Is Your Condo on the Fannie Mae "Blacklist"? How to Check in 2026

Published July 30, 2026 · 6-minute read · By the CondoScores team at RentSpire

If you're trying to buy, sell, or refinance a condo and someone just mentioned the "Fannie Mae blacklist," you're probably feeling a little panicked. The good news: it's not as mysterious as it sounds, and you can find out where your building stands.

Here's what the blacklist actually is, why buildings end up on it, and how to check your condo's status before it costs you a mortgage.

What Is the Fannie Mae Condo "Blacklist"?

There's no official list called a "blacklist." The real name is Condo Project Manager (CPM), Fannie Mae's internal database that tracks the review status of condo and co-op projects across the country (Fannie Mae Correspondents' Toolkit for CPM).

Inside CPM, a project can carry different statuses, but the one everyone calls the "blacklist" is Unavailable. According to Fannie Mae's own Selling Guide, "projects with a status of 'Unavailable' in Condo Project Manager (CPM) or on the DU Underwriting Findings report" are ineligible for purchase by Fannie Mae (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.1-03, Ineligible Projects).

In plain English: if your building has an Unavailable status, no lender can sell a Fannie Mae-backed loan on any unit in that building — not just yours. That includes purchase loans and refinances, and it applies no matter which review process the lender was planning to use (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.1-03).

Why Fannie Mae Updated the Unavailable Status Rules

Fannie Mae has worked to make Unavailable statuses more transparent. Since December 2023, CPM has used standardized "Unavailable Reason Codes" that spell out exactly which Selling Guide requirement a project fails, instead of vague freeform notes (Fannie Mae CPM update notice). Two of the most common reasons cited are pending litigation related to safety, structural soundness, habitability, or functional use, and reserves that fall below Fannie Mae's minimum, or a lack of a supporting reserve study (Fannie Mae CPM update notice).

Why This Matters More in 2026

Two major rule changes from Fannie Mae's March 2026 Lender Letter make it more likely that lenders — and buyers — will actually notice a project's CPM status this year.

Limited Review is being retired. Under the old rules, many established condos with owner-occupants and enough down payment could skip a deep financial review through a process called "Limited Review." That option disappears for loan applications dated on or after August 3, 2026, though lenders were allowed to adopt the change earlier (Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2026-03). After that date, every condo loan needs either a Full Review or a Waiver of Project Review, both of which require checking CPM for Unavailable status (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.1-03).

That means far more transactions will run into a building's CPM status than in past years, when Limited Review let some loans skip that scrutiny.

The Waiver of Project Review got bigger. Fannie Mae also expanded eligibility for its streamlined Waiver of Project Review to new and established condo projects with 10 or fewer units, effective immediately as of the March 2026 letter. For projects with 5 to 10 units, though, the waiver isn't available if the project is part of a master association or larger development (Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2026-03). Even under this simplified path, the project still cannot have an Unavailable status in CPM (Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2026-03).

Common Reasons a Condo Ends Up Unavailable

Fannie Mae's Selling Guide lays out a long list of conditions that make a project ineligible. The most common real-world triggers include:

Reserve Funding Problems

Fannie Mae requires condo budgets to fund reserves for capital expenditures and deferred maintenance. If the reserve allocation doesn't meet the required minimum and there's no qualifying reserve study to back it up, the project can be flagged Unavailable (Fannie Mae CPM update notice).

Ongoing Litigation

If the HOA — or the developer, for newer buildings — is a party to pending litigation related to the safety, structural soundness, habitability, or functional use of the project, the project is generally ineligible. Fannie Mae does carve out exceptions for minor, non-structural litigation, such as neighbor disputes or fully insured claims (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.1-03).

High Delinquency Rates

If the project simply doesn't collect enough in dues, it signals financial instability to lenders.

Critical Repairs or Unsafe Conditions

Buildings with known critical repair needs, active evacuation orders, or required regulatory actions are ineligible until those issues are resolved (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.1-03).

Ineligible Project Types

Some projects are ineligible by their very nature — timeshares, projects with excessive commercial space (over 35% of total space), hotel/motel-style operations, or projects where a single entity owns too large a share of the units (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.1-03). For single-entity ownership specifically: in projects with 5 to 20 units, one owner can hold no more than 2 units; in projects with 21 or more units, one owner can hold no more than 20% of the units (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.1-03).

How to Check Your Condo's Status

Here's the frustrating part: CPM itself isn't a free public search tool for consumers. It's designed for lenders, and full access requires registration through Fannie Mae's Technology Manager platform (Fannie Mae Non-Seller Access Quick Guide). That leaves most owners, boards, and buyers with a few practical options:

1. Ask your lender or loan officer to run a CPM search. Any mortgage lender working with Fannie Mae can search a project by name and address and tell you whether it shows Approved, Expired, or Unavailable (Fannie Mae CPM FAQs).
2. Request the HOA questionnaire and financials. These documents disclose delinquency rates, reserve funding, litigation, and insurance — the same categories CPM checks.
3. Ask the property manager directly whether the association has been notified of any Fannie Mae Unavailable status or CPM inquiry.
4. Use a free warrantability scoring tool that estimates your building's risk across the same categories Fannie Mae reviews, without needing lender-level CPM access.

What Happens If Your Condo Is Unavailable

An Unavailable status doesn't have to be permanent. In many cases, if the HOA fixes the underlying issue — funds reserves properly, resolves litigation, updates a reserve study, or reduces delinquencies — the project can be resubmitted for review. The timeline depends entirely on how quickly the board addresses the root cause and provides updated documentation to a lender.

If you're a board member, the smartest move is to get ahead of this before a buyer's financing falls through. If you're a buyer, find out your target building's status as early as possible, ideally before signing a purchase contract.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a public website where I can look up the Fannie Mae condo blacklist myself? No. Condo Project Manager (CPM) requires lender-level registration and credentials; it is not open to the general public (Fannie Mae Non-Seller Access Quick Guide). Your best path is asking a mortgage lender to run the search or reviewing your HOA's financial and legal documents for the same red flags Fannie Mae checks.

Does an Unavailable status affect every unit in the building, or just the one I'm buying? It affects every unit. Fannie Mae's ineligibility determination applies at the project level, so a single unit can't be individually exempted from an Unavailable status (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.1-03).

Will the retirement of Limited Review on August 3, 2026 make more condos show up as Unavailable? It's likely to expose existing problems that Limited Review used to skip over. Since every loan application dated on or after August 3, 2026 will require a Full Review or a Waiver of Project Review, more transactions will now involve the deeper financial and legal scrutiny that can surface reserve or litigation issues (Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2026-03).

Can a small building avoid all of this? Possibly. Fannie Mae's Waiver of Project Review now covers new and established projects with 10 or fewer units, unless the 5-10 unit project is part of a larger master association (Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2026-03). Even with a waiver, though, the project still can't have an Unavailable status in CPM.

Check Your Condo's Warrantability Score for Free

Waiting to find out your building's status until you're mid-transaction is a stressful way to buy, sell, or refinance a condo. CondoScores.com gives condo owners, board members, and buyers a free, plain-English warrantability score based on the same reserve, delinquency, insurance, and litigation factors lenders check. Run your building's numbers today at condoscores.com and know where you stand before a lender tells you.