Your condo has a deadline in January 2027. Your board didn’t set it, and probably doesn’t know it’s coming. ONE two understands.

For years, DC condo boards have had room to maneuver on reserves. Underfund a little. Defer the increase. Hope the roof holds one more winter.

The numbers stayed inside the building. The consequences stayed in the future. Most owners never had to think about it.

That just ended. Not because of anything inside your building, but because the rules that decide who can buy a unit in it changed.

What changed

In March, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rewrote how lenders judge a condo’s finances. Their guidelines govern most conventional condo mortgages in the country.

Two dates matter.

Aug 3, 2026. The “Limited Review” shortcut is gone for buildings over 10 units. Every loan now gets a Full Review: budget, reserves, insurance, delinquencies, litigation. No more checking one box and moving on.

Jan 4, 2027. The minimum reserve contribution jumps from 10% to 15% of your budget. For a lot of buildings, that’s a 50% increase in the reserve line.

(A current reserve study can justify a lower number. But 15% alone is no longer a free pass.)

These aren’t laws. Nobody fines you for ignoring them.

But miss them, and your building loses “warrantable” status. Then buyers can’t get a conventional loan for any unit in your building.

Sales stall. Refinances stall. Demand dries up. And values follow. (more…)