If you are buying a San Diego condo with a new FHA-insured mortgage, start with the exact project and legal phase. A current project approval gives your lender one route to review the purchase. If the project is not approved, single-unit approval may offer another—but the lender will still need information about the association, the building and your loan application.
That distinction can help you decide whether to keep investigating a home, request different financing or focus on another property. The useful question is specific: Which FHA route can this lender use for this unit, and what must be resolved before the loan can close?
This guide covers a new FHA purchase loan. If you plan to take over the seller’s existing mortgage, use the separate condo and townhome mortgage-assumption guide.
In this guide
Start with the property’s approval route
Project approval evaluates a condominium development or qualifying legal phase. FHA’s two project-review channels are HUD Review and Approval Process (HRAP) and Direct Endorsement Lender Review and Approval Process (DELRAP). The latter is handled by a lender with the required authority. Either way, your lender still reviews the individual loan and the requirements that apply to your unit.
Single-unit approval, usually shortened to SUA, allows a lender to evaluate an individual unit in a project that is not FHA-approved. It does not confer FHA approval on the whole development. The project still has to satisfy the standards that apply to this route. HUD Handbook 4000.1, sections II.A.8.p and II.C.3
| What you find | What to ask the lender | What it means for your search |
|---|---|---|
| The exact project or legal phase has current FHA approval. | Does the approval cover this unit, and what loan-level conditions remain? | Continue with the approved-project review for the specific purchase. |
| The project is unapproved or its approval has expired. | Do you offer SUA, and do this unit and project meet its entry requirements? | A separate route may be available; get the initial eligibility answer before ordering a full package. |
| The unit is in an unapproved phase of a project with an approved legal phase. | What project or phase approval would be needed? | FHA’s SUA rules exclude this situation. Another phase’s approval does not cover the unit automatically. |
| The project has fewer than five units or the unit is manufactured housing. | Is another applicable FHA route or financing option available? | SUA does not fit these property conditions. |
| The home may meet FHA’s site-condominium definition. | Can you verify the legal unit boundaries, project characteristics and insurance/maintenance responsibilities? | A qualifying site condominium does not require project approval or SUA. |
The table addresses the usual condo purchase decisions. HUD-owned property purchases have a separate exception under the handbook; tell the lender if that is the property you are considering.
Check the exact project and phase
Use HUD’s public condominium search. Select California and add the city, county, project name or condo ID you know. HUD recommends entering only useful, known criteria; a slightly different name or an overly narrow search can hide the record you need.
Save the record, its status, any dates shown, the condo ID and the search date. Compare the legal project name and phase with the property’s documents. An address, listing name and association name may refer to the same development in different ways, so send the lender the actual record alongside the property information.
For the approved-project route, the lender checks FHA approval at case-number assignment. An old listing remark or a prior owner’s FHA loan is not a current project-status check. The lender also completes the applicable loan-level review, including Form HUD-9991. HUD Handbook 4000.1, II.A.8.p.ii
If the record is expired, ask whether the association is pursuing recertification and whether your lender can evaluate SUA in the meantime. A recertification effort and your individual loan review are separate workstreams; find out which one your purchase actually depends on.
When single-unit approval is worth exploring
Ask whether the lender handles SUA before paying for the full association package. Then have the lender check the early property and borrower requirements together.
Under the handbook, the project must have at least five units, and SUA is unavailable for manufactured housing. All units in the completed project or completed legal phase need certificates of occupancy or equivalent evidence. Your lender must confirm that the subject unit’s certificate is at least a year old or that the unit has been occupied. That alternative matters when someone describes the rule as a universal one-year waiting period.
The project also must avoid FHA’s ineligible characteristics. Examples include condominium hotels, timeshares and mandatory rental-pooling arrangements. FHA’s full list and the remaining project requirements belong in the lender’s review. SUA is also unavailable for an unapproved phase of a project that has an approved legal phase. HUD Handbook 4000.1, II.A.8.p.iii(C) and II.C.2.a.ii
The borrower’s underwriting route matters
For SUA, the mortgage application must receive an Accept result from FHA’s TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard, or a manually underwritten loan must have a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 90%. Ask the lender which underwriting route applies to your application and how it changes the cash you need. A general conversation about FHA financing does not answer that property-specific question. HUD Handbook 4000.1, II.A.8.p.iii(B)
Two association checks to raise early
The SUA owner-occupancy requirement is at least 50%. FHA defines how units count, including certain homes previously occupied by their owners that are now listed for sale. Have the lender calculate the percentage from current records rather than treating an informal rental estimate as the answer.
