Condo & HOA Financing Specialists
When Fannie Mae flags a project for critical repairs, whether that is an open SB 326 balcony inspection, deferred maintenance or thin reserves, conventional, FHA and VA financing all shut off at the same moment. Most buyers walk. We finance those buildings.
Where these numbers come from: we maintain our own master list of every California association carrying a critical-repairs flag in Fannie Mae's Condo Project Manager, refreshed monthly. Figures current as of August 2026.
What actually happened to your deal
Fannie Mae's critical-repairs standard is blunt on purpose. A project gets flagged, and the effect is immediate and total — it is not a pricing adjustment or an overlay you can argue your way out of.
A project with unaddressed critical repairs is ineligible for delivery to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. No lender using agency money can close it, no matter how strong the borrower is.
Status is only as current as the last document the project submitted. We routinely find buildings still showing as ineligible after the work was completed — and buildings sellers believe are fine that are not.
The flag lives in a lender-facing database. It usually surfaces on day 18 of escrow, in a denial, after the buyer has spent money on an appraisal and an inspection.
What we do about it
Franklin Loan Center places these loans through portfolio and Non-QM investors that underwrite the borrower and the collateral without requiring agency project approval. Full documentation, bank statement, DSCR and asset-based options. Primary, second home and investment.
Program availability, pricing and guidelines vary by investor and are subject to change. Every project is reviewed on its own facts. A project condition appearing on this list is not by itself an approval or a commitment to lend.
The program we use
Our non-prime and DSCR portfolio programs don't require full agency approval of the project. We underwrite the borrower and the property on their own merits and keep escrow moving toward the close date — even while the association sorts out its balcony inspection or repair timeline. Primary residence, second home and investment are all eligible, and the interest rates are highly competitive and buyer-friendly — not the punitive pricing most people expect from a non-agency loan.
Ways your buyers can qualify
Guidelines shown are high-level and vary by investor and scenario. Loan amounts, LTVs, credit and documentation requirements are subject to change and to full underwriting review. Not all applicants will qualify.
For HOA boards & property managers
Most boards do not know the flag exists, and most do not know they can address it themselves. Both Fannie Mae and FHA have channels open directly to associations — no lender sponsorship required.
Fannie Mae's Condo Status Finder is available directly to associations, management companies and authorized advisors. Most boards have never looked.
When the repairs are done and the funding is in place, the project can be re-reviewed. Completed work does not clear the flag by itself — somebody has to send it in.
FHA recertification runs from six months before expiration to six months after. Miss it and the project starts over with a full application.
Send it over. If the project is financeable, we'll tell you how. If it isn't, we'll tell you that too — before your buyer spends money finding out.