurance has required a copy of the milestone inspection report with new business for condominium and cooperative buildings of three or more storeys, more than three units and 30 or more years old, since 1 January 2025 (Citizens agent bulletin, 18 Nov 2024). An underwriting rule, not a statute, but a building without a report can have trouble on both sides of the closing.