FHA insurance concentration is a different measure: it counts FHA-insured mortgages in the project. For projects with 20 or more units, the handbook says FHA may suspend new case numbers when that concentration exceeds 10%. For projects with fewer than 20 units, the number of FHA-insured mortgages cannot exceed two. Ask the lender to check the project’s current figures and your proposed case; a percentage calculation alone does not establish eligibility. HUD Handbook 4000.1, II.A.8.p.iii(D)(1) and (4)
These are useful early screens, not the entire review. The association’s records, finances, insurance, ownership concentration, commercial space and litigation can affect the result.
A townhouse appearance does not settle the site-condo question
FHA’s site-condominium definition includes certain detached projects and certain detached or horizontally attached townhouse-style projects in which the unit consists of the dwelling and land. The definition also has project and ownership conditions, and the unit owner must be responsible for the required dwelling insurance and maintenance other than landscaping.
Ask the lender to verify the recorded documents and applicable definition. The word “townhome” in a listing is not enough to choose this route. Qualifying site condominiums do not require project approval or SUA. HUD Handbook 4000.1, II.A.1.b.iv(B)(6) and II.A.8.p.iv
Get the records and a useful lender answer
Form HUD-9991 collects project and unit information for both the approved-project loan-level review and SUA. Its additional SUA section addresses association control, finances, insurance, commercial space and litigation. The lender completes the required certification using verifiable information. Form HUD-9991
Ask the lender for its document list and identify who can supply each item. Depending on the property, that may include recorded CC&Rs and plans, completion evidence, association financial information, insurance documents and an explanation of litigation. HUD’s SUA required-document list is a useful starting point; the lender determines what your transaction requires.
A short request can keep the discussion focused:
I am considering a new FHA purchase loan for this condo. Please confirm whether you can review it through current project/phase approval, single-unit approval or the site-condominium provisions. I have included the address, unit number, legal project/phase information available to me, HUD search result and association contact. Which eligibility items can you check now, which records are still needed, and when can you give me a property-specific answer? Please also confirm my underwriting route and any effect on required cash.
Ask for the remaining conditions in writing as the review progresses. A case number is an administrative step; it does not itself mean the unit, project or mortgage has completed the required review.
HUD streamlined some SUA case-number assignments beginning May 26, 2026. Projects already registered in FHA Connection with the status Expired or Rejected – Register SUA can receive automatic assignment when the required unit information and concentration check are satisfied; other requests still need manual processing. Your lender should use the current FHA Connection procedure. HUD, FHA INFO 2026-10
Build the offer around the remaining work
Before choosing an offer timetable, get three practical answers: whether the lender has an available route, who is supplying the outstanding documents, and what decision date the lender expects after receiving them. Review those answers with your agent alongside the contract’s financing and investigation deadlines.
For example, a missing insurance document and a unit in an ineligible phase call for different decisions. The first may be an identifiable records request; the second requires a different approval or financing approach. Ask the lender to separate a missing document from a substantive eligibility problem so you can decide where to spend time and money.
If another loan type is feasible, compare actual cash requirements, payments and ongoing costs using the FHA-versus-conventional loan guide. For the broader building review across loan programs, see why the condo project also has to qualify.
Common questions
Can I buy a condo with FHA if the project is not approved?
Possibly. Single-unit approval is available for some units in unapproved projects when the borrower, unit and project satisfy the applicable requirements. Ask whether your lender handles this route and have it check the property’s early eligibility requirements before ordering the full package.
Does single-unit approval cover the whole condominium project?
No. SUA evaluates an individual unit in an unapproved project. The lender still checks the project information required for that loan, and a later buyer needs a separate loan review.
Can SUA cover an unapproved phase next to an approved phase?
FHA’s SUA property rules exclude an unapproved phase of a condominium project that has an approved legal phase. Ask the lender which project or phase approval would be needed for the unit you want to buy.
Does an FHA case number mean the condo is approved?
No. HUD states that assignment of an SUA case number does not approve the unit or project. The lender must complete the required documents and loan-level verifications.
Do site condominiums need FHA project approval?
A property that meets FHA’s site-condominium definition and standards does not require project approval or SUA. Have the lender verify the project characteristics, legal unit boundaries and required owner insurance and maintenance responsibilities; a listing’s property-style label is not sufficient.
Source review: October 17, 2026. This guide uses HUD Handbook 4000.1, the current HUD-9991 questionnaire and HUD’s published SUA processing guidance. HUD’s August 12, 2026 handbook update includes changes with different implementation dates; your lender should confirm the requirements and procedures applicable to your transaction.