The condo questionnaire short form — Fannie Mae Form 1077 / Freddie Mac Form 477 — is completed by the HOA or its management company so a mortgage lender can confirm the project meets secondary-market eligibility before a unit sale or refinance closes. To fill it out cleanly, pull your master deed, current insurance declarations, latest budget, ownership records, and litigation status before you open the form, then answer each numbered section with figures copied straight from those documents and return it to the lender’s underwriting contact. Accuracy here is what separates a loan that closes on schedule from one that stalls for weeks.
When the Short Form Is the Right Form
The short form is used only for a limited review, which lenders reserve for lower-risk loans in established projects. A project counts as established when at least 90 percent of total units have been conveyed to individual owners, the common elements are fully constructed, and the HOA has been under owner control (not developer control) for at least one year.1Fannie Mae. Selling Guide – General Information on Project Standards Projects that don’t meet those benchmarks require the longer Condominium Project Questionnaire (Form 1076/476) and a full review.
Limited reviews also carry loan-to-value caps. The loan generally can’t exceed 90 percent of value for a primary residence, and the ceiling tightens to roughly 75 percent for second homes and investment properties. Above those caps the lender has to run a full review no matter how stable the project is.
Before you start filling anything in, confirm with the lender that a limited review applies. Completing the short form when the loan actually needs the full questionnaire wastes everyone’s time.
Documents to Have in Front of You
The form moves quickly when you have the source documents open and slowly when you don’t.
- Master deed or declaration, for total unit count, common-element descriptions, and any restrictions on commercial use.
- Current insurance certificates and declarations pages, showing coverage amounts, deductibles, and named insureds. The summary sheet alone isn’t enough.
- Most recent budget and financial statements, so you can report delinquency figures.
- Ownership records showing any individual or entity that owns more than one unit, including how many and what share of the project.
- Litigation details for any case the HOA is involved in, including whether an insurance carrier is defending.
Section-by-Section Walkthrough
Project Identification and Unit Count
The opening section captures the project name, address, number of phases, total units, units sold and closed, and the split between owner-occupied and renter-occupied units. These numbers need to match the master deed exactly. A mismatch of even one unit — from a converted storage space or a superintendent’s apartment, for instance — will generate underwriter questions and slow the file down.
Ownership Concentration
Section IV asks you to list every individual or entity that owns more than one unit, including the developer or sponsor if any unsold inventory remains.2Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae Form 1077/Freddie Mac Form 477 – Condominium Project Questionnaire Short Form For each one, report the name, number of units owned, percentage of total project units, how many are leased at market rent, and how many are under rent control. Concentrated ownership creates concentrated default risk, which is why the GSEs scrutinize this section. Fill every field. If no single entity owns more than one unit, say so explicitly rather than leaving the table blank, because blank fields read as missing information, not as zeros.
Commercial Space
Section V asks whether any units or building areas are used for commercial or non-residential purposes, and if so, the type of use, the owner or tenant, the number of units, square footage, and the percentage of total project square footage occupied by commercial space.2Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae Form 1077/Freddie Mac Form 477 – Condominium Project Questionnaire Short Form Fannie Mae caps commercial space at 35 percent of total project square footage; projects over that threshold are ineligible for conventional secondary-market financing.3Federal Register. Project Approval for Single-Family Condominiums Count both above-grade and below-grade commercial areas: ground-floor retail, office space, and parking garages leased to a commercial operator all go in the total.
Financial Information
Report the number of units that are 60 or more days past due on HOA assessments. A high delinquency rate signals financial instability. The short form doesn’t dig into reserve calculations the way the full review does, but keep your current budget and any reserve study within reach because underwriters often ask follow-up questions when the delinquency figure or budget raises concern.
Insurance Coverage
This is where questionnaires fall apart most often. The form asks you to confirm adequate master property insurance, general liability coverage, and (for projects where the HOA handles significant funds) a fidelity bond. Fannie Mae requires master property policies to settle claims on a replacement cost basis; actual cash value policies don’t qualify.4Fannie Mae. Selling Guide – Master Property Insurance Requirements for Project Developments Coverage must be written on a “Special” form or, at minimum, a commercial “Broad” form covering perils including fire, windstorm, hail, vandalism, and water damage.
If the project has central heating or cooling, boiler and machinery coverage is also required, with limits at the lesser of $2 million or the building’s replacement cost value.4Fannie Mae. Selling Guide – Master Property Insurance Requirements for Project Developments The maximum allowable deductible across all required property insurance perils is 5 percent of the master coverage amount. Copy figures directly from the declarations pages. Rounding, estimating, or paraphrasing coverage amounts is the fastest way to have the form sent back.
Litigation Disclosures
This section pushes more projects from eligible to ineligible than any other, so detail matters. Projects involved in lawsuits related to safety, structural soundness, habitability, or the functional use of the building are ineligible for sale to Fannie Mae.5Fannie Mae. Selling Guide – Ineligible Projects Construction defect cases where the HOA is the plaintiff are treated seriously unless the defects have already been repaired and the association is only seeking cost recovery.
Not every case is disqualifying. Minor matters such as neighbor disputes, quiet enjoyment claims, and small-dollar cases where the insurance carrier is covering the defense and anticipated damages stay under 10 percent of the project’s funded reserves can qualify as exceptions.5Fannie Mae. Selling Guide – Ineligible Projects Pre-litigation activity like arbitration or mediation counts if it is reasonably expected to proceed to formal litigation. Don’t mark “No” just because no complaint has been filed yet. For any disclosed case, state the nature of the dispute, the current procedural status, whether insurance is defending, and the expected exposure. Vague answers like “pending” guarantee a follow-up request.
Mistakes That Delay Loans
- Wrong form. The short form is 1077/477; the full questionnaire is 1076/476. Confirm the review type with the lender first.
- Stale data. Don’t recycle an old questionnaire. Unit counts, insurance limits, and ownership figures change, and the lender expects current information.
- Incomplete ownership tables. Fill in every field or state in writing that no entity owns more than one unit.
- Insurance gaps. The most common issues are a missing fidelity bond or a hazard policy on actual cash value instead of replacement cost. Check the policy type before answering.
- Vague litigation answers. Give the underwriter enough detail to apply the exception criteria.
Submitting the Form and Typical Costs
The completed form goes to the mortgage lender’s underwriting department, not to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The lender or loan officer will tell you where to send it — email, fax, or secure upload. The borrower or their agent usually initiates the request, and the HOA or management company completes and returns the form.
Management companies commonly charge a processing fee. Rates around $250 are typical, with rush orders costing more. Some states cap what an HOA can charge for providing project documentation, though limits and enforcement vary. The buyer usually pays as part of closing costs, but the purchase contract can shift that to the seller.
Always download a fresh blank form from Freddie Mac or through Fannie Mae’s condo and co-op eligibility page rather than reusing a saved copy, since the GSEs update the forms periodically.6Fannie Mae. Condo, Co-Op, and PUD Eligibility
What Happens After You Send It
The lender’s project review team compares your answers against GSE eligibility standards. Turnaround for a limited review is typically a few business days, longer if the underwriter needs supporting documents or clarification. A clean form produces a “project eligible” determination and the loan moves toward closing. If the answers reveal a problem — inadequate insurance, commercial space above 35 percent, disqualifying litigation, or heavy ownership concentration — the project is flagged ineligible. From there, the borrower may need to pursue a portfolio lender that doesn’t sell loans on the secondary market, or the HOA may need to correct the underlying issue (updating an insurance policy, for example) before a new questionnaire can be submitted.