How to find if your Florida condo is on secret blacklist blocking mortgage loans
Fannie Mae, a federally chartered company that helps determine who qualifies for home mortgages, maintains a confidential database of condo buildings that it won’t back for loans, typically because of maintenance, insurance or financial issues.
The number of South Florida condos on the list has more than doubled since 2023, according to figures complied by a law firm that obtained the database from a source. The so-called blacklist includes 696 condos in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties as of March, the data from Allcock Marcus shows.
The firm, which is based in Boston but also practices in Florida, has established an online link where verified condo owners, board members and property managers can ask if their condo is blacklisted. The firm can also help associations challenge their inclusion on the list. Click here to go to the link.
The number of condos on the list in Florida and across the country has multiplied since Fannie Mae established more rigorous safety and financial requirements for its backing following the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside.
Allcock Marcus said it won’t release the list because doing so could harm the condos’ reputations and potentially lower property values, creating liability issues.
Fannie Mae has acknowledged the list’s existence, but has failed to follow through on a promise to make it publicly available to affected parties by the end of 2024.
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 5:30 AM.