Every question is one your HOA documents already answer. Every threshold is one that somebody whose job is to judge buildings has already published: the California Civil Code, Fannie Mae’s project standards, or Association Reserves, a reserve-study firm. Your answer fills the circle. Your score tells you what a mortgage lender is likely to do next.
Which documents do I need?
- The Assessment and Reserve Funding Disclosure Summary (the one-page form with “percent funded” on it).
- The annual budget report and the reserve study.
- The assessment statement, and the last three years of dues if you have them.
- Twelve months of board minutes.
- The balcony inspection report, the insurance certificate, and the property manager’s answers to two questions: any litigation, and whether a conventional loan closed in the building in the last twelve months.
Where each threshold comes from
| Line | Threshold | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Reserves, percent funded | 70 percent and above, 30 to 69, under 30 | Disclosure summary line, Civil Code 5570. Bands: Association Reserves, HOA Reserves: Industry Insights Report, April 2026 |
| 2 Reserve contribution | At least 10 percent of assessment income | Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.2-02 |
| 3 Reserve study age | Visual inspection inside three years | Civil Code 5550 |
| 4 Dues history | Any one-year increase under 10, 10 to 19, or at the 20 percent board limit | Civil Code 5605 |
| 5 Special assessments | None; scheduled with a purpose and date; tied to an unfinished critical repair | Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.1-03 |
| 6 Delinquencies | Under 15 percent of units 60 or more days past due | Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.2-02 |
| 7 Balcony report | Present, no immediate safety threats | Civil Code 5551; in the HOA documents since January 1, 2026 under Civil Code 4525 |
| 8 Litigation | None about structure, safety, habitability or use | Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.1-03 |
| 9 The minutes | Repairs move from discussed to bid, funded and closed | Chhabria Real Estate Company’s reading practice, not a published standard |
| 10 Insurance | Current master policy certificate with the coverage line stated | The insurance certificate in the HOA documents |
| 11 Lender status | A conventional loan closed in the last twelve months and the project is not marked unavailable | Fannie Mae Condo Project Manager, B4-2.1-03 |
| 12 The rules fit your plan | Renting, pets, remodeling, parking, a home business: allowed, needs approval, prohibited | The CC&Rs and rules; rental floor Civil Code 4741 |
What is each part of the score based on?
The twelve lines sort into five plain ideas. Each one is published by a body whose job is to set standards for associations or for the loans made in them.
Savings for big repairs
An association that saves every year for roofs, paint, plumbing and paving has money on hand when the work comes due. When the savings fall short, owners can be billed for the difference through a special assessment.
The Community Associations Institute (CAI), the membership organization for homeowner and condominium associations, publishes the Reserve Study Standards (2023). Its best practice is a reserve study updated with a site visit at least every third year. California Civil Code 5550 requires that inspection every three years. Fannie Mae asks that at least 10 percent of the budget go to reserves. The 70 and 30 percent bands on line 1 are the published bands of Association Reserves, a reserve-study firm. CAI’s standards add that percent funded alone does not settle whether reserves are adequate, so lines 2 and 3 sit beside it.
Dues, and who is paying them
Lenders look at how many owners are behind on dues, how fast dues have risen, and whether a special assessment is tied to a repair that is not finished.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each set the limit at 15 percent of units 60 or more days behind. The FHA condominium approval form asks for the same count. California Civil Code 5605 lets a board raise regular dues up to 20 percent a year without an owner vote, and the California Department of Real Estate’s Residential Subdivision Buyer’s Guide (2014) tells buyers to review how dues can rise.
The condition of the building
California requires associations with three or more attached units to have wood-framed balconies, stairs and walkways inspected. Since January 1, 2026 the latest report comes with the HOA documents.
California Civil Code 5551 and Civil Code 4525. CAI’s Condominium Safety Public Policy Report (June 2026) recommends structural inspections on a set schedule. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do not buy loans in a project that needs critical repairs. Line 9, the minutes, is Chhabria Real Estate Company’s own reading practice.
Lawsuits and insurance
A lawsuit about the structure or safety of the building can make its loans ineligible. The association’s master insurance policy covers the building and the common areas.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each list certain projects in litigation as ineligible. The California Department of Real Estate’s August 21, 2026 notice says money spent on a lawsuit can lead to special assessments and can complicate a refinance or a sale. The FHA form asks about pending suits and requires master insurance.
Loans in the building, and the rules
A lender approves the building as well as the borrower. The association’s rules decide whether an owner can rent the home out, keep a pet, remodel or park a second car.
Fannie Mae records each project’s status in its Condo Project Manager. The California Department of Real Estate tells buyers to review the CC&Rs (the association’s recorded rules) for limits on use. California Civil Code 4741 sets the floor on rental limits.
Each line’s threshold comes from the sources named here. The twelve-point score, and the three readings at ten, seven and six full circles, are Chhabria Real Estate Company’s summary of them. None of the organizations named reviewed or endorsed this tool.
What does my score mean?
Your score is the number of full circles. Ten to twelve: the documents answer what a mortgage lender usually asks about a building, so expect the lender’s review of the building to go smoothly. Seven to nine: expect the lender to ask the HOA for more documents. Six or fewer: expect the lender to set extra conditions before approving a loan in the building. At any score, each half or empty circle is a question to ask before your deadline to cancel.
What is my own score?
The scorecard sorts the twelve questions into five topics: savings for big repairs, dues, the condition of the building, lawsuits and insurance, and loans and rules. You put the topics in your own order. The topic you put first counts five times, the second four times, down to once for the last. A full circle earns the whole point, a half circle earns half, and the result is a score out of 100 that uses only the questions you have answered. Changing your order changes your own score. What a lender asks for stays the same.
Keep it
Bookmark the scorecard page once it opens. It stores none of your figures, so it opens blank each time. Each building gets its own scorecard, filled in from that building’s documents.
This scorecard is general real estate information for a South Bay buyer or owner reviewing homeowners association documents. It is not legal, tax, lending, insurance or investment advice, and it is not an appraisal or an opinion of value for any property or building. Your attorney, CPA, lender and insurance broker answer those questions for your situation.
The figures scored are the figures you enter from your own documents. Chhabria Real Estate Company does not supply, suggest, verify or store them, and expresses no opinion on any association, building or purchase. The score describes what a conventional lender’s project review is likely to ask for, based on the published standards named beside each line as read on October 7, 2026. Lenders apply their own additional requirements, and the standards change.
Thresholds quoted from the California Civil Code are the state minimums and limits; an association’s own governing documents may be stricter. The reserve-funding bands are Association Reserves’ published strength bands, not a legal standard. None of the organizations named on this page reviewed or endorsed this tool. The personal score uses the order you choose. It is your own measure and is not a rating of any building by Chhabria Real Estate Company. Line 9 is the firm’s own reading practice and is labeled as such.
Nothing here reads any one association’s documents for you. The documents are reviewed in full, within the contingency period in your purchase agreement, with your agent and your advisors. Equal Housing Opportunity. Neil Chhabria, Broker, DRE 01821437. Stats presented anywhere on this site represent the city or area as a whole, not any one individual property.
Have a question about this? Neil answers personally.