Non-Warrantable Condo Loans Florida
Non-warrantable condo loans finance Florida condos that fail Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules. When a conventional loan is declined, our portfolio and non-QM lenders get the deal done. NMLS# 1859012.
Non-Warrantable Condo Loans in Florida
When a condo building does not meet agency guidelines, a normal conventional loan disappears. A non-warrantable condo loan steps in and finances the unit anyway, through lenders who look past the agency rulebook.
This matters more in Florida than anywhere else. Reserve studies, structural inspections, and special assessments have flagged hundreds of buildings, and a lot of good units now sit on lender blacklists through no fault of the buyer.
Who is it for? Buyers who found the right unit in the wrong building on paper, investors in rental-heavy projects, and anyone eyeing a condotel or short-term rental condo.
Eligibility & Requirements
Official resource: CFPB: Owning a Home.
What Non-Warrantable Financing Costs
A non-warrantable condo loan runs a bit above a conventional rate because the lender holds the risk on its own books. The trade is simple: a slightly higher rate and a larger down payment in exchange for a loan that would otherwise be declined outright.
We do not post a rate — pricing depends on the building and your file. Request a personalized quote.
Non-Warrantable Condo Loan Pros and Cons
How Buyers Get Approved
Non-Warrantable Condos in Florida
After the Surfside collapse, Florida tightened its rules on condo reserves and structural inspections. The result is a wave of buildings now flagged for underfunded reserves or pending assessments, which knocks them off conventional lender lists even when the units are fine.
That is why this loan is so useful here. Coastal towers, older beachfront buildings, and rental-heavy projects in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and along the Gulf routinely need non-warrantable financing. We know which lenders say yes to which buildings.
Non-Warrantable vs. Standard Condo Loans
How a non-warrantable condo loan compares with a conventional condo loan and FHA condo financing.
| Feature | Non-Warrantable | Conventional Condo | FHA Condo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building Meets Agency Rules | No | Yes | N/A |
| Loan Source | Portfolio / non-QM | Fannie / Freddie | FHA-approved list |
| Down Payment | 10-25% | 3-5% | 3.5% |
| Litigation Allowed | Often | No | No |
| Investor-Heavy OK | Yes | No | No |
Non-Warrantable Condo Questions, Answered
Finance the Condo Others Declined
Portfolio and non-QM lenders · Condotels welcome · Licensed FL mortgage broker NMLS# 1859012
Rates are illustrative only. APR and payments vary by credit score, loan amount, and market conditions. Subject to credit approval. Not a commitment to lend. NMLS# 1859012. Equal Housing Lender.
Non-Warrantable Condo Requirements in Florida
A condo loan has two borrowers. You are one. The building is the other. A unit is called non-warrantable when the project fails the rules Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac set for the association, no matter how strong your own file is. Florida has more of these projects than any other state, so the distinction matters here more than most places.
For the official rules behind this, review the CFPB's Owning a Home guide.
What Makes a Condo Non-Warrantable
Agency condo review looks past the unit and at the association. A handful of findings will take a project off the warrantable list, and most of them have nothing to do with the buyer. The association may hold too little in reserve. It may be in litigation. Too many units may be owned by investors rather than residents, or too many by one single entity.
None of these are faults you can fix. They are facts about the building. That is the part buyers find hardest to accept: a clean file, a large down payment and a strong score do not move a project back onto the warrantable list. The loan simply has to come from a lender that keeps it rather than sells it.
Agency project standards change, and both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac maintain their own lists of projects they will not lend on. A project can move on and off those lists without anything changing inside your unit.
Inspections and Reserves in Florida
Florida adds a second set of documents that lenders now read closely. Under section 553.899 of the Florida Statutes, condominium and cooperative buildings of three or more stories must have a milestone inspection once the building reaches 30 years of age, or 25 years where the building sits within three miles of the coast and the local building department requires it. The inspection is a structural review by an engineer or architect, and it produces a report the association has to act on.
Separately, section 718.112 requires a structural integrity reserve study, usually shortened to SIRS, for each building of three or more stories. The study prices out the roof, the load-bearing structure, fire protection, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing and exterior painting, windows and exterior doors, and any other item whose repair or replacement runs past ten thousand dollars. It then sets what the association should be holding against each.
Deadlines for these reports have moved more than once, and sources disagree on the current dates, so treat any specific deadline as something to confirm with the association and a Florida condominium attorney rather than something to assume. What matters for the loan is simpler. A lender wants to see that the reports exist, what they found, and whether the association has funded the answer.
