Changes to a 2008 regulation affecting condo lending in only Florida could change soon
Lending on condominiums, especially with agency loans, has been a challenge nationwide. In the state of Florida, regulations put in place almost two decades ago made things even more difficult.
In 2008, Fannie Mae put in a restriction for limited review condo loans only in the state of Florida, limiting those loans to just 75% loan-to-value (LTV). This is compared to 90% LTV in all other states.
This policy has been criticized for years. This summer, House member Byron Donalds sent a letter to Bill Pulte urging a change to the policy. One mortgage executive was blunt in his assessment but also hopeful that things could change soon.
Max Slyusarchuk, founder and CEO of A&D Mortgage, has been working to get this regulation changed. He was very direct when asked about the impact on condo lending in the state.
“I told Fannie Mae that we think that the Florida condo collapse is their fault,” Slyusarchuk told Mortgage Professional America. “You need 25% down. You don't have any money left for maintenance. Then less money goes to maintenance because you have to spend it on a down payment, so because of less maintenance, the collapse happens.”
Good news in December?
Slyusarchuk said he has been working with both local and national officials to try to finally get this overturned, making the rules in Florida the same as the rest of the country. He’s hoping for some good news on this front as soon as December.
“The Florida Association of Mortgage Professionals and A&D have been working with Fannie Mae and FHFA to reduce the down payment for condos in Florida,” he said. “Florida gets discriminatory treatment in condos for the limited review. You need 25% down versus 10% down in the rest of the country. We’ve been fighting this for two years. I think we hope that our fight is coming to an end in December, with some news from Fannie Mae.”
If these changes are made, Slyusarchuk is hopeful that it will finally bring stability to the condo market in the state.
“Number one, it is going to increase the amount of money available for maintenance and keeping condos in the right shape,” he said. “Number two, it's going to stabilize the market. The liquidity will become much better. It's going to have a positive effect on the overall economy, because Florida is a huge state, and Florida condos are a big part of the overall condo market. So it will help the overall stability of real estate in the US. It's a big deal.”
Improving affordability
When calculating the impact of the 25% down regulation on a condo purchase, you can see why it is such a problem. This is especially true because, in many parts of the state, condominiums are the affordable housing option.
By limiting first-time buyers' access to condo financing, Slyusarchuk said many are forced into a house, which can be significantly more expensive.
“Sometimes you can buy a condo for $200,000 where you have to buy a house for $500,000,” he said. “With this kind of discrimination and restriction, you force an ordinary person to put 25% down, which is $50,000. That’s a gigantic output.
“So you push people to buy more expensive housing with a higher interest rate, and more upkeep. You’re just squeezing a regular consumer into something they can't afford. A lot of affordable housing is condos because you can buy for $100,000 to $200,000. It's unreal to ask a person to put $50,000 down, plus you need furniture, plus you need to renovate. This is absurd.”
Miki Adams, president of CBC Mortgage Agency, warns that soaring home and property insurance costs are keeping first-time buyers out of the market. She’s focused on educating brokers and consumers about down payment assistance to improve affordabilityhttps://t.co/0tlWFCv8zV
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) November 11, 2025
Slyusarchuk isn’t the only one hopeful that these changes will finally happen. Danielle Blake, chief of residential and advocacy with the Miami Association of Realtors, told Mortgage Professional America earlier this year that with so many Floridians in the current administration, optimism was high that changes would be made.
“We have a lot of people in the Trump administration, and so Congressman Donalds has written this letter,” Blake said. “He has written this letter from the perspective of, why is Florida being treated differently than the other 49 states. And that’s really the answer we want, ‘Can you give us a confirmed answer as to why?’
“For us, for our local markets, it does not make sense to our association and to our members, why we have a different policy for Florida.”
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