Daniel A. Kaskel wrote an expert opinion column for the Daily Business Review, published on Law.com on November 3, 2026.
Effective August 3, 2026, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac retired the streamlined condominium project reviews that had let many financed purchases close with less scrutiny. Most established condominiums must now pass a full review or qualify for a waiver or exemption. His point: in a financed condominium sale, the buyer is no longer the only subject of underwriting. The building is, too. A buyer can hold a mortgage preapproval and still lose the loan because the lender finds the project ineligible.
Florida's post-Surfside rules add a second layer. Structural integrity reserve studies under Section 718.112 and milestone inspections under Section 553.899 are related to the lender requirements but not interchangeable, so an association can comply with Florida law and still fail a lender's project review. Starting January 4, 2027, Fannie Mae's full review standards also raise the minimum replacement-reserve allocation from 10% to 15% of budgeted assessment income.
The column also covers what buyers and sellers should collect before closing, why the FAR/BAR AS IS contract's financing contingency and Paragraph 9(f) do not address a project that fails review, the rider terms counsel should consider, and why associations should keep a current lender-document package, because those records now form part of the financing file for every unit sold.