That funding question is where many Florida projects now fail agency review. A milestone report listing structural work, paired with a reserve study showing the money is not there, points at a special assessment. Agency guidelines do not like that, and a non-warrantable loan is often the only route left while the association catches up.
Statutory framework only. Inspection and reserve-study deadlines have been amended repeatedly and are outside the scope of a lending page. Confirm current obligations with the association and a licensed Florida professional.
Non-Warrantable Condo Loan Requirements: FAQ
Yes. The loan comes from a portfolio or non-QM lender that keeps the loan rather than selling it to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, so the project rules that blocked the agency loan do not apply in the same way. Expect a larger down payment and a higher rate than a warrantable loan.
Because the finding is about the association, not about you. Reserves, litigation, investor concentration and single-entity ownership are all facts about the building. A strong borrower file does not change them.
The inspection itself does not. What matters is what it found and whether the association has funded the repair. A report listing structural work with no reserves behind it points at a special assessment, and that is what pushes a project out of agency guidelines.
It can. Associations fund reserves, settle litigation and work through repairs. Projects move back onto the warrantable list when the underlying facts change, which is why a non-warrantable loan is often written with a refinance in mind.
How to Qualify for a Non-Warrantable Condo Loan in Florida
Qualifying runs on two tracks at once. A portfolio lender underwrites you much as any lender would. It then underwrites the building separately, and that second track is the one that decides the outcome.
What the Lender Asks the Association
Most of the paperwork comes from the association rather than from you, which is the first thing to plan around. A management company that answers slowly will add weeks to the file, and there is little a buyer can do to speed it up. Ask for the documents the day you go under contract.
The lender reads these together rather than one at a time. A thin reserve line is a different problem when the milestone report is clean than when it lists structural work, and a high investor share matters more in a building with short-term rentals than in one without.
What the Lender Asks of You
Because the lender keeps the loan, it sets its own borrower terms rather than following an agency rulebook. In practice that means the borrower requirements are firmer than a conventional loan on a warrantable unit, and they vary more from lender to lender. Two portfolio lenders can quote the same building very differently.
Down payment is usually the largest difference. A warrantable condo can be bought with a small share down. A non-warrantable unit generally asks for considerably more, partly because the lender is holding the risk and partly because the resale market for the unit is narrower while the project stays off the agency list.
Reserves are the second difference. The lender wants to see months of payments in the bank after closing, and it will often want more where a special assessment looks likely. If the reserve study points at work the association has not funded, expect that to show up as a larger reserve requirement on your file rather than as a refusal.
Rate sits above a comparable warrantable loan. That gap is the price of the project, not a judgement on you, and it is the main reason these loans are often written with a refinance in view. If the association funds its reserves and clears its repairs, the project can return to the warrantable list and the loan can be replaced.
One practical sequencing point is worth planning around. Ask the association for its documents before you waive any inspection or financing contingency, not after. The project findings are the part of a condo file most likely to change the outcome, and they are the part you have least control over. A buyer who learns about an unfunded reserve study after the contingency has passed has lost the ability to act on it.
It is also worth asking what the association has already decided. Minutes from recent meetings often show a repair under discussion, a reserve increase being voted on, or an assessment being planned. Lenders read those documents, and so should a buyer, because they describe what the monthly cost of the unit is about to become rather than what it is today.
Terms on portfolio condo loans are set lender by lender and move with the project. Nothing here is a quote. A broker comparing several portfolio lenders on the same building is usually the fastest way to find which one is comfortable with it.
Non-Warrantable Condo Loan How to Qualify: FAQ
More than a warrantable condo loan, and the exact figure is set by the individual lender rather than by an agency rule. The project itself drives it: a building with funded reserves and a clean milestone report will see better terms than one facing an unfunded repair.
Usually longer than a standard condo loan, and the delay is almost always the association rather than the lender. The questionnaire, budget, reserve study and inspection reports all come from the management company. Request them the day you go under contract.
Often yes, and many of these loans are written with that in mind. If the association funds its reserves, settles litigation or completes its repairs, the project can return to the warrantable list and a conventional refinance becomes possible.
If the building is required to have them, a lender will want to see them. They tell the lender what the building needs and whether the money is there, which is the question that decides a condo file.
Related Specialty & Credit Programs
Florida borrowers comparing this program usually weigh it against Physician Loans, ITIN Mortgage Loans, Foreign National Loans, Recent Credit Event Loans, and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Loans. We are brokers, so we price every one of them for you in a single